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I love when emotes include elements of your description or clothing.
(emote rakes his fingers through his long black hair.)
This reinforces my mental image of how the character looks (especially important if your mud uses names instead of short descs) without having to keep reading the full desc. Some people seem to read a desc just once when they meet somebody, and then rarely again. Also, if you have some change, like wounds or seeming tired, and don't want to rewrite your desc, it is good to emote with it. (emote limps across the room, clearly favoring her left leg.)
Pay attention to the weather and the room you're in, and include these in your emotes. (emote pulls the hood up on her shabby gray cloak as it starts to rain. emote crouches down by the campfire, stretching her hands toward the flames.) When people do this, it really makes the game much more immersive.
Also, pay attention to the positions and locations of others in the room, and be sure that what you do is physically possible, ie don't have your halfling pat a elf on the head.)
On emote length, I prefer short ones myself, especially when there are more than two people in the room. I think that the length and frequency of your emotes can affect how your character is perceived. Long, infrequent emotes may make them seem more dramatic, ponderous, and possibly thoughtful. Short quick emotes can make them seem active, exciteable, and possibly annoying. A lot of little emotes can also help hide sneaky actions.
It's a good idea to alias your favorite emotes, things that your character does often the same way. So he might have a certain way he bows, a particular laugh, a nervous habit. Don't rely on these aliases, but they do make things easier in fast situations, and consistent actions help make a character more consistent.
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