Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to send birthday wishes. Well. Many people don't
Speaker 1: like a big public fuss about their birthdays. Few people
Speaker 1: wouldn't appreciate a personal note marking the occasion, and since
Speaker 1: it is very easy to send a note, you should
Speaker 1: go ahead and do it now. I will admit that
Speaker 1: this episode is a wee bit self serving as it
Speaker 1: is first airing on my birthday. But all of us
Speaker 1: celebrate a birthday every single year, which means that there
Speaker 1: is at least one opportunity to reach out to everyone
Speaker 1: you know each year to say something nice and appreciative.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of us have gotten a bit
Speaker 1: sloppy about this. In the social media era, Facebook and
Speaker 1: some other platforms will tell you that someone has a
Speaker 1: birthday coming up, which is helpful as a reminder, but
Speaker 1: then most of us just post a happy birthday on
Speaker 1: someone's feed and leave it at that. It is something,
Speaker 1: but we could probably do better. If you do know
Speaker 1: someone's birthday or you are being reminded of it on
Speaker 1: social media, chances are you also know that person's email address, so,
Speaker 1: in addition to any social media wishes, or in place
Speaker 1: of them, send a personal note wishing the person a
Speaker 1: happy birthday. It doesn't have to be long. You can
Speaker 1: simply send them good wishes, recall a happy memory from
Speaker 1: the last year, or say something you admire about the person,
Speaker 1: Say something you are looking forward to together in the
Speaker 1: upcoming year. Then wish them many wonderful birthdays to come,
Speaker 1: and sign off. It is as simple as that. This
Speaker 1: will take less than five minutes. It might just take
Speaker 1: two or three, and it will almost certainly be read
Speaker 1: and appreciated if you know the person's mailing address. This
Speaker 1: is a nice touch too to send a card. If
Speaker 1: it does require a wee bit more planning as you
Speaker 1: want the card to arrive, buy the person's birthday, but
Speaker 1: it doesn't take that much planning. If you put the
Speaker 1: card in the mail three to four days before the
Speaker 1: special day, that should be sufficient for most places. I'd
Speaker 1: recommend buying a pack of blank cards so you don't
Speaker 1: have to go hunting for birthday specific cards, which can
Speaker 1: be overpriced or corny. You can often buy quite nice
Speaker 1: blank stationary for less than a dollar a card. When
Speaker 1: you buy in bulk. If you've got the cards and
Speaker 1: you've got stamps, then you are almost always good to go.
Speaker 1: You can obviously send a text too, as long as
Speaker 1: you follow the email guidelines. A simple happy Birthday is nice,
Speaker 1: but a bonus statement or two about the person makes
Speaker 1: the wishes extra special, and it really doesn't need to
Speaker 1: take more than a few seconds. You can do this,
Speaker 1: or here's an idea, call the person. I know that
Speaker 1: many people shy away from using the phone as a
Speaker 1: phone these days, but if you talk with the birthday
Speaker 1: boy or girl at other points in the year, a
Speaker 1: short call on their birthday will make them smile. Now again,
Speaker 1: I know a lot of people don't like public fuss.
Speaker 1: If you are going to throw a surprise party or
Speaker 1: rope fifty people into singing Happy Birthday, make sure the
Speaker 1: birthday celebrate is the sort of person who goes for that,
Speaker 1: And if they do, that's great. If not, a card
Speaker 1: or a call is never going to be offensive, so
Speaker 1: you know you can do that. If you are unsure
Speaker 1: of people's birthdays, it doesn't hurt to just ask. It's
Speaker 1: okay to reach out if you know them well enough
Speaker 1: that you'd be sending birthday wishes. It's fine to just
Speaker 1: ask the next time you're talking, say you're making a file.
Speaker 1: If it's awkward, like you've known the person for ten years,
Speaker 1: or it's a family member and you've just forgotten, maybe
Speaker 1: be discreet about it. But you can probably do a
Speaker 1: little slothing and figure it out and then once you know,
Speaker 1: mark it on a recurring calendar and you will be
Speaker 1: able to celebrate every year. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four then
Speaker 1: Breakfast pod. You can also shoot me an email at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much.
Speaker 1: Should I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
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Speaker 1: to your favorite shows. Mm hmm,