"We're constantly told how much first impressions count, that we judge people within seconds of meeting them. President Kennedy commissioned an entire study into how he should greet other leaders to make the best impression. But how much do these first impressions really count? And how do our greetings play into them? Can we really judge people by the way they greet, even by the strength of their handshake? Take the story of Mark Latham, the challenger in Australia's 2004 presidential race. Going into the election, he was way ahead in the polls. But all this changed following his encounter with incumbent John Howard at a radio station on the eve of polling day. Meeting Howard, Latham pulled him in close and arched over his opponent, shaking his hand vigorously. Footage of the handshake quickly spread over the internet. The following day, Howard was re-elected, with polls suggesting that the main reason for the sudden swing had been the negative reaction to Latham's domineering handshake. Something had deeply offended the Australian public. And if a relatively ordinary greeting could have such an adverse effect, maybe they could work the other way too – maybe they really could win you votes or get you a job.

"That our greetings matter might help explain some of our anxieties; it might also shed light on why we do them in the first place and what's really going on when we say hello. And, in turn, understanding why we greet might just help us know how to greet each other. To paraphrase Nietzsche, when we understand the why, the how becomes easy. Armed with the right information, maybe we can learn to make the perfect impression, ease our worries and avoid losing elections.

"In his book Queuing for Beginners, the cultural historian Joe Moran notes how he was inspired by the French writer Georges Perec. Living in Paris in the 1960s, Perec encouraged his readers to look again at the things we find ordinary and routine, such as a street sign, the way we park or even our table utensils. For it's often these things we take for granted and hardly notice – what he called the 'infra-ordinary' – that have the most meaning in our lives. As Moran concludes, 'the smallest details of mundane life can tell us stories about much larger national and global changes.' It's the same with greetings."