Shaking hands today is still common and proper etiquette in the business world. A handshake is a sign of friendliness and honest intentions. There are all kinds of handshakes so what does your hand shake say about you?

Etiquette decrees that it should be the woman who offers her hand first for a handshake but that does not apply so much today with equality between the sexes being paramount. So it doesn’t really matter who offers their hand first; but it does matter enormously if you don’t take it. Any person who refuses to shake hands on meeting another person, is almost slapping them in the face and this is obviously very, very rude. How would you feel if someone refused to shake your hand? Yes, you’d probably feel like a ‘dogs breakfast’ too the same as everybody else.

Would you trust that person enough to do business with them? Unlikely, unless you had a masochistic streak. One of the biggest requirements in business is trust and a handshake is a physical sign of this trust.

Firstly, whether you are a man or a woman, if you are going to shake someone’s hand, put your hand out as if you intend for them to shake it. I have seen ‘uncertain’ offerings that resembled a “stop-Go” traffic signal and this causes everyone embarrassment. My Mothers motto has stood me in good stead for this eventuality “If in doubt, put your hand out”

Put your arm out firmly with your thumb up so that the intended recipient sees your hand index finger top side-up and horizontal to the ground. Never put you hand palm down to the ground because this is a dead-set sign of control and no one is going to trust a control freak.

Never offer your hand to be shaken palm up because this is an immediate physical sign that you want to be dominated. Not good for business unless you are in the ‘bedroom’ business. These may appear as weird body language descriptions but the signals they send are understood by all humans. Perhaps they may relate back to our “Ape” ancestry but the body signals are very real. If you don’t believe me, try the experiment for yourself in any situation that is not overly important to you. Never try this experiment on someone you want to impress because the impression won’t be favourable.

Now, are you a “death gripper” or a “dead fish”?

The death-gripper is someone who grabs hold of your hand and squeezes the life out of it. They tend to squeeze the blood out of your fingers (almost ~ slight exaggeration) but they tend to squeeze your hand so hard that you can feel your knuckles start to crack. This is not good simply because it hurts. Men and women are both guilty parties to being a ‘death-gripper’ in order to be sure they are offering a firm hand shake.

Now we come to the ‘dead-fish’ brigade. These are the people who put out a hand that looks like a long-stemmed dead dahlia and when you take their hand to shake; it sort-of goes limp in your hand and falls away like a dead fish that has lost all its stuffing. Frankly, it leaves one feeling creepy.

The ideal hand shake is one given with an accompanying smile and facing the person ‘front on’ or directly.. The smile rounds-out the body language of friendliness and good intentions and leaves everyone comfortable and happy.

There is more option for social networking today than ever before. Now there really is no excuse for not doing it one way or another.

Today you can social network online through any number of community social bookmarking communities. These social bookmarking sites can be a hazard as well as a help. It just depends on your level of discipline as much as anything. If you are in business for yourself you will soon realise that you can spend waay too much time answering inane emails that do absolutely nothing to move your business forward.  Continue Reading »

Everyone in business today is time short. There is always more that we want to do, have planned to do, than what we can actually get to do. This is no excuse though for not doing any business social networking.

Some business people have decided that they won’t do any social networking for business because they see that as a “perk” of being in business for themselves and decide they don’t have the time ‘just yet’ to go gallivanting around enjoying themselves. However, what they fail to realise is that they will really get to “gallivant around” a lot faster and with more financial security if they take the time to do some social networking with like minded business people.

Business social activities are enjoyable because you will be among a wide variety of people who have the same interests as yourself. Continue Reading »

Social conversation skills is simply a means and an aptitude for getting along with other people. Some people are natural born empaths and have the ability to quickly find a common denominator in their conversation to connect to someone. Once this connection is established, conversation becomes easy and relaxed between people.

Someone once said that there was “seven degrees of separation” between people and as I’ve travelled around the world, I’m inclined to think they weren’t far wrong.

The more you socialise with people, and all that means is mixing with them socially, the easier it becomes. Once you become relaxed in someone’s company you will find they will also become relaxed in yours. Continue Reading »

Have you ever been in a situation where someone has put you down for expressing your opinion? Not only is that the height of rudeness, ignorance and bad manners but anyone who has to validate their own opinion by disparaging the opinion of someone else, is showing the whole world their own insecurity problem. If they want to ‘air their dirty laundry’ in public, don’t be drawn into it.

Your opinion matters the same amount as any one else so never allow a disparaging comment to throw you off or to silence you. Unfortunately, many stay-at-home Mums “get down in the doldrums” because they can sometimes feel that no one wants to listen to their opinion or thoughts on what’s happening around them or in the wider outside world.

For some inexplicable reason, it seems that some people tend to think that stay-at-home Mums have had a lobotomy or some other mind-removing operation and now no longer have an opinion on anything.

Continue Reading »