Tuesday, May 31, 2011

#10 Have a Good Handshake

You really can't make a second first impression--and there is no quicker way to come across wrong then to have a bad handshake. At my old job we would give interviews and there was no quicker way to make me question my opinion of you or to just plain freak me out sometimes then to have a horrible hand shake.

Bad handshakes include:

1. The limp hand--you know the one that doesn't grasp your hand back and instead just sits waiting to be shaken. The other person feels like they might crush you or that your wrist is broken by the whole floppiness of the situation. Great way to come across unconfident and weak.

2. The freakishly long shake. Take the other persons hand, go up and down once or twice and then let go. DO NOT draw out your hand shake through a sentence or two more minutes of talking. All at once the scene just gets creepy.

3. The wrong handed shake. In America you shake with your right hand. You ruin the whole shake if you grab with the wrong hand because everyone expects you to use the right hand which is the right hand. Exceptions can be made for when your hands are full or the hands of the other person are full.

My quick tips for a good handshake:
1.) Use your RIGHT hand.
2.) Use a firm (not to be confused with hulk) grip.
3.) Don't make the shake linger too long.
4.) Look the person in the eye when you shake--it shows you mean it.

We will work on it when you get older ;-)




1 comment:

  1. We had to practice handshakes as part of the DECA program I was in in High School. I agree - I hate it when people can't properly shake my hand.

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