7 tips that Dr. Erica Brown has “picked up to make written thank-you notes more memorable”

We have fixed prayers to help us say thank-you to God when our own words aren’t expansive enough. But if you’re thanking humans, allow me to share some tips I’ve picked up to make written thank-you notes more memorable. Here are seven of them — one for each of your seven thank-yous:

♦ Be specific and detailed.

♦ Be authentic (this means avoiding clichés). You don’t have to say the actual words thank-you to mean them.

♦ Make sure this could only be from you and could only be to the recipient because it is that personal.

♦ Keep it short.

♦ The less a thank-you is expected, the more impact it will have. Surprise someone with a thank you.

♦ Write something meaningful enough that someone will want to save it.

♦ Never wait to say thank you. Time slips.

My friend Jeff says that when you receive a personal note, it is always the first thing you open in a pile of mail and the only thing you remember between the bills and circulars. I haven’t forgotten that advice. Thank you, Jeff.

Erica Brown, “The Art Of The Thank-You”, The Jewish Week (4 July 2014), 38.