September 15, 2017

How to Write the Perfect Thank You

How to write a scholarship thank you. How to write an interview thank you. How to write a gift thank you. How to write a thank you note. How to write a thank you letter. How to write a thank you email. What to put in a thank you. | brazenandbrunette.com

Sorry I missed Wednesday but I'm back again friends! Today's post is all about the art of the thank you note. I'm from a small Texas town where manners are huge so I've written tons of thank you's for everything from graduation presents to buying my animal at the stock show. I know it sounds old-fashioned but you'd be surprised how much it will really mean to someone when you show a little gratitude. And if they're someone who was raised like I was, it seems very rude when you are expecting a thank you from someone and then you get nothing in return. So long story short, write a thank you! 

Personally my favorite are hand-written thank you's because they are much more personal. For those, it's really worth it to invest in some quality thank you cards and if you can, get matching self-addressed envelopes so you don't have to write your name and address over and over again. But if you have a lot of thank you's to write like with graduation gifts, it's fine to just order bulk thank you cards and then get return address labels (I promise you'll use these a LOT in life). What I always do is write out what I'm going to say on a piece of paper and then copy that word-for-word to make sure that I don't accidentally screw up and have to waste an entire card. I also highly recommend getting smear-proof pens because you don't want to give someone a sloppy thank you.


The Scholarship Thank You

If someone gives you money you better be sending them a thank you note! Don't bite the hand that feeds ya, right? Start off by addressing the full committee/organization that gave you the award, don't just thank the treasurer or whoever signed the check. If your school gave you the scholarship, you can just address it to the school president. Then go right into the thanks. Make sure you include the name of the scholarship and thank them for selecting you to receive it. Next I usually give them a quick background of who I am, what grade I am in, and what my career plans are, just so they know who it was that they're giving all this money to. After that, I usually talk about how the money will be used/make school better for me. Just something to remind them of why they were right to pick you. End it full circle by again thanking them for the scholarship and telling them how much it means to you and then sign it!

Dear Members of the Amarillo Bar Association,

I greatly appreciate you awarding me the Amarillo Bar Foundation Scholarship for the 2017-2018 school year. I was born and raised near Amarillo so receiving this scholarship felt like support from my home and encourages me to continue my legal education. I am currently a 3L and am interested in hopefully pursuing a successful career in the civil legal field. As I'm sure you're all aware of, law school is extremely expensive so I appreciate the opportunity to focus on studying rather than on taking out yet another student loan just to cover books and eventually Bar prep. Thank you again for selecting me to receive your scholarship and for supporting my dreams.

Sincerely,

/s/ Nikki Boyd


The Interview Thank You

Ok so this is probably time-sensitive so this will actually likely be an email instead of an actual note. I like to send mine the evening after an interview once I've relaxed and then it will be one of the first things in their inbox in the morning. Since this is an email, it can be short and sweet (especially since they're probably busy and have 50 other emails to read that day). The trick to this is to be professional and business like while still being warm and personal. You don't want this to sound like something you send to everyone and just replace the name.

Obviously start off with Dear Mr./Mrs. Whoever. Then again the first thing you want to do right out of the door is thank them for taking the time to meet with you/call you/however y'all did the interview. Then hit it hard on the personal. If you two have something in common, throw in how you appreciated meeting someone you have something in common with. If you talked about anything interesting, do a follow up on how you're still thinking about it. If they cracked a joke, let them know how much you appreciate them making the situation more comfortable. Just find a way to connect with them and work it into the letter. Next, do a quick elevator pitch one last time because after all this is still a future employer. Even just a little mention about how you can fit the job description that they described during the interview can help you sell yourself one last time. Just don't make this a cover letter disguised as a thank you. And then easy-peasy end it by thanking them again and maybe even wishing them a good day. Since you've already spent the entire letter thanking them, I think the best salutation is Best or Sincerely instead of another Thank You since at some point you get redundant. And if this is an email, there's no use to do your name and then the 4 spaces because you won't be singing this.

Dear Mr. Sir (ha Holes reference),

I wanted to quickly thank you for taking the time to get to know me yesterday. Interviews can be stressful, so I am grateful for how comfortable you and Stanley made me feel while we were talking. Office has been my top choice because the work experience you offer coincides exactly with the type of law that I hope to practice. The values-based culture and focused environment of Office is what excites me the most about beginning my legal career here [we had talked about their values a lot in the interview]. After learning more about the responsibilities and requirements of working with your in-house counsel, this externship feels like a perfect fit for me. I know that this would be a job I would enjoy and learn first-hand what it takes to be successful at providing counsel for a company while maintaining positive relationships with its clients. Again, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me and have a great Tuesday.

Sincerely,

Nikki Boyd 

The Gift Thank You

People sleep on gift thank you's but if anyone over 30 gives you a gift, write them a thank you. This is you investing in future gifts because if you write them a thank you then they'll like you more, and if they like you then you'll get more gifts! But for real though just be polite. In the words of James Franco, this letter will be same same, but different from the others. The basic formula will be, thank them for the gift, tell them how you'll use it/how they gave such a great gift, most likely you know them so throw in something personal, and then thank them again.

Dear Boyd Family,

Thank you so much for the laundry hamper that you gave me for graduation. It seems like no matter how often I do laundry I always end up with a full hamper so I am grateful for the large and sturdy one that you picked for me! I know that I will be getting the full use out of it daily. I also wanted to thank you for taking the time to watch me walk the stage. I can't wait until Nikki graduates next year and I can be there to cheer her on as she gets her diploma. Thanks for supporting me for these past four years and always welcoming me as if I were a member of the family.

Sincerely,

/s/ Nikki Boyd

Nikki Boyd


See guys, all it takes is 10 minutes out of your day and 1 paragraph to be a good person! Of course you can always stretch these out to even a paragraph per part of the formula if you ever need it to be closer to a page long. Just remember that the key is to make it personal! Make sure that you remind them of who you are if you think they won't remember you and make sure that you connect yourself to the adressee and whatever it is you're thanking them for. Just remember that even though it's tempting to get lazy, people can always tell if you're being insincere and they'll recognize if you say the same thing to them twice. Get in the habit of writing a thank you note for everything and boom look at you adulating. Plus, manners never go out of style! 
let's be friends!

5 comments:

  1. Thank you notes are so important! I think it's definitely a dying art, but I really appreciate getting thank-yous, and I hope the people I wrote to appreciated them too.

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  2. I'm sure they did! We have a Christmas card holder for all the ones we get after giving out graduation gifts 😂

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  3. This is truly helpful!! A handwritten thank you note shows good etiquette and lets others know that you sincerely appreciate their generosity.

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  4. Such a wonderful advice.. Sharing gratitude with a short card or note is a great way to let the people in your life know you care. Thanks!!

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  5. This is such a great advice. A thank-you note is not just a nice gesture, it is an absolute must for your clients and your business too...

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