In the first few pages of her book, Nancy Kahan, the writer of “Entertaining for Business,” says: “Entertaining reflects the company image in a direct way that no other medium can match. It can also demonstrate how innovative a company can be.”

For businesses to flourish and form new and profitable contacts, publicity is important. From the same point of view, entertaining and parties are marketing tools that should be taken seriously.

An important tip for any company is to keep a party file with checklists from insurance policies to tiny details, to records of past parties, and to recommendations for future parties.

When reviewing movies (or television, theater, books, etc.) remember that your goal is simple: Give readers enough information to know whether or not they would enjoy it.

Here are a few suggestions for helping you, the reviewer, achieve this goal.

Remember that the director/producer/actor is not the film itself. With movies (or television/theater reviews), this means avoiding the temptation to write about someone’s personal life instead of his or her portrayal of the character or function on the movie set. Let’s say the two leads fall in love and begin an affair based on their roles. This may merit a one-sentence mention, but should never be the focus of the review. Any review should offer a thorough critique of the product (the movie, DVD release, or CD soundtrack) with only a passing reference to other works by the cast and crew as a means of comparison.

Write Balanced Movie Reviews

Be sure to balance your objective observations with your subjective opinion. The best reviews are a blend of describing the details of the product and giving your opinion of them. The facts should be used to form your opinion, and all opinions need to be supported by facts. A review that provides only facts will not give readers a good sense of whether or not they will like it. On the other hand, a review that provides only your opinion does not provide readers with the essential facts they need to make an informed decision.