From Business Cards to Business Relationships: Personal Branding and Profitable Networking Made Easy, 2nd Edition

I've not kept an official tally, but I would suggest about 50 percent of handshakes miss the mark on total professionalism. So basically, there is a 50-50 chance that you are good at handshakes. Those aren't great odds. So let's tip the scale in your favor. To do that, we'll first take a look at some classic handshaking mistakes people make.

The Floppy-Fish Handshake

This handshake speaks for itself. There's just no life to it. It's wimpy and weak. It has no “oomph.” It communicates a lack of confidence, a sense of intimidation, and general uncertainty. This is probably the most common handshake mistake, which isn't surprising since many people lack confidence, are intimidated by others, and are generally uncertain. On one hand (pardon the pun), this uncertainty could be the case. On the other hand, a floppy fish could indicate that someone is lazy or doesn't care about the introduction being made. Thus, it could also be called the “I-have-to-but-don't-want-to” handshake.