Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to accept compliments graciously. Many of us
Speaker 1: have a tendency to bat compliments away or belittle ourselves
Speaker 1: in response, but it's much healthier for ourselves and others
Speaker 1: to come up with ways to acknowledge the truth of
Speaker 1: the compliment and just be thankful. Today's tip, like a
Speaker 1: few others this week, comes from Meredith Feynman's new book,
Speaker 1: Brag Better, Master The Art of Fearless Self Promotion. Some
Speaker 1: people are over the top braggarts, but a lot of
Speaker 1: us suffer from the delusion that good work speaks for itself.
Speaker 1: It can, but often it needs a little amplification. Fine
Speaker 1: Men talks about a sketch from the inside Amy Schumer Show,
Speaker 1: when a group of female friends go around complimenting each other.
Speaker 1: When someone says something nice, the recipient responds by immediately
Speaker 1: trashing herself. When it gets to Amy, she decides to
Speaker 1: accept the compliment, and her friend's heads just blow off. Yep,
Speaker 1: pretty much many of us, Fineman notes, have been taught
Speaker 1: to overdo the modesty. However, it's totally possible for you
Speaker 1: to accept praise without your head blowing off. She writes
Speaker 1: that letting others celebrate your accomplishments can make you feel good,
Speaker 1: let your legacy carry on, and also bring goodwill and
Speaker 1: joy to those around you. One obvious response to a
Speaker 1: compliment is just thank you. You can, in fact, just
Speaker 1: leave it at that. If a simple thank you feels
Speaker 1: a little incomplete, then come up with something that reflects
Speaker 1: well on the person who complimented you, like thank you,
Speaker 1: that's so thoughtful of you to point out, or thank you,
Speaker 1: I really appreciate your support. If you like, you can
Speaker 1: use the compliment to pivot to a trait that you
Speaker 1: feel more sure of. If someone tells you that your
Speaker 1: presentation was brilliant, you don't have to say yes, I'm brilliant.
Speaker 1: You could say thank you, I worked really hard on it,
Speaker 1: or thank you, I'm glad you thought all my practice
Speaker 1: paid off. If it makes sense to accept the compliment
Speaker 1: by sharing some of the basking, well you can go
Speaker 1: for that too. If someone tells you that she loves
Speaker 1: your shoes, well thanks, my sister helped me pick them out.
Speaker 1: She has such great taste, or even better, you can
Speaker 1: always pivot the compliment into a direction of more great
Speaker 1: things in the future. If someone compliments you on how
Speaker 1: well you ran that meeting, you can say thanks, I'd
Speaker 1: love to present to some bigger groups in the future.
Speaker 1: Or if someone compliments a report, thanks, who else do
Speaker 1: you think I can share this with? All of these
Speaker 1: do more good in the world than saying the equivalent
Speaker 1: of what this old thing? So today, when someone compliments you,
Speaker 1: practice accepting the compliment, don't downplay your accomplishments, and don't
Speaker 1: deny what the person says. Say thank you and whatever
Speaker 1: else feels most authentic to you. Accepting gifts is far
Speaker 1: more gracious than turning them down, and denying a compliment
Speaker 1: is really the equivalent of the latter. Better to have
Speaker 1: more good feelings in this world. In the meantime, this
Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
Speaker 1: most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear
Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b E the
Speaker 1: number four than Breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcast. At iHeart
Speaker 1: media dot com that before Breakfast is spelled out with
Speaker 1: all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to
Speaker 1: staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I
Speaker 1: heart Radio. For more podcasts from i heart Radio, visit
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Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.