Do you own a pen?…this may be a silly question, but in an article Richard Branson wrote recently he refers to the fact that 10% of 13 to 19 year olds don’t own a pen. 50% have never written a thank you letter.
I recently attended an excellent breakfast presentation with Peter Longhurst. He has written a book called “A simple thank you”. The whole book is about the power of writing a thank you note and the affect it has on the person who receives it”. With so much of us spending time on phones, tablets, laptops etc, the simple act of writing a thank you letter has been lost. I was so amazed that a book like this has to be written when only 10 years ago this was common practice.
Even worse? This new world order of messaging, emails and texts (ie. no pen-and-paper writing) means that the humble skill of correctly setting out a letter seems to be dying out too.
Working in recruitment I receive hundreds of cover letters each week. It is surprising how many people cannot grasp the simple act of writing a letter. I recently asked a 20 year old to write me a letter and he didn’t have any idea how to start. What he sent me made me so shocked that letter writing seems to have been dropped from the learning agenda.
I still love sitting down with a pen and paper, taking notes, handwriting cards to people and the odd letter. Receiving one is even better. It happens so rarely.
So sit down, write a thank you letter to someone and you will make a big difference to their day.
~
YVONNE KELLY – 18th NOVEMBER 2015
