Your Signature Sends A Message
Author: William Keller, PA-C, RN, B.Med.Sc., M.Ed.

When you sign your name to professional or business correspondence, you may be revealing more about yourself than you want to.

According to William Keller, a graphologist and Certified Handwriting Analyst of Yorktown, Virginia, your signature can directly affect your level of success, or lack of, in your chosen field.

The way you sign your name sends signals about your personality to the conscious and subconscious minds of the reader. This may well tip the scales as to whether a prospect chooses to do business with you are not.

That elaborate, showy signature you practiced in high school or college could be a negative factor in your success. If you are promoting a conservative, forthright image and sign sales letters or literature in a large, sweeping, and barely legible fashion, it sends a confusing
message to the recipient.

Bold, in-your-face signatures reflect pride and confidence that may be over the top and interpreted as written by a vain, egotistical person who feels superior to the reader. Remember, the message may be subliminal; the receiver may not consciously realize why he or she is not entirely comfortable with your presentation.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, if you have written a powerful letter to recruit well heeled supporters into a risky, but potentially highly rewarding venture and then, sign your masterpiece with a tiny, left-leaning signature, this could be seen as a lack of confidence. You may well have neutralized many positive points of the letter.