“Writing is thinking on paper.” ~ William Zinsser
Your handwriting reveals so much about your personality. In fact, a well trained graphologist can recognize over a hundred personality traits in just one page of a handwritten letter. While the body of the writing shows the person’s day-to-day personality, the signature is like his nicely taken picture, for it shows how he wants to appear to the world around him. It is like a business card that represents how the person wants to be perceived by others and how he thinks others think of him. Therefore, oftentimes you’ll notice that the body of writing differs greatly from the signature; it is like an ordinary day’s clothing (body of writing) compared with your Sunday’s best (signature) where you only want to show off your best for people to see.
Your self-image can be determined by analyzing your signature. It will reveal your social skills, how you relate to your parents (especially your father), how honest you are, your stability, confidence level, and how you compare yourself to others. Those traits will be shown in the size of your signature, if it is slanting to the left or right, size of first name versus last name, how large or small the initial letters are, if there are any additional strokes above, under, or directly on the signature, pressure, length and width of individual strokes, where it is placed in relation to the rest of the writing, as well as many other details.
Here are some examples of what different signatures mean:
If the signature is about the same as the rest of the writing in its size, slant, pressure, and style the person will behave the same in public as in private. They don’t need to put up a mask to show something they are not when around others and with them what you see is what you get.
Sometimes you’ll see a signature that is slightly larger than the body of the writing which signifies that the writer has a healthy self esteem and confidence when around others.
When the signature is much larger than the writing, the author wants to be seen and heard wherever he goes. In actuality he feels a little small inside and therefore he tries to appear extra big to compensate for his insecurities. It is the same principle as in life: if someone constantly brags about his conquests in public, you can be sure that it is for the sole purpose of overcompensating for his doubts about himself in those very areas.
A signature that is smaller than the body of writing indicates insecurity. This person tends to be shy and would rather be in the shadows in a social situation. Getting attention is not on his list.
How about two different styles in writing: the body is right slanted, while the signature is vertical? Right slanted writing signifies someone who freely expresses emotional feelings, is affectionate and passionate. A vertical slant is used by people who are always in control, level headed, and show no emotion. Well, his signature is his public persona, so he will appear cool and collected to strangers, acquaintances, and coworkers, while at home (body of writing) he’ll be warm and tender with his family.
Now, how about the opposite: vertical writing with right slanted signature? This writer will be fun to be around, the kind of guy you want to take to every party, but at home he’ll be distant and not easy to approach.
I’m sure that you have encountered the following quite often: legible writing with a scribbled signature; this person wants to make sure that you will be clear about what is written, but would rather not communicate anything about himself. This will be seen in people who are not in a direct relationship with you and always in a hurry, i.e. doctors. Now, when you get a note like that from someone you know and that signature is at a distance from the rest of the writing, you can be pretty sure that the writer does not want to even be associated with the text written above, this is often seen in “Dear John” letters.
