The Art of Greeting

In business, the etiquette of a greeting holds a special place — it shapes the first impression and sets the tone for everything that follows. Over years of watching and practicing, I’ve gathered a few key rules that help avoid awkwardness and show respect for the person across from you.

1. A handshake is a moment lived together. A handshake is done standing, looking each other in the eye, with nothing between you, your full attention on the other person.

2. Group meetings. When you walk into a large group, shaking hands with every single person is overkill (the “I’m the tsar” model). It’s not just a pointless waste of time — when you have to reach across someone, it’s an invasion of their personal space too. A spoken greeting is plenty.

3. Politeness doesn’t always need physical contact. Greetings that look like half-rising from a chair while your eyes stay glued to the monitor, or trying to stretch a hand across a two-meter table or some other obstacle, are better done out loud.

4. Who greets first. Whoever walks into the room or joins the group is always the first to greet the others out loud — regardless of status or anything else.

5. Meetings at the table. It’s best not to start negotiations or a meal until everyone has arrived and greeted one another standing. After that, the host of the event gives the signal to begin.

6. A handshake is a choice, not an obligation. The spoken greeting is offered first by the younger toward the elder, subordinates toward managers, men toward women, fans toward their idols. Whether to extend a hand for a handshake is left to the one being greeted.

7. Business etiquette has no gender preferences. That said, the custom with a woman is to greet her out loud; if she extends her hand, it’s fitting to answer with a handshake.

8. A handshake is not arm wrestling. No need to crush the other person’s hand to show off your superior strength or willpower.

9. Matters of tact and hygiene. Don’t extend your hand to someone who’s eating, or doing something involving hand hygiene, or in the middle of a conversation with someone else, or writing by hand, and so on. Interrupting the process isn’t tactful. Only when (and if) they extend a hand to you later is it fitting to answer with a handshake.

The short version: in business we shake hands more often than we need to (even if it comes from genuine warmth).

In everyday life, greetings happen more spontaneously, more by instinct — and that’s fine. But knowing these rules is our choice for more respectful, more effective conversation. 😎