Creating positive personal impact is one of the keys to success that I discuss in Straight Talk for Success. If you want to create positive personal impact you need to do three things. 1) Create, nurture and build your personal brand. 2) Be impeccable in your presentation of self – in person and on line. 3) Know and follow the basic rules of etiquette.
Handwritten thank you notes are a great way to demonstrate your knowledge of the basic rules of etiquette, and to create positive personal impact.
On January 30, I was the keynote speaker at a conference at the University of Denver called “Backpacks to Briefcases.” Among other things, I covered creating positive personal impact. The topic of handwritten thank you notes came up several times during the day. I agreed with the rest of the presenters that handwritten thank you notes are a great way to create positive personal impact.
Now comes the interesting part. I was away for most of last week attending my mother’s funeral. When I returned to my office, I found that I had received a handwritten thank you note from one of the students who was in the audience for my presentation. Katlyn Boches, a student at the Johnson and Wales University campus here in Denver, sent me a handwritten note that said…
“Dear Dr. Bilanich,
Thank you for the book and for speaking at the MPI conference. I greatly enjoyed your presentation and look forward to reading your book. I look forward to future correspondence.
Sincerely,
Katlyn Boches”
Katlyn was one of about 50 people who heard me speak that day. Several won copies of Straight Talk for Success. Katlyn was the only one who took the time to write me a thank you note. That made her one in 50. In other words, when it comes to creating positive personal impact, she is in the top 2% of people who heard me speak on January 30.
Wouldn’t you like to be in the top 2% when it comes to creating positive personal impact? I know I would. In this case, all it took was taking about five minutes to write and address a simple handwritten thank you note of 36 words.
If Katlyn chooses to get in touch with me in the future to ask for assistance with her job search, resume preparation or networking, I’ll be sure to respond and respond quickly. After all, she is in the top 2%. Why wouldn’t I respond to her?
The common sense point here is simple. Successful people create positive personal impact. Handwritten thank you notes are one of the easiest and quickest ways to create positive personal impact. Take the time to hand write a quick thank you note the next time and every time someone does something nice for you. If you do, you’ll quickly gain a reputation as someone who creates positive personal impact.
That’s my take on handwritten notes and creating positive personal impact. What’s yours? Please take a few minutes to share your experiences with writing and receiving thank you notes. As always, thanks for reading.
Bud
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