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.