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Want to succeed in business? Get a grip.

That is, practice your handshake.

It may sound silly, but experts and studies agree that a handshake may say more about a person than he or she realizes — and could stand in the way of a key sale or a desired job.

A person’s handshake “is a silent message that screams volumes about who you think you are,” said Pamela Holland, a workplace expert, author, and chief operating officer of Brody Communications Ltd., of Jenkintown, Pa.

Two years ago, Brody applied with Chase’s Calendar of Events — a 50-year-old directory of over 12,000 special days, weeks, and months — to have today declared National Handshake Day.

Chase, published by McGraw-Hill, agreed.

Ms. Holland said the idea was both whimsical and a good way to plug her book Help! Was That a Career Limiting Move? that she co-wrote with a colleague, Majorie Brody.

Ms. Holland said that although most people may find National Handshake Day silly, “Handshakes have a large impact from a business perspective.”

Kim Davis, president of TalentTrack Inc., a Toledo firm that handles executive recruitment for large companies, including Fortune 500 firms, said a correct handshake can be crucial.

“Handshakes are very important on the front end because it communicates to the other person your approach, your attitude, and your interest in the opportunity,” Mr. Davis said. “It also lets the other party know your level of confidence.”

A key to a good handshake, Ms. Holland said, is going in web to web, locking thumb joint to thumb joint.

“You need about two to three pumps, but don’t be a hanger-on and don’t go in so quickly and then out that makes you seem like a germophobe,” she said.

It’s important not to have an overly hard grip or a too soft one, she added.

Thomas Gutteridge, dean of the University of Toledo’s College of Business, said that in the global economy, a successful businessman not only has a good handshake, but also is aware of foreign cultural greetings.

“For example, in certain Muslim sects, a woman can’t shake the hand of a strange man. It’s taboo in their culture,” he said, explaining he encountered the situation during a graduation ceremony a few years ago at another university.

Business etiquette should be gender neutral, Ms. Holland said. A firm handshake should be given to a woman as well as a man, she added.

Contact Jon Chavez at: jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.

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