Creekbank Stories Curt Iles, Storyteller
We’re (yes, you’re part of this project) writing an e-book entitled, A Pineywoods Manifesto: Field Notes to the Full Life. It’s written to my grandsons as well as those young men who haven’t had a male role model to teach the basics of life.
Yesterday, we talked about how to shake hands like a man. You can read it at www.creekbank.net/blog
Here’s the next step any Pineywoods Man would do well to master.
Eye to Eye
That handshake doesn’t have to be long or vertical. I’ve shaken hands with some fellows when I thought they were going to wrench one of our elbows out of socket shaking up and down.
But there is a part of a man’s handshake that doesn’t involve the right hand, but is equally important. Look a man in the eye. The combination of the firm shake and eye-to-eye contact is a powerful tool.
It’s not a stare. It’s more of an awareness. I see who you are and value you as a man. It also says that I’m confident enough to look directly into your eyes, which are truly the windows to the soul. Staring at the ground or past the person infers that something’s wrong with you or them.
Neither of those are the impressions you want to make.
Simply look a man square in the eye and do it with a smile. In fact, I believe you can make your eyes smile. Heck, you can make your entire face smile. Not in a fake way, but simply enjoying people. This applies to the introvert just as much as the extrovert.
Let whomever you’re meeting, whether it’s the first time or an old friend, feel that they are at this moment the most important person in the world.
Because that’s who they are as you firmly shake their hand and look them in the eye.
Tomorrow, we’ll talk about introductions and the untapped power of calling someone by their name.
