While I was working, I regularly attended state and national conferences that always included a keynote speaker. Does anyone ever remember who the keynote speaker was or what s/he said? Probably not, unless it was something exceptionally good or exceptionally awful. I can think of examples of both, but even so, I only remember the tidbit of good or awful and nothing else of the speech.

One of my good tidbit memories is the speaker who began by asking audience members to raise a hand if they’ve been thanked too many times. No hands were raised. The speaker followed up by asking audience members to raise a hand if they are just one “thank you” away from too many times. Again, no hands were raised. A little bit farther into his presentation, the speaker said that it’s always good to say “thank you” and that, if you do, people always appreciate it. On the other hand, he continued, “If you write a thank note, they post it on the bulletin board.”