How to Create Rapport

There are two key ingredients for creating rapport in a handshake.
First, make sure that yours and the other person's palms
are in the vertical position so that no one is dominant or sub!
missive. Second, apply the same pressure you receive. This
means that if, on a firmness scale of 1-10, your handshake
registers a 7 but the other person is only a 5, you'll need to
back off 20% in strength. If their grip is a 9 and yours is a
7, you'll need to increase your grip by 20%. If you were
meeting a group of ten people, you'd probably need to make
several adjustments of angle and intensity to create a feeling
of rapport with everyone and to stay on an equal footing
with each person. Also keep in mind that the average male
hand can exert around twice the power of the average female
hand, so allowances must be made for this. Evolution has
allowed male hands to exert a grip of up to 100 pounds (45kg)
for actions such as tearing, gripping, carrying, throwing and
hammering.
Remember that the handshake evolved as a gesture to say
hello or goodbye or to seal an agreement so it always needs to
be warm, friendly and positive.