Grasping the Importance of a Handshake

Today is the day you get that coveted job at the most prestigious company in the city. You’ve been waiting for this moment for several weeks now and as you enter the office you are struck by the beeps and blips of printers and fax machines. Your hands begin to shake as your interviewer makes eye contact with you, and moves his way toward you. The interviewer’s eyes begin evaluating you as he walks over. His eyes dash to your hair and then to your face, deciding whether or not you shaved this morning. He determines the quality of your suit and your posture. Yet, as you look into his eyes you can tell he has not truly made an evaluation of you: he’s waiting for something. Then he extends his hand. You realize this is what he is waiting for. This hand shake can leave the interviewer feeling that you are capable and confident, or weak and indecisive. In a world where first impressions can make or break you, it is important for business people and missionaries to shake hands properly so that a beneficial first impression is made.

It is said that long lasting impressions of new people are made within the first five seconds. That means it can takes months of knowing someone to change their split second decision on who you are as a person. People make evaluations and judgments of others consciously and subconsciously virtually all the time. The new individual will evaluate you in several seconds and hold to that opinion throughout an interview or any initial first meeting. This is why the hand shake has become so important. Anyone can dress up nicely and look presentable for an interview, but to many people, the handshake is a view into the character of the new individual. In those few, judgmental seconds, you can declare who you are as a person without any words at all.

I once had an employer who was responsible for interviewing all new applicants to his division. He shared an important aspect of making good impressions with me. He stated, “When I’m interviewing applicant after applicant, I see dozens of business suits and resumes. Before you know it, people begin to blur together. But when applicants give me a good handshake upon introduction, I make a note of it, because to me, that screams confidence louder than their dressy appearance.” I’ve also experienced this phenomenon of exuding confidence through a hand shake. I have met many LDS missionaries who, because of LDS culture, shake hands with everyone new they meet. When a missionary goes for a handshake and instead supplies you with a flimsy hand, you can’t help but begin to think that they are lacking in social skills and ultimately, lacking confidence in themselves. I have been guilty of thinking this exact thing, a flimsy hand shake left me with the impression that the missionary was not social. Many individuals have also experienced the opposite: a nearly-painful hand shake from a large male. An overbearing hand shake can appear as an attempt to assert power; this nearly always has a negative correlation for the one receiving the domineering hand shake.


Some may claim that hand shaking is not as important as it used to be and that its use is on the decline and even becoming outdated. It is true that the handshake does not have nearly the value it did in the past. A hand shake was once as good as someone’s word, when now it seems to be not much more than a formality. In today’s world, innovation and productivity are climbing faster than ever, and useless and outdated pieces are removed and redesigned. Yet, the hand shake still remains because it still holds value. It may have lost some of its luster and shine, but it has survived because it is a powerful tool for measuring the abilities of someone you have truly yet to know.

The hand shake has become an essential part of meeting someone for both business people and missionaries. A hand shake can be worth a thousand beneficial words, or a thousand detrimental ones. The subconscious mind judges and categorizes nearly all it views, and when first impressions are made quickly haphazardly, you do not want to be judged and sentenced incorrectly. Ensure a competitive edge in the interviewing process by beginning it with a firm hand shake. Ensure the newly met investigator of your church that you have something worth listening to. Ensure that your future is bright, and shake that hand just right.