How to express gratitude
From ArticleWorld
To express gratitude or to say thank you to a person is almost as important as saying sorry or expressing your sympathy. In many traditional societies the first words that are taught to a child once they start speaking is to say ‘thank you’ – to their elders, visitors or to each other. Every body appreciates being thanked for anything that they did even though they may brush it aside by saying ‘oh, it was nothing’. Saying thank you is just a polite way of telling the other person that their help was appreciated and neglecting to say sorry may be understood to mean that help was not appreciated or was unwanted. So express your gratitude graciously and take help from the tips below on how to do it.
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A few suggestions
- When you are thankful then be thankful and say it in so many words. Just a verbal communication is enough if it was a routine matter. For example someone hands you a book in the library that is beyond your reach or gives you a pen to sign your name in a bank will require nothing beyond a thank you and a smile.
- Another way to express your thanks is to write a note to the person who has done you the god turn. You could buy one of those ready made thank you cards from a stationery store or write a short letter to thank the person. Make it personal by mentioning why you are thanking them and word it in such a manner that it does not sound banal and trite.
- A really sweet way to say thank you is to give the person a small token gift along with a thank you card. Make the gift thoughtful (maybe a small book on Art) but not expensive to avoid embarrassing them.
- If a friend does you a favor, you can take them out for a treat to a restaurant or just for ice-creams – just another way of saying thank you.
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Do’s
- Be original in your thank you note. Don’t write clichéd and done to death phrases that mean so little.
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Don’ts
- Don’t overdo it. Be gracious but do not kill the sentiment by going over the top.
- Don’t forget to say thank you, in fact it should be second nature but in case you do forget, remember to thank them whenever you remember (of course not six months later).