15

I am just finishing my PhD and I have now been on the job market and started to speak at many universities. I have realized it is a time commitment for a person to host a seminar speaker and am really grateful for the experiences that many of my hosts have given me at these universities. For this reason, I have made a policy of sending thank you notes to those that host me when I visit another university's seminar. These notes that I write typically just say thank you for taking time to host me and funding my visit (if they funded it). It also thanks them for their input and questions about my work if they gave me a useful idea. One of my colleagues has told me this is odd, so I wanted to ask:

Is writing thank you notes to someone for inviting me to speak and hosting me at their university overkill? Is there any negative outcome that can happen from doing this?

Improve this question
2
  • 1
    Check out Randy Pausch's lectures. He specifically mentions the importance of thank you notes.
    – user13107
    May 7, 2014 at 8:16
  • 4
    Even if it is unusual, I can't see how it could possibly be bad unusual :)
    – starsplusplus
    May 7, 2014 at 10:33

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
20

I agree that sending a paper thank-you note is a little unusual. There's nothing wrong with it, of course. You may come across as slightly eccentric, but academia has plenty of people like that!

A thank-you email, on the other hand, is perfectly usual.

Improve this answer
1
  • 3
    A paper note does have some old times flavour that some people will appreciate. It will certainly help them remember you in the future...
    – Davidmh
    May 7, 2014 at 9:37
8

I have had the pleasure of taking a few courses with the most thanked man in computer science. I think part of the reason so many people have thanked him in their papers is that he consistently teaches his students to show appreciation for people's help and to be helpful themselves. The students he advices also tend to do well in their careers. I think there is a causal relationship (although he also picks good students).

By all means, keep showing appreciation for people's help. Even if paper thank-you notes are unusual in your field, just send them anyway.

Improve this answer
-3

If I share my knowledge to people in my seminar, why should I be thanking them? They should thank me.

Is this correct or should I stick with the formality of putting a "Thank You" slide in the end of my ppt presentation.

Improve this answer
2
  • 4
    Hmmm. Maybe because they boost your career by giving you visibility and an opportunity to work with other people. This seems to be very poor-spirited and a bit arrogant.
    – Buffy
    Oct 27, 2021 at 19:35
  • 3
    They do. It's standard for the moderator to ask at the end of a talk for thanks to the speaker - usually followed by mild applause. But maybe your talk isn't so good, so you should thank the audience for putting up with it. If you've been invited to give your talk you should thank the sponsor for their hospitality. In any case some perhaps unnecessary good manners never hurts.
    – Ethan Bolker
    Oct 27, 2021 at 19:49

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .