The Art of the handshake: establishing your presence with the palm of your hand

Hello again, dear reader. During yesterday's conversation, we discussed how to develop a blueprint to help you dear reader with a rich and full, productive life, while still achieving all of your life goals in five-year increments. After we had that conversation dear reader, I realized that everything we've been talking about so far could be used to help you develop your life blueprint. Everything from learning Morse code to what EDC items should always be in your car to how to establish and memorable presence and make a good first impression. And then I realized that I forgot to mention one of the most important steps in human interaction that you will have to take regardless of what your life blueprint maps out for you and that is the act of shaking hands. Now I know, dear reader that this may sound extraordinarily simple or even weird or geeky, but man woman or otherwise. A person's handshake, says a lot about who they are, and goes a long way to making a good first impression and establishing a solid rapport with the person within, I would say 20 to 30 seconds of meeting someone so for today's discussion dear reader. I thought we would pontificate on "the Art of the handshake" and how to use it to your advantage dear reader to make a good first impression...

Hypothetically dear reader you're in law school right now and as a future attorney, you will be shaking lots of hands: clients, potential clients, other attorneys, and judges. During that brief contact with that person, they’re going to form opinions of you. Your handshake could give them the impression that you're a warm person or cold and aloof.
Maybe your handshake indicates that you're an overbearing jerk or a wimpy McWimpsalot. We want a handshake that creates a favorable impression. We’re going to talk about how to do that.
There are three keys to a successful handshake:

1. How you do it
2. When you do it
3. Where you do it

How you do it

• Make sure your handshake is firm, not a dead fish grip. However, you don’t want to crush the other person’s hand.
• Make sure you don’t have food or grease on your hands. You want the person to remember you, not what you ate.
• If your hands are sweaty, give them a quick nonchalant wipe on your pants.
• When you offer your hand, look the person in the eye and smile.

When you do it

Handshakes involve timing. Many people avoid offering handshakes because they’re afraid of being left hanging. If you’re not sure if someone will notice your offer, extend the handshake anyways. Most of the time people will notice your handshake offer and quickly grasp your hand.
Be aware of different social customs. Most cultures have different customs for shaking hands. Some find it inappropriate for a man to shake a woman’s hand and some cultures find shaking hands completely unacceptable. Be sensitive to these situations.

What if you’re left hanging?

I hate when this happens. I always feel dumb, especially when everyone but the person with whom you were trying to shake hands saw the rejection. Don’t feel embarrassed. The problem isn’t that the other person doesn’t think you’re important, you’re timing was just off.

• Don’t offer a handshake if the other person is engrossed in conversation with someone else.
• Don’t approach someone from the side with your extended hand. It’s hard to see.
• Do audibly greet the person first to get their attention and then offer your hand.

Where To Do It

Handshakes are good everywhere. Make sure to shake plenty of hands when you go to a social gathering. Make sure to shake the hosts’ hand when arriving and leaving the gathering.

As always, dear reader, thanks for listening and there will be more to come soon.