don't provide service that fizzles, provide service that SIZZLES!

As part of my on-going indoctrination into the customs and rules of my new workplace, I was forced to haul my ass out of bed early this morning and watch a video telling me how to provide "Now, that's service!" service. Also known as "Service that Sizzles!"

This one had slightly higher production values than many of the other videos/presentations I've been forced to sit through. There was some cutting to black and white shots from the point of view of a guest looking up at a server, and a waaaaay over-used flame graphic whenever the word "sizzle" came up on screen. Which it frequently did. I think I'll steal the DVD and see how drunk I get if I take a shot every time it comes up. The speaker had an unnatural hatred for the word "dude," and he had distractingly odd hair. A chunk of the video was taped while he motivated a group of restaurant managers at some kind of convention, which was fantastic because of how bored some of them looked.

The thing about these little sessions is that sometimes they tell you something that isn't insultingly self-evident or common sensical. I've been at this for awhile now, so I don't think I gleaned too much from this one. I still have a manual to weed through and complete a worksheet on (oh, how I wish I were joking). But as far as service seminars go, this was hardly the silliest. I don't know if I'll tell my new coworkers about the menu tours that were mandatory at TJ's, for fear that a manager will overhear me and decide it's a great idea.