LISTENING & SPEAKING

American English File 4

Signatures and Personality

a On a piece of paper write the sentence I look forward to hearing from you.
Then sign your name underneath and take a picture of it. Put it aside for now.

b Look at the signatures of some famous people. Can you identify any of
them? Do you know anything about these people’s personalities?

c Read an extract from a book about graphology. Do you believe that our
signature might say something about our personality?

W hat your Signature says about you

Your signature is the part of your handwriting that says the most about your
personality. It is common for your signature to change during your life
because it reflects how you develop and evolve as a person. You may have
more than one signature, for example a more formal signature (name and
last name) when you sign a credit card or your passport, and an informal
signature (just your first name) when you sign a birthday card.
Our signature is very much part of the way in which we present ourselves to
the world, so it can give some important clues about the kind of person we
are and how we feel about ourselves.

d 1 17,18,19, 20))) Listen to an expert in graphology talking about how to

interpret somebody’s personality from their signature. Complete the notes
below.

Taking notes

We often need to take notes when we are listening, for example, to

somebody giving a lecture. If you need to take notes when you are listening
to someone speaking in English, try to write down key words or phrases
because you won’t have time to write complete sentences. Afterward you
could expand your notes into full sentences.

The ways as which we present ourselves

The kind of person we are

1 17))) What's in your signature?

Your first name = your private self

Your last name =your public self, the way you are at social life

You use only initials either for your first name. You are more secretive and
protective about your personality

first name or your last name = private or public

There is a space between your name and last name = Are the 2 names more
close or if there is more space, that represent that you are more separate

1 18))) The size of your signature

Your first name is bigger than your last name = Means Privet self is more
important

Your last name is bigger than your first name = Your public self is more
important to you

Your whole signature is big = You are self-confident person

You sign in capital letters = Maybe big headed or very arrogant

Your signature is small = Insecure and low self esteem

1 19))) The legibility of your signature

Your signature is legible = have clear ideas

Your signature is illegible = disorganized

The more illegible your signature is... less asertive

1 20))) The angle of your signature

A rising signature = when your face a problems, work hard, determine,

maybe optimistic and ambitious

A descending signature = wets discoraged depress, your are not self-

confident

A horizontal signature = well balance and emotional stable, satisfied the life
is going

The angle of a signature may change depending on... how we are feeling

e In pairs, interpret the signatures of the famous people. Do any of the

interpretations coincide with what you already thought?

f Now share your signature in the chat and we will try to interpret it. Do you
agree with your the interpretation of your signature?

g Do you believe that you can learn anything about someone’s personality
by...?

• analyzing their handwriting (graphology)

• looking at their hands (palmistry)

• analyzing the position o f the sun, moon, and planets at the exact time of
their birth (astrology)

• another similar method

 Usain Bolt – Jamaican sprinter,
fastest man in the world

Leo Tolstoy – Russian writer

Charles Shulz – creator of Peanuts

comic

Barack Obama – former U.S.

President

Charles Dickens – English writer

Paris Hilton – celebrity

Elijah Wood – American actor – Lord

of the Rings
 Paul Mccartney – singer – The
Beatles

Tom Hanks - American actor

Sean Connery – Scottish actor –
James Bond

Transcript

What’s in your signature?

Our signature is very much part of the way in which we

present ourselves to the world, so it can definitely give us

some clues about the kind of person we are and how we

feel about ourselves.

As you know, a person’s signature usually consists of

a first name and a last name, or an initial and a last name.

Your first name represents your private self-how you

are with your family; and your last name represents your

public self-the way you are at work or school, and in

your social life.

If you use only initials either for your first name or

your last name in your signature, this means that you are

more secretive and protective about either your private

or public self
Now look at the space between your name and last

name. Are the two names very close together, or is there

a reasonable space between them? The more space there

is between your name and your last name, the more you

wish to keep these two parts of your personality separate.

1 18)))

The size of your signature

Now let's look at the size of your signature. If your first

name is bigger and more prominent in your signature

this usually means that your “ private” self is more

important to you than your “ public” self. If your last

name is bigger and more prominent, this probably means

that your "public” self is more important to you.

If your whole signature is very big compared with

the rest of your writing, this usually means that you

are a self-confident person. Some people actually sign

in capital letters, which suggests that they may be big-headed or even

arrogant rather than just self-confident.

On the other hand, people who sign their name with a

very small signature tend to be insecure and have low

self-esteem.

fl 19)))

The legibility of your signature

Another important factor is how legible your signature

is - in other words how easy it is to read. A legible

signature tends to mean that you’re a person with clear

ideas and objectives. On the other hand, if your signature

is difficult to read this may imply that you’re somebody

who doesn’t think very clearly and that you may be

disorganized or indecisive. It can also mean that you’re

secretive.

Generally speaking, the more illegible your signature

is, the less assertive you probably are as a person.

The angle of your signature

Finally, I want to say something about the angle of

your signature, that’s to say whether your signature is

horizontal, or goes up or goes down on the page.

A rising signature, one that goes up, means that

you are the kind of person who, when you’re faced with

problems, will work hard to overcome them. You’re

a determined person and probably optimistic and

ambitious. A descending signature, that is one that

goes down, suggests that you're the kind of person

who gets disheartened or depressed when you're

faced with problems, maybe because you are not very

self-confident. A horizontal signature, one that goes

straight across the page, usually indicates a person who

is well-balanced and emotionally stable, and someone

who is generally satisfied with the way their life is going.

But it’s worth bearing in mind that the angle of our

signature may change at different times of our lives,

depending on how we're feeling.