With St. Patrick's Day coming around again, our thoughts turn to shamrocks, the "Luck of the Irish" and the "Gift of the Gab" ?.

We'll leave the Irish to their luck and their shamrocks, and concentrate here on the gift of the gab, which in less colloquial terms would be identified as persuasive communication skills.

In this article you are going to learn how to identify just who has this sought after gift, who has not, and how it will be used. And you can tell all this without ever meeting the person in question. How? By looking at their handwriting. So dig out those Valentine's from last month and check them for "Irish-ness" ? for this month.

Handwriting is a form of body language, and just as you can tell a great deal about someone from their body language, so can you tell a great deal about someone from their "frozen" ? body language as it appears in their writing.

So how, you ask, can you identify the gift of the gab from handwriting.

Well first of all, this requires speaking. The circle letters (a, o, the circle part of d, and g) can be thought of as the mouth. If the mouth is open, you can speak. If the mouth is shut you can't. So look for circle letters with a gap open instead of carefully closed.

How many of the circle letters are closed compared to how many there are in the writing sample? This is a rough guide to HOW talkative the writer will be. All circle letters wide open and watch out, whether or not this person has any kind of charm and gift, they will certainly be talkative.

Will what they say be truthful? A very important question.

Do the circle letters, both open and closed ones, have loops anywhere, or are they just "clean" ? circles? A loop or a knot on the right side of a circle letter is an indication of secrecy. This doesn't mean there is any dark secret being hidden, but you surely won't be getting the whole truth, begorra! (Sorry, got carried away with my Irish-ism there.)

A loop on the left side shows self deceit or that the writer doesn't see things quite the way others do. He will represent things in his own light, in his own understanding, which could be misleading if he is far off base from what the general understanding of the issue is.

But the one to really watch out for is the circle letter with loops on both the left and the right sides. This is the indication of intentional deceit - IF it is repeated throughout the writing. One double loop does not the liar make - it has to be repeated, so don't go labeling people pathological liars just because they made one slip of the pen which ended up with 2 loops on an "o" ?.

So now we know if they will talk a great deal and whether what they say will be truthful.

Now, lastly, we want to know if they are persuasive. Are people in danger of being swayed, carried along by this person's verbiage.

Look at the slant of the writing. The farther to the right the slant the more emotion - and it is emotion that persuades - will come with the words. A far right slanted writing, with open circles is a persuasive talker - the gift of the gab, truthful or untruthful.

And I lied, (double loops?) that was not the last item. I will add one more - long sweeping T-bars, the longer the better. This is the trait of enthusiasm which will sweep others along in its flow.

So as you enjoy your St. Paddy's day celebration, think of all that is Irish, and check everyone's writing for the gift of the gab, I leave you with this anonymous quote:

"May you always walk in sunshine, may you never want for more. May Irish angels rest their wings right beside your door." ?

Happy St. Paddy's Day.