Chapter 9
Chapter 9: It’s in the Palm of Your Hand .....................................................................
In This Chapter
Discovering how hand positions indicate attitudes
Making your fingers do the talking
Feeling for different handshakes
Displacement activities
S
cientific research shows that more nerve connections exist between
the hands and the brain than between any other parts of the body.
Unconsciously, your hands reveal your attitude towards another person,
place, or situation. By the way you position your hands, rub your palms, and
fiddle with your fingers you’re telling anyone who’s paying attention what
you’re really feeling.Watch how your hands move spontaneously in greetings, farewells, and as
you cement an agreement. Before you know it, your hands illustrate a point
you’re making and are effective in demonstrating both your sincerity as well
as your annoyance. Whether you’re expressing love, anger, joy, or frustration,
your hands hold the message.In this chapter you discover how you can use your hands to support the
spoken word and add substance to your message. You find out how to posi-
tion your hands to convey authority and dominance as well as demonstrate
openness and submission. You see how other people reinforce what they
mean by the way they mimic the actions or situations they’re describing. You
discover how to read a person by the way she shakes hands, and finally, you
discover the telltale signals that the hands and fingers unconsciously reveal
when you think no one is watching.Up or Down: Reading Palms .......................................................................
Numerous experiments have been conducted to record how people respond
to hand gestures. Research has shown that when a speaker uses the palm-up
position the vast majority of the listeners react positively to what’s being