If you are the host, brief your wife on the three key topics not to bring up (e.g., the client’s recent divorce, politics, or their struggling subsidiary). Also, brief her on the one thing the client’s wife is passionate about—charity work, a hobby, their children’s achievements. Small talk at these dinners is a high-wire act. The goal is warmth without intimacy, curiosity without interrogation.
As an executive, your job is to bridge the gap. After the first course, deliberately turn to the client’s wife and ask her opinion on a non-business topic. Better yet, invite her into the business conversation: "Sarah, you run a marketing firm. What do you think about our branding dilemma?" Inclusion is respect. business dinner with the wives
For the love of professionalism, do not use the dinner to lecture or negotiate hard. The deal should be discussed in broad strokes—vision, culture, mutual benefit—not price per unit. Leave the term sheet for the boardroom. This dinner is about likeability . If you are attending as a spouse, you have a delicate role. You are not there to close the deal, but you are there to ensure the deal does not close badly . If you are the host, brief your wife
The wives will exchange honest assessments: Did they seem genuine? Was she cold or warm? Would I trust them with our family's security? The goal is warmth without intimacy, curiosity without