ETIQUETTE
TIP OF THE MONTH
The
Air Kiss - an alien culture!
Air kissing is the pretence of kissing
accompanied by the "mwah" sound. This form of greeting involves
entering another person's personal space by placing your lips a couple of
inches north of their ear while lightly pretending to touch their cheek to
yours.
In India,
social kissing was restricted to the Page 3 regulars. However, in the past few
years, globalisation has pushed the Indian executive to interact with
Americans, Russians, Europeans, Mexicans and Arabs in various
socio-business settings. This has led to confusion! I have received
several queries about this alien concept:
·
Should
we start with the right cheek or the left cheek?
·
How
many times should we air kiss - once or twice?
·
I
am uncomfortable air-kissing - is there a way to avoid it?
Interestingly,
air kissing is cultural! Although not a part of our culture, it's a single kiss
on the right cheek in the United States and varies in Continental Europe -
three kisses in Belgium, Netherlands and Switzerland; two kisses in France,
Italy, Spain and Portugal. In UK and Germany, it's reserved for people one
knows socially and is not extended to business situations. Some cultures go
beyond the air kiss - Russians may follow it up with a light back-slap, Arabs
reserve it for members of the same gender and finish off the greeting with a
half-hug.
If you feel
uncomfortable air-kissing your business contacts, anticipate it and put your
right hand out for a firm handshake.
Wishing you
and your loved ones a super 2015!
Warm regards
Shital
Kakkar Mehra
Twitter:http://twitter.com/bizmanners
Business
Etiquette: A guide for the Indian
Professional"
authored by Shital Kakkar Mehra has sold over 20, 000 copies
and has been declared
a 'Top 10 Business Best-seller'
by Business Standard.
Comments
Post a Comment