About 600 Vancouver city staff are getting style tips and protocol training in preparation for their work at the 2010 Winter Games. (CBC)

Staff at Vancouver City Hall are being told to make sure their socks match their pants, avoid gossiping about their personal lives and to remember to smile, but not too much, as part of their protocol training for handling Olympic dignitaries.

About 600 city staff have been reassigned to Olympic duties during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and the protocol guide was recently issued as part of their training on how to conduct themselves while dealing with the world's elite politicians, royalty and business leaders.

The 141-page booklet was posted online by the popular civic issues blog CityCaucus.com and offers tips on a wide range of protocol issues, including seating arrangements, proper conversation topics and personal grooming.

City employees are urged to keep hair tidy, yet stylish, cautioned not to wear socks that are too short for fear of showing off bare leg, and advised to carry extra clothes because dress shirts stain easily. They are also advised that tight clothes make slim people look gaunt and a large person look heavier.

While it's clear the city is serious about putting on its best face forward for foreign dignitaries, the protocol guide seems to have a lighthearted tone, including an introduction with excerpts from a U.S. military publication called Air Force Wives.

Under a section titled "Humility" in the introduction, the guide says, "You never say, 'That's not my job.' There is nothing too demeaning, too demanding, or just plain beneath you. … If you are not comfortable opening car doors, holding umbrellas or pitching baggage, then you need to find another job."

A section on facial expressions urges employees to smile gently and with sincerity, but notes that false smiles can look artificial and never-ending smiles can invite suspicion.

"And remember that 'Protocol Smile.' It ought to get larger the worse things get from your perspective. Let them think you are in complete control," says the guide.

There's also this tip that nodding usually means you agree, and it can also you mean you understand, but to be careful because too much nodding can be seen as insincere.

And for those assigned to dignitaries, the manual advises protocol officers to stay hydrated, take bathroom breaks whenever there is time, avoid jangling the change in their pockets, and avoid talking about politics, religion or personal marital problems.

But perhaps surprisingly talking about Vancouver's weather seems to be acceptable, despite the trouble unseasonably warm temperatures have given organizers of some of the Olympic ski and snowboard events.

City officials have not revealed the cost of the staff training or the protocol guide.

The Winter Olympics will run from Feb. 12 to Feb. 28.