Before I ever say a word to a new client, I already know something about them. Not from their résumé, their title, or the car they pulled up in, from their handshake.
I grew up with a Dad who was in the insurance industry for over 40 years. This exposed me to many of my Dad’s business clients over the years. I learned how to make conversation properly, what topics to talk about or not, how to make eye contact when someone is speaking to you and one of the most important-how to shake someone’s hand properly and what their handshake back says about them.
I learned to read a room fast, because I had to. And nowhere is that read faster or more revealing than in the two seconds it takes to shake someone’s hand.
The First Risk Assessment You’ll Ever Do
In my world, a risk assessment starts the moment you walk into a space, long before you pull out a checklist. Who’s confident. Who’s nervous. Who’s paying attention to the exits, and who isn’t paying attention at all.
A handshake is a compressed version of that same read. It tells you whether someone is present or distracted, confident or overcompensating, engaged or just going through the motions. In business, that snapshot matters just as much as it does in security work, you’re deciding, in real time, how much trust to extend.
Firm Doesn’t Mean Hard
Here’s where most people get it wrong: they think “firm handshake” means “crush their hand.” It doesn’t. A grip that’s too hard reads the same way an overcompensating stance does, it signals insecurity dressed up as confidence, not the real thing.
What you actually want is full, web-to-web contact, a grip with intention behind it, and a release that isn’t rushed. That’s it. It’s not about force. It’s about control, the same principle that runs through every part of protective work. Control isn’t loud. It’s steady.
What I Look For
A few things I pay attention to, whether I’m meeting a new client or standing next to one:
Web-to-web contact. A partial grip, just fingers, signals hesitation, whether the person means it to or not. Eye contact through the shake, not after it. Looking away mid-handshake is one of the more common tells of discomfort or distraction. Timing. Too short feels dismissive. Too long feels like it’s trying too hard. Two to three seconds is the sweet spot. Standing, not sitting. If you can stand for it, stand. It’s a small thing that changes how the whole interaction is received.
None of this is complicated. But most people never think about it, which is exactly why doing it well stands out.
Why It Matters More Than People Think
In protective work, first impressions aren’t a soft skill, they’re operational. A principal’s team, a hotel’s front-of-house staff, a client walking into a first meeting: how you present in that first contact shapes how much cooperation, patience, and trust you get for everything that follows.
Business isn’t so different. Whether you’re closing a deal, meeting a new referral partner, or walking into a boardroom, that handshake is the first data point the other person collects on you, and they’re collecting it whether you intend it or not.
So take the two seconds seriously. It’s the cheapest first impression you’ll ever make, and one of the easiest to get right.
—Colby Pickering is the founder of Blindspot Protection Group, a Florida-based security consulting and protective services firm specializing in vulnerability assessments, executive protection, and secure transport.—