April 23, 2015

How Do I Make a Good Handshake with Americans?

It takes less than 10 seconds to make a good impression. In business interactions - be that interaction an interview or a client meet and greet, one of the first elements of our first impressions is the handshake. Let's take a look at how to approach Americans with the right body language, eye contact and handshake etiquette.

This first video tutorial demonstrates how to give a proper handshake in a Western business environment. The only change I would make to this video is to stress the importance of shaking hands from the elbow and not the wrist. The businesswoman in the video appears at times to be shaking from both the elbow and wrist. If our wrist moves while making a handshake, this will make the handshake feel weaker to the person we are exchanging the handshake with.

This next video was made by east Asians to demonstrate how to make a Western handshake. It is also a good tutorial.

If you are wondering what to say when you introduce yourself, this last video demonstrates how to add your verbal introduction and business card to the handshake through a comparison of the dos and don'ts of this exchange.

Jennifer Kumar is an American business consultant based in Kochi, India. Jennifer helps your India based teams build their confidence in interacting with US and other Western clients and counterparts through fun, interactive sessions. To learn how to leave a good impression, make small talk and have productive business interactions with your US colleagues onsite or virtually, from India, contact Jennifer today to learn more.

Related Links:
Learn by Doing
Small Talk with Americans
Moving from Small Talk to Business Conversations
When to say 'I'm sorry' to an American

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Image credit: European External Action Service at flickr