The Definitive Book of Body Languageouter layer of the skin on the hands - known as the dermis -
and goes to the arm and leg muscles for 'fight or flight' prepa-
ration. The result is that our hands lose temperature and
begin to sweat, making them feel cold and clammy and result-
ing in a handshake that feels like a wet salmon. Keep a
handkerchief in a pocket or handbag so that you can dry your
palms immediately before meeting someone important so you
don't make a poor first impression. Alternatively, before a new
meeting, simply visualise that you are holding your palms in
front of an open fire. This visualisation technique is proven
to raise the temperature of the average person's palm by
3-4 degrees.
Gaining the Left Side AdvantageWhen two leaders stand side by side for media photographs,
they try to appear equal in physical size and dress code but
the one who stands to the left of the picture is perceived by
viewers to have a dominant edge over the other. This is because
it is easier to gain the upper hand when they shake, making
the one to the left of the photograph appear to be in control.
This is obvious in the handshake that took place between
John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon prior to their television
debate in 1960. At that time the world was ignorant about
body language but, on analysis, JFK appears to have had an
intuitive understanding about how to use it. He made a prac-
tice of standing on the left-hand side of a photograph, and
applying the Upper-Hand position was one of his favourite
moves.