The holiday season is a perfect opportunity to polish your act and outshine the competition. Here are some tips from etiquette and protocol expert Hilka Klinkenberg that will help you stand head and shoulders above the crowd:

Office Party Do's & Don'ts

• DO remember it's still business. All too often professionals assume that they can let their hair down at the holiday office party. Unfortunately, your co-workers, bosses and clients do make assumptions about your business acumen by the way you behave in all situations. And this is not the time to get involved in romantic entanglements. 11% of male respondents to a 2004 Office Depot holiday survey reported having intimate relations with a fellow co-worker at the company holiday party, thereby setting up themselves and the company for a sexual harassment suit. No wonder more and more companies no longer have company parties.
• DO dress appropriately. A business-related function is not the time to dress down, to pull out your sexiest little cocktail number or your most fashion-forward suit by the latest designer. When in doubt, opt for conservative and elegant.
• DO mingle. This is not the time to hang out with your office cronies or your significant other. Work the room and take the opportunity to broaden your networking base within the organization.
• DO keep conversation appropriate. Taboo topics include off-color and discriminatory jokes, personal relationships and sexual proclivities, health, personal tragedies, diets, cost of anything personal, income, and potentially controversial topics like politics and religion. And, remember, we have one mouth and two ears because we should be doing twice as much listening.
  
  
• DON'T bring uninvited escorts. If yours is the only name on the invitation, you are the only one invited. Don't even ask if you can bring someone.
• DON'T overindulge. According to a 2004 Office Depot holiday survey, 20% of employed U.S. adults who have attended a company-sponsored holiday party reported they drank excessively. 9% of respondents reported performing impromptu karaoke and another 9% reported looking foolish while dancing
• Business functions are not a source of free food and liquor that you should take advantage of while you have the chance. More people create a negative impression by over-imbibing (remember loose lips sink ships!) and by overstuffing their faces from an overflowing plate than any thing else they do. And, never, ever talk with food in your mouth!
• NEITHER snub nor suck up to the boss. This is not the time to show how cool you are by ignoring your boss; make sure you at least say 'hello' and express your thanks for the invitation. Nor is this the time to corner your boss...or worse, your bosses boss...to talk about your career strategies.
• DON'T overstay your welcome. Never be the last to leave. If there is an established ending on the invitation, make sure you are heading out the door before that time even if the party still seems to be in full swing.