An image consultant offers advice on handshakes

When you meet someone for the first time, you only have thirty seconds to make a lasting impression so it needs to be a good one. Making direct eye contact, smiling and confidently shaking hands are incredibly important personal body language signals that you send out to other people. As an image consultant, advice on body language forms a huge part of my work.

How you shake hands can indicate how confident you are and how much respect you have for the other person. Handshakes express your confidence to others in two ways. First, by how quickly you offer your hand upon meeting someone since hesitation conveys uncertainly and lack of confidence. Second, by the firmness of your grip. If it’s weak it says you are unsure of yourself and it it’s too firm you can come over as too confident and egotistical. A firm and direct handshake in conjunction with a smile and eye contact will communicate to others that you are a trustworthy person and you know who you are.

Handshakes also tell others if you’ve travelled a lot or lived life where you only socialize with very familiar friends. Through working or travelling abroad in situations where you are meeting new people all the time, you grow accustomed to shaking hands and can do so without any stress. Women who rarely shake hands can find doing so very scary and need some help and practice to develop a confident handshake.

Your handshake also expresses the amount of respect you hold for others. If, when approaching a group, you only shake the hands of a few and ignore the rest you are sending clear signals that the remaining people are not as important in your estimation.

A limp, wet fish, a finger-tip squeezer or a bonecrusher handshake are to be avoided at all costs. Aim for a firm, direct grip that puts the ‘web’ between your thumb and forefinger directly in contact with that of the person whose hand you are shaking. Anything less is a sign of weakness, anything more is too threatening.

Handshakes in all walks of life are very important but in business if you fail to extend your hand to others you will quickly lose credibility. Feel confident in all aspects of body language by visiting an image consultant.

About the Author:

Caroline Husbands is a senior image consultant with Colour Me Beautiful, Europe's leading image consultancy. Services include colour analysis. A full image makeover is also available.