The Handshake

The person shakes hands with someone else.body language The Handshake

Greeting, Farewell or Completion There are three different kinds of handshakes:
The dominant (palm facing down – upper hand),
The equal (palm perpendicular) and
The humble (palms facing up – underhand).

Explanation
In the past, management books recommended the dominant handshake. Today, this behavior is deemed too aggressive. Therefore the equal handshake is preferred. During this handshake the other should feel that there is a counterpart, but the other’s hand shall not be squeezed too hard. A lax handshake (also called ‘dead fish’) is only acceptable in Asia, where minimal physical contact is preferred. For photos, politicians like to stand on the right of their partner, so the ‘upper hand’ is more visible in the photo. Thus, the status shown is higher.

Categories arms/hands

This is one out of 63 gestures from the body language trainer.