The Perfect Handshake

First things first.

If you want to be a man, you need to present yourself as one.  With looks and attitude, the handshake is amongst the first things that will tell you new acquaintance that you are to be taken seriously.  90% of what we think of a person is determined in the first 90 seconds when we meet them, so make your first 90 seconds count.

There are several ways to properly do a handshake according to the situation, but a few things are always important.

1-Keep your hands dry.  It's never good to have moist, seaty hands, unless you just finished a tennis match and are accepting your opponnent's congratulations for your awesome victory over him.

2-Eye contact, eye contact and eye contact.  You can be friendly, you can try to assert your dominance or you can be offering your sympathies for someone who just passed away, but maintaining eye contact will show your sincerity, your kindliness or your self-confidence, according to the situation.

3-Firm grip, not to soft, not to hard.  It's equally unpleasant to shake a dead hand as to be crushed by someone's over-powered handshake.  There are a few exceptions to this one.  For example, if you are shaking an old lady's hand, go gently, you don't want to hurt her.

For those who need a complete guide as to how to shake hands, here are a few guides on other websites :


Self Empowerment Secrets : A handshake does matter
CNN : The worst way to shake hands
The art of manliness : A manly handshake
Speechmastery : Hand shake