“The probing handshake is where the other person probes you with their index finger pressed against the inside of your wrist.” Sounds creepy and, according to this article on “The Art of the Handshake,” it’s not something you ever want to do (or have done to you).
We’ve all been the victim of bad handshakes. My favorite is when the other person doesn’t look you in eye. Ladies, I’m sure you know what I mean.
I wrote before about Bill Clinton’s hand shake. I said, “He doesn’t just clasp your right hand in his, he also touches your arm with his left hand. During the conversation, as he makes a point, he might reach out again to touch your arm or put his hand on your shoulder.” This is the right way to do it, according to the author, who says we should never use the more familiar, “Politician’s Handshake”:
“That is where you use two hands to cover or cup the other person’s hands. No one likes it, it is too personal, and you have to earn the right to do it. Politicians do it thinking you will like them more – you won’t. If you feel you need to touch more, shake the hand normally and with the other touch the forearm.”
Apparently, Hillary doesn’t have Bill’s touch. The author quotes an executive who said, “I shook hands with Hilary Clinton: two-handed and clammy.â€
I used to have an office administrator who had an incredibly limp handshake. I couldn’t stand it. It was like shaking hands with a corpse. Actually, no. A corpse would be stiff. Of course being the he-man that I am, I had to squeeze his hand to show him how it should be done. Apparently, I was an ignorant and ill-mannered boob:
“If you are meeting with a person who gives a very weak handshake, perhaps that is their custom. Don’t grimace and don’t make a face, match their handshake with equal pressure and give thanks you have an opportunity to demonstrate that you have social intelligence and good manners.”
It could have been worse. When Bill Gates was introduced to the president of South Korea on a recent trip, he kept his left hand in his pocket. That’s rude in any country, but especially so in South Korea. But hey, at least he didn’t stare at her chest.
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