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Dear Serbi.
We did it.
Thanks so much for being a great partner on the strategic communications project.
Your progress on your learning goals was admirable and
you are incredibly helpful online.
Best, Claire.
It's so easy to hand write a letter, it takes just a minute.
But we don't do it very often.
Think about the last time that you went to your mailbox and opened a real letter.
You probably felt amazing.
The art of handwriting doesn't have to be dead.
Today, we're going to talk to you about the power of hand written communications.
When you can employ hand writing over digital communications.
And share with you some examples from our own life
about when it's been moving for us.
This early we know that hand written communications are better.
But why is this?
First, they're more memorable.
In a deluge of snaps and
blasts and emails, a handwritten letter really stands out.
They're also longer lasting.
Now you may argue that email is eternal, and
in the literal sense you'd probably be right.
But we don't print out our text messages and put them on our refrigerator.
Or save them in a box that we go and review on a rainy day.
And in that sense, handwriting lasts longer.
They also demonstrate a much deeper personal investment in the relationship.
Knowing that somebody took time out of their day to sit down,
jot down a little note.
Get a postage stamp, and put it in the mail is incredibly powerful for
the recipient.
Lastly, handwritten communication will improve your health, reduce anxiety,
help you sleep better, a little bit of an exaggeration.
But it's been proven that people who take time out of their day to
write down their gratitude have a deeper satisfaction with life.
So now we know a few reasons why handwritten communication is more
powerful.
I'm going to pass it off to Clare to talk about when we can use this [INAUDIBLE].
>> Thanks, Melanie.
There are many different types of handwritten communication.
You can send thank you cards, notes to say I'm sorry,
to send condolences or congratulations or holiday cards.
So next time you think about sending a text or
an email, why not send a handwritten note instead?
Ben and I are now going to walk through a few examples from our lives of when
handwritten communication has impacted our relationships.
In preparing for this presentation, we all went through our papers and
figured out what we held onto over the years.
I found this note from almost ten years ago, from my college roommate.
It was really just written, just because she wanted to say that she was sorry for
being a bad roommate recently.
Which I'm sure we can all relate to, [LAUGH] and
also to wish me luck on my consulting interviews.
But it really stuck to me, and I held onto it for all these years.
It's pretty interesting.
This demonstrates the permanence of hand written communication.
Had she just sent me a text, or
said she was sorry in person, I certainly wouldn't have held on to it for this long.
But it also wouldn't have impacted our relationship in the same way.
Now I'm going to pass it on to Ben for another example.
>> Thank you Claire.
So, a few weeks ago, my girlfriend and I celebrated our one year anniversary.
Yep, and to celebrate this amazing milestone we, of course,
went out to a five course, fancy surf and turf.
But what I will remember is not the food that we ate, in fact,
it won't even be the meal itself.
What I will remember for the years to come is this lovely and
written piece of work arts that my girlfriend Lou has given to me.
Should I read a few lines here?
>> Yes >> Yes?
Okay. Alright if you must.
>> [LAUGH] >> It has been a year and
what a year it has been.
Thanks for the cheers and chuckles, cuddles and
hustles and all the bear hugs and monkey business.
Okay, I'll stop right here before she
finds out- >> [LAUGH]
>> I'm reading this to a class and
kills me in my sleep.
>> [LAUGH] >> But
through her piece of handwritten love note to me I feel loved and cherished.
The handwritten note captured Lou's care, kindness, and thoughtfulness.
I know, I know what you guys are thinking.
Not everyone is as smooth and pulled it off like Lou did.
But don't worry.
Surbhi is here to show you a few shortcuts.
>> Thank you.
Sending handwritten notes to people we care about would be really amazing.
But how do they find time to write all these notes?
How do we think of the content there?
Our tip is 1 thought, 20 words.
That's all you actually need to put in the letter.
Not every note needs to be as detailed or long as what Ben received from Lou.
That's for special occasions.
But for most occasions something which a person called specific to the audience
would be enough to make it memorable.
Let me share an example.
I'm sure during every holiday season, we all receive a lot of cards, or
maybe just emails nowadays.
Last time when I was going through the stack of all my cards,
the one which stood out to me was from my cousin.
It was a simple printed note.
But on that he had added a note for me saying, Dear Surbhi,
hope you are enjoying being back at school.
We think of you every time we are discussing school.
That's all. That's all that it wrote.
But is there a way we can use this power in business settings?
That's where we all are headed,
to be able to communicate effectively in business places.
Yes, we can, and in the same way.
Let's take a step back and think.
Why do we actually communicate?
What's our goal in all these business settings?
It's to persuade, we want to persuade our audience to act and
do as per our recommendation.
Robert Cialdini, the famous psychologist, in his book, Influence,
mentions hand written notes to be a really strong tool of persuasion.
He talks about Joe's [INAUDIBLE].
Joe was a legendary salesman who sold an average of 35 cars every week for
15 years of his career.
35 cars is a really big number.
And how did he do that?
He created an emotional connection with his audience, with his clients.
Every month, Joe would sit down print out a few cards and
write a note to each of his clients.
It's just one specific part for them.
[INAUDIBLE] felt special.
They like loved Joe.
Every time they had to buy a new car or
suggest or recommend a person to their friends, it was Joe.
I see them [INAUDIBLE] but I'm not going to be selling cars so how do I apply this?
Well, let's have a look at this.
I'm sure all of you here have received a similar letter in the last two years.
At least the and GSB.
And what is the first thing that grabs your attention here?
It's that hand written note by in the bottom.
And that stands out.
This letter arrives for all of us in a very interesting moment.
It is the moment when all of us are weighing different options.
HBS versus GSP?
MBA or not an MBA.
This creates an instant emotion connection.
This leads to a sort of persuasion.
And it comes within 24 to 48 hours of that call from director the previous day.
It does have an impact.
I find really special that he mentioned not just me, but also my husband in this.
Ben felt really special that Derek wrote congratulations in Chinese for him.
And it's the same case with all of my other friends.
We all are confident that these notes are really specific to us.
[INAUDIBLE] This is surely more than 20 words and
who to you write 500 of these every year?
There's a template to this.
If you look at these notes.
>> [LAUGH] >> There are four parts to it and
there's essentially 5 to10 words specific to each person in that note.
But those words are really specific to you.
So that's all the effort it takes, and well we all are here at GSB.
GSB has the highest acceptance rate among applicants.
How can we apply this going ahead in our business settings?
Next time when you are welcoming someone new for your team.
Or you are handing out a promotion letter [INAUDIBLE] promotional [INAUDIBLE] letter
to your team member.
Take a minute to write a thought personal to them on that printed formal letter.
They will not remember the printed formal letter, but
that personal note will take you a really long way.
It will stick with them.
>> Thank you, Surbhi.
Now we hope you're as excited as we are to employ written
hand communication to your hearts content.
But before you do that ask yourself this question.
Will handwritten communication be more effective or impactful in this situation?
Five years ago I received a piece of handwritten work.
With beautiful handwriting.
But I must say, it was the worst resume I've ever seen in my life.
It just crushed my soul when I noticed that she still had nine more to go
as she walked around to other companies at the career fair.
One simply does not use a handwritten resume when
applying to a software engineering position.
Just like we didn't hand write our PowerPoint presentation today.
Though I don't want any handwritten resume from you,
I do appreciate it if you send me any handwritten notes after our talk.
All jokes set aside, we hope you walk out of this with the following few takeaways.
One, why do we write handwritten notes?
It can be memorable, it can be very thoughtful, and
it builds stronger and lasting relationships.
And some even say it improves the quality of life.
Two, communication notes
can be used in many occasions such as love notes and many more.
And lastly, you don't have to hand write an entire essay.
Sometimes you can add a personal touch and
use a general template to make it more thoughtful and impactful.
And it can be applied to both personal and professional settings.
So we are now open up for Q and A, and we encourage you to take handwritten notes.
It will help you to remember more, and perhaps live a happier life.
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