GETTING A GRIP 145stressed and nervous, surges of neurotransmitters and hormones such as
adrenalin (epinephrine) cause uncontrollable quivering of the hands. Our
hands will also shake when we hear, see, or think of something that has
negative consequences. Any objects held in the hands may appear to
magnify this trembling, telegraphing a message that says, “I am under
stress” (see box 39). This shaking behavior is particularly noticeable when
a person is holding an elongated object such as a pencil or a cigarette, or
something relatively large but lightweight like a piece of paper. The ob-
ject will begin to shake or quiver immediately following the statement or
event that created the stressful circumstances.
Positive emotions can also cause our hands to shake, whether we’re
holding a winning lottery ticket or a winning hand in poker. When we
are genuinely excited, our hands will quiver, sometimes uncontrollably.
These are limbic-driven reactions. At an airport, as parents, spouses, and
other family members excitedly wait for their returning soldier or rela-
tive, their hands will often shake in excitement. They may restrain their
hands by grabbing and holding someone else’s hand, or by tucking their
hands in their underarms or clasping them and holding them at chest
level. Old videos of the Beatles’ first visit to America are replete with
young girls clasping their hands to combat the shaking that accompanied
their extreme excitement.
Obviously, you must first determine whether shaky hands are due to
fear or joy by putting the behavior in context—examining the circum-
stances in which it occurred. If the shaky hands are accompanied by
pacifying actions, like touching the neck or pressing the lips together, I’d
be more likely to suspect that the shaking was related to stress (some-
thing negative) rather than something positive.
It should be noted that trembling hands are only relevant as a nonver-
bal communication when they represent a change from someone’s nor-
mal hand movements. If a person’s hands always shake because, for
example, he is a heavy coffee drinker or is drug or alcohol addicted, the
tremor, while informative, becomes part of that individual’s baseline in
terms of nonverbal behavior. Likewise in people with certain neurologi-
cal disorders (e.g., Parkinson’s disease), hand tremor may not indicate