The proper protocol for handing out a business card

Do not try to give your business card to someone if you are not doing business with them. There was a time when people used social cards. These cards declared nothing but the name, with honorific, and perhaps mailing address. If you need to leave a card with someone, and it is a purely social situation, you should use a pencil or pen to draw a line through any information on your business card having to do with your company and your title.

Giving business cards in a business situation should be more obvious. It is not necessary to exchange cards when you first meet a new associate. (Although this is how it is done in some countries, like Japan.) Business cards are either exchanged when everyone has settled down to meet, or at the end of a meeting. Make certain that your business cards are kept crisp and clean. Do not give a business card away if it is bent, smudged or otherwise damaged. This shows a certain lack of respect for the recipient of the card.

You may be asking about the practice of advertising yourself by forcing a card on unsuspecting individuals conversing with you. If, in the course of a conversation, someone demonstrates an interest in learning more about your professional services, by all means give them a card. But keep in mind that if you foist your card on someone who does not want it, you are damaging your reputation as a reliable professional.

2. Presents and souvenirs/Gift Giving

To give a gift or not and what to give is very important, especially in some cultures. Other cultures may not expect any gift at all and to present one would be embarrassing to the receiver. If gift giving is the business practice, it is important to realise that the gift is not a bribe. It is a personal "thank you" for the hospitality and courtesy extended for and during the meeting and in most cases, an important step in building a business and personal relationship with your foreign counter-parts. Particular care must be taken in choosing a gift as it must be appropriate for the occasion and avoid the "wrong" type of gifts, eg. an unlucky number of items in the gift, too expensive, too cheap, the wrong colour, symbolically wrong, improperly wrapped or even improperly presented.

Whether you open the gift immediately or leave it unwrapped is another issue that can be important. Why? In some cultures, it is considered that by opening a gift in front of the presenter, you could inadvertently convey your displeasure for the gift chosen. Such behaviour would be extremely embarrassing for the receiver and very discourteous to the giver. Consequently, a potential bad situation is avoided by not opening the gift in front of you.