6 Ways to Infuse Gratitude in Your Next Event

This series highlights six concepts from psychology and learning sciences that will help you activate engagement with any audience. To view the first article in the series, click here.

Travel experts recommend that the first word you should learn before traveling to a country with a foreign language is “thank you.” When receiving help from others, expressing gratitude in their native language shows effort and appreciation for their culture. Though many of us aren’t currently traveling, the practice of gratitude can often get lost in our routine. Internal meetings, sales conferences, or other large virtual events are times when it’s important to stop, focus on our relationships, and take stock in the power of gratitude.

What is Gratitude?

Gratitude is the appreciation of another person or entity. Expressing gratitude can occur verbally, by explicitly saying “thank you” or can also be shown implicitly through actions or gestures. 

What isn’t Gratitude?

Recognition is not necessarily an expression of gratitude. Leadership expert Mike Robbins explains the distinction between appreciation and recognition:

“Recognition is about what we do. Appreciation is about who we are. Both of these things are important and motivating. And, appreciation runs deeper and cuts to the core of who we are and our relationships with one another.”

Why does Gratitude matter?

Interactions with others make up the fabric of our social relationships and expressing gratitude fosters a connection between the giver and recipient. Researchers have found that showing gratitude is important for the initiation and maintenance of social relationships. Just like effective feedback, impactful gratitude is specific and timely. A practice of regular gratitude can have powerful long-lasting effects.  

6 Ways in Infuse Gratitude in Your Next Event

There are a lot of ways to express gratitude during live virtual events. Start with one of the examples below that best fits the organization’s culture.

Dr. Brene Brown, Research Professor

1. Incorporate a “Gratitude Moment” into each presentation. Meetings often celebrate accomplishments from the past quarter or the last year. Leaders may shy away from calling out individuals or groups with the fear that others will be left out. When these shout-outs are frequently incorporated, team members find more reasons to express gratitude and the actions are inclusive when added up together (especially when someone is helping keep track). 
2. Create a “Wall of Gratitude” for live interactions. There are a number of online tools that allow for large groups to create a virtual bulletin board to enable attendee voice. Once you’ve picked the tool, pull in someone from the design team to organize and pre-set blank notes that will entice contributions. “Advertise” the wall during a keynote and other meeting communications. 
3. Add “Thank you” to the Swag Bag. When considering mailing out gifts for your attendees, add the simple phrase “Thank you” to the logo-plastered mug, t-shirt, or notebook. Every time someone looks at that item, the combination of logo and gratitude may support brand loyalty. 
4. Integrate gratitude with self-care rooms or sessions. Many day- or week-long virtual events are including self-care sessions such as yoga, mindfulness, and meditation. These online sessions are naturally positioned to not only include gratitude but to put it front and center. 
5. Pair “Gratitude Awards” with sales awards. Making a sale in today’s climate takes a team effort. If your company has a sales awards tradition, consider including nominations and awards to the office heroes that support sales. Similar to the gratitude shout-outs, implement a process and monitoring system in line with the organization’s DEI initiatives. 
6. Bring your audience out of their everyday world. When events were in person, traveling to a hotel or sitting in a fancy ballroom was part of showing attendees gratitude. Mimic this opportunity to escape by using a platform that has a different look and feel than the group’s usual web-conference software.

Inspire Gratitude

When planning your next company meeting or public event, consider how to weave gratitude throughout it to build and maintain relationships.

During a recent live virtual event that Charles River Media Group produced, all the words in the comments were analyzed for content thanks to the analytics provided by their platform. Over 50% of the comments explicitly recognized individuals and teams or explicitly expressed gratitude. 

The largest words were said with the most frequency. 

It’s never too late to increase your expression of gratitude in the workplace, in your classroom, or while engaging with others online.