It is not necessary to announce events at a banquet or luncheon. The best plan is to provide a printed program. At prescribed intervals, the designated person mounts the speaker's platform and addresses the audience.

Conversations are interrupted by sounding a trumpet or musical accolade, ringing a school bell, rapping a gavel or flickering the room lights.

The principal then retires and the function moves along smoothly and silently. Of course, each person with a part in the program receives full written instructions in advance.

At an American College of Surgeons banquet in Oslo, each event was announced by four trumpeters performing on a balcony. The principals were scattered at different places around the room and by the time each person reached the free standing podium, the audience was ready to listen. This is the principle of presiding silently.