Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The image you impart while aboard the office elevator can leave a vivid impression.

Who knows exactly who`s listening in the crowd, especially in a behemoth corporate beehive? And what if it`s just you and the company`s top honcho making the 60-or-so-second ascent?

Working Woman magazine offers this elevator etiquette for handling the situation with elan:

– Don`t remain mute. Engage in some polished small-talk. A remark about a current film or sporting event is preferable to banal weather babble.

– Avoid gossip. Unpopular office policies and any references to higher-ups` personal lives are taboo.

– Defer to seniority. When entering and exiting the car, remember that rank reigns.

– Keep it light. Tactful humor can make you memorable. And in an awkward silence, levity can elevate the mood.