executives.

Eating with their mouths open, slurping soup and hogging the wine are only some of the etiquette misdemeanours that can cost companies lucrative contracts or juicy business deals. Others include such social death antics such as not pouring wine for guests first, picking food off other people's plates, asking for a doggie bag, lack of skilled small talk and an ignorance of the all-important `not mentioning business until the coffee is on the table' rule.

While to some these formalities and social skills are a natural part of day to day life, for many a rising executive, these formal etiquettes are as foreign as frogs legs.

Step in Gloria Peterson, the Mr. Higgins of the boardroom who as in the George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion, will transform employees from a rough cut diamond into a perfectly set jewel.

In a one-day seminar -- a kind of finishing school for executives -- to be held for the first time in Bermuda later this month, she will transform employees into the Mr. or Mrs. Suave of the corporate dining room. The seminar "Business Etiquette Protocol'' addresses some of the issues which send shivers of fear down the spines of some workers when faced with a formal social setting to do with work. Miss Peterson, who describes herself as a seminar leader, said: "In the past five years or so our society has been in a state of flux, and everyone seems to be on a different page.

Manners maketh sense in business Societies, like the US have become a lot more informal, but with the globalisation of markets, business people are coming into contact with societies which are a lot more formal.

"In the United States we prefer to eat and run and it is all very casual. Put someone who is used to this kind of thing into a very formal black tie evening event they will be placed with a lot of cutlery and flatware they are not used to and they want to look in control.'' Miss Peterson will take the people who attend the seminar through some basic social dos and don'ts from around the world, such as do open doors for women and don't make puppy noises when you eat.

Lunch will be held during the seminar, and Miss Peterson will take the class through the right way to eat everything, from tearing a piece of roll off and buttering it to spooning away from yourself while eating soup.

The whole gamut of knives, forks, spoons, plates and different glasses will be looked at and identified for the students.

She will offer guidance over what dish to order when out to lunch or dinner, whether lobster or the cheapest thing on the menu.

And the tricky subject of when to talk about business over any kind of setting is to be addressed.

"As a rule of thumb I say firstly at the close of the meal, but if the client brings it up before, then that is OK.

"It is best to wait to get down to business. You need to spend time bonding and create an atmosphere of confidence and trust.'' Miss Peterson says she will be teaching while the students eat, and show them how not to `stab or saw' meat but cut it gracefully.

"I have a little saying to help people remember how to eat soup -- going off to sea and back to shore.

"And if you have cheese in your soup, remember to sink the ship. This way it will disintegrate and will be easy to eat.'' Although all this etiquette may seem foolish and unnecessary to some, Miss Peterson is deadly serious about its importance both to the person who wants to learn and to clients who could be put off by sloppy manners.

"One of the aims is to have a better understanding of each other, of differences in gender and also the generation gap. There is a generation that grew up out there with different values from their parents. Some are very traditional -- you have to match your behaviour to this. The easiest way to deal with all situations is to go for the traditional manners at all times.

You cannot go wrong.'' Miss Peterson is giving her day-long seminar on Business Etiquette and Protocol at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, April 26. The event is being organised through the Bermuda Employers Council who can be contacted on 295-5070.