At first glance, Mal’s no great shakes in familiarity stakes

Malcolm Turnbull has opted for a less conventional seated handshake with US President Barack Obama.

Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull in Washington to meet with US President Barack Obama

Tony Abbott was an exponent of the standing double-handed “polit­icians” handshake while a more “rigid” Malcolm Turnbull opted for a less-conventional seated handshake with US President Barack Obama.

Providing his insights on the Oval Office meetings of both Mr Abbott and the Prime Minister with the leader of the free world, body lang­uage analyst David ­Alssema concluded that the former prime minister appeared more at ease than his successor.

“It showed on Tony’s face and expressions that he was a little more comfortable with the situation,” he said.

In his meeting with Mr Obama in June 2014, Mr Abbott appeared relaxed and ended the conversation in the Oval Office by standing first and shaking hands, clasping his left hand around the President’s elbow — a classic gesture of familiarity.

“It’s called a politician's handshake,” said Mr Alssema. “Normally, if you don’t know an individual it can come across as not genuine. But it’s trying to create­ a connection.

“If you haven’t got a connection and you do that, it can be detri­mental. If you do have a connection and you do that, it’s more intimate. The higher up you go with your other hand, the more intimat­e it is.”

After the handshake, Mr Abbott and the President engaged in friendly chitchat and Mr Obama warmly grasped both Mr Abbott­’s shoulders, a sign he was “taking back control” of the situation.

By contrast, the Oval Office meeting yesterday saw the Prime Minister leaning in for a seated handshake with Mr Obama, suggesting he was “a little bit more rigid” or “awkward” than his predecessor. “Malcolm Turnbull was leaning in to the President. So, leaning in, it did look like it was not a standard handshake. A lot of people don’t shake hands from a seated position,” he said.

“It is a little bit unnatural. But, again, that was obviously for the cameras to show a relationship.”

Mr Alssema suggested Mr Turnbull’s more awkward encounter could be a product of the environment and the intense media pressure on him to show off the friendly relations between both countries.

He suggested there was more to the images that met the eye. “With Malcolm Turnbull maybe there was a conversation after that video ... I don’t think that by looking at it, it was over.” He added: “I did see the President had a really strong handshake and I wouldn’t say that Malcolm’s was weak. I think both were quite strong.”