Watch more How to Have Good Manners videos: http://www.howcast.com/videos/513535-How-to-Shake-Hands-and-Introduce-Yourself-Good-Manners
Hi. I'm Faye de Muyshondt here with you from Social Skills to chat with you about how to shake hands. There are a few really important aspects to shaking hands. Number one, you should be standing up when you shake hands. No matter where you are, you should make sure you're standing up to shake hands. Also as you shake hands, there are a few critical aspects to it. This is considered the web of your hand. You want to make sure that you're touching the web of the other person's hand as you shake hands.
Now there's a couple of different handshakes out there, one I like to call the "Queen's Shake," where you give a half handshake. It's not correct. And actually women in general in the United States of America tend to get really offended by that type of handshake, because they feel that if a man is giving a half handshake, it's disrespectful. So men and women, make sure that you touch the web of the hand to the other person's web.
As you shake hands, be sure that you give a firm grip. Now you don't want it to be so firm that you're injuring the other person, but it needs to be a firm grip. You can actually blow making a great handshake by not giving a firm grip. Additionally, as you shake hands with a person, you should be shaking the entire time that it takes both of you to introduce yourselves. So instead of dropping your hand after you introduce yourself, make sure that you are shaking for the entire time that the other person is introducing him or herself.
So sometimes people say it's three shakes, but it's actually not. It's shaking the entire time that it takes for both of you to introduce yourselves. Also as you shake hands, make sure that you are using your eye contact. You should be looking at the person the entire time that you're shaking hands. Also, smile. A smile is really an important part of making a good first impression as you shake hands. It actually makes you seem a lot warmer and a lot more friendly. Also, make sure that your body language is good. You don't want to be slumped over giving your handshake. Make sure that you're standing up straight with your shoulders back.
As you're shaking hands, you want to introduce yourself. As you introduce yourself, make sure that you use your first and your last name. In my case it's, "Hi. I'm Faye de Muyshondt." I have a bit of a tricky last name, so I usually put a pause in between my first and my last name. So if you have a tricky last name, just make sure that you say it slowly and you enunciate it. In fact, you might want to practice it a few times in front of the mirror. And that's how you shake hands and introduce yourself.