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Introduction

I CALL THEM GRAPHO-SKEPTICS. Like most Americans, they think graphology, the study of handwriting analysis, is a parlor game—a handy alternative to the Ouija board, or a close cousin of fortune-telling, palmistry, astrology, and phrenology. They show me samples of their handwriting and expect me to deliver some vague, safe generalities—nothing demonstrably false, but nothing terribly specific either. Then I tell them details about their character that even their spouses or close friends do not know, and hopefully without sounding too self-serving, I describe the intimate dynamics of their relationship with their parents. “Who told you that?” is the grapho-skeptic’s favorite question. I always respond the same way: I point to their handwriting sample and say, “You did.”

On one particular occasion, the grapho-skeptic in question, the CEO of a thriving investment banking boutique, was seated to my left at a dinner party. When I told him what I did for a living, he gave me the amused, condescending look I’m so used to seeing. Taking out his business card, he scribbled a sentence on the back. “Analyze this,” he commanded. “If I like it, I’ll throw you more business than you can handle.”

A few days later, I could not resist delivering a three-page analysis of that one sentence. I showed him how his writing revealed his desire to dominate situations, his impatience with people who could not keep pace with his intelligence, his need to be surrounded by those who were not afraid to challenge him or to ask tough questions. We also spoke about why he had trouble sustaining close relationships with women.

“Okay, I’m convinced,” he said, when he called me the next day. “Though I still wonder if you’ve been talking to my ex-wife.”

He then hired me to help him learn more about his colleagues, his relationships to others, and himself. And that, when you get right down to it, is what I do for a living. I use my skills as a professional graphologist and executive coach to empower my clients and to give them the certainty they need to make the right hire, cut the best deal, or simply better understand the most important relationships in their lives.

Why is graphology such an important tool in the workplace and in our personal lives? Handwriting analysis? you wonder. Perhaps, as it does for the grapho-skeptic, that very term conjures up for you images of crystal balls, palmistry, and zodiac charts. You are not alone in your perception! But the truth is, there is nothing New Agey about it. Graphology has been studied and practiced for centuries, and its roots are based in psychology and science. You may be surprised to learn that graphology is seriously used in investigative work, business, and counseling. Fortune 500 companies, police departments, colleges, and other respected institutions and businesses have benefited from its applications.

Our “handwriting” is made up of symbols we put down on paper. How each of us creates these symbols is what makes it so fascinating … and revealing. Our handwriting is uniquely ours: an imprint as singular as a fingerprint, and a key to our individuality.

Before my own study of graphology, I would make judgments about people, based on first impressions, which proved to be a superficial and often inaccurate method. Handwriting analysis offers a more reliable and objective way to assess personality and potential for greatness or dishonor, educational and personal achievement, parenting and interpersonal skills, romantic and business compatibility, or entrepreneurial and leadership traits. Graphology arrives at its ultimate assessment by uncovering not only the writer’s “public” face but also what lies behind the mask—insights that speak to a person’s character.

Relationships are seldom what they seem. As the American screenwriter Frances Marion said: “Do we really know anybody? Who does not wear one face to hide another?” While the average person can only surmise about what makes another person tick, a professional graphologist can tell us much, much more.

The best data gatherer and all-around computer in existence is the human mind, that “subconscious psychologist” which exists in all of us and has evolved from generations of experience in interpersonal evaluation. When we write, that subconscious is revealed by how we create those strokes and slants, and graphology helps us decipher these personal codes.

Freud believed it’s impossible for anyone to keep a secret, but in actuality, when it comes to self-protection, people can be quite adept at keeping things hidden. And when we suddenly discover that a person we thought we knew turns out to be not who we think he is, it is shocking and disturbing. How do you reach inside to unlock the combination that defines another person? How can we understand more about another to foster compatibility, communication, and closeness? How can we lift the haze surrounding another soul? And what do we learn about ourselves in the process? Graphology is a tool to aid you in the journey of self-discovery, as well as the discovery and understanding of those with whom you live and work.

Though we’ve managed to accumulate considerable knowledge about ourselves, few of us are aware of how much we know. Therefore, the study of graphology, along with other techniques of personality assessment, turns out to be a matter of simply discovering the sources in others and ourselves that have always existed but been unknown and untapped. It is a single, direct, and immediate way in which one’s weaknesses and blind spots can be discovered.

In the course of reading this book, you’ll learn how to look at a writing pattern and decode it as professional graphologists do. You will examine the spacing, movement of letters, form of connection, margin, slant, signature, and much, much more.

You will also recognize how to achieve compatibility with a mate, friend, business partner, professional adviser, a team or family member. And, because the book is replete with illustrations of handwritings, along with charts and checklists, you will gain a better understanding of yourself and others with whom you come in contact.

This book is merely a first step, but I hope one that helps you begin discovering a discipline that will bring you insight and enjoyment in revealing the hidden traits and emotions that make up that fascinating enigma, the human personality.

ARLYN IMBERMAN

NEW YORK CITY