Tonya Reiman

With body language, almost every part of your body speaks silently, communicating things that may or may not be congruent with the words that are coming out of your mouth. The palms of your hands are no exception.

Are they being truthful?

When someone shows you their palms during an interaction, it is often a sign of openness. When someone is being truthful or opening up to you, they will often expose all or part of their palms to you. This is an unconscious gesture that says, "I'm telling the truth." The same goes for the opposite. When someone is hiding their palms, it can mean that they are not open to speaking with you or that they are not being truthful with you.

Look for the palms

We teach salespeople to look for a customer to expose their palms. for example, if a customer is giving you a reason why he doesn't want your product or service and their reasons are valid in their minds, they will often times expose their palms. If the reasons are not valid in their minds or he is lying to you, the customer may hide their hands in some way. It may be displayed by them folding their arms with their palms tucked under their arms or possibly by them sticking their hands in their pockets.

Gestures are linked to emotions

A weird fact about this body language behavior is that it is very difficult for a person to lie when they are exposing their palms to you. this is the way body language works. The gestures people make are linked directly to the emotions they are feeling. There is a lot of power in the palms of your hand as it relates to body language. This short little tip is by no means a complete education in how much there is to know about the palms and body language. But when you understand some of things that can be communicated to you through noticing a person's palms and gestures, you can really learn a lot.

Become a Master Observer

Practice using these techniques and more importantly, notice it in other people's gestures during communication. Being master observer is part of what makes someone a master communicator. The more you notice in others, the further you are on your way to becoming a master at reading other people's body language and behavior. These are things that give you the competitive edge. Now go out and practice!