The Subtle Art Of Responding To Praise

Responding to praise in style is not the easiest art. It can feel embarrassing and you may begin to belittle what you hear. Eventually, your expression will start to sound ungrateful and proud … Finding a balance is not as easy as you might think. In fact, it is very easy to respond poorly to praise.

Many people receive compliments as a whole, which in no way justifies ingratitude, but they should consider the compliments and respond to them. But still, many times we feel so uncomfortable with the praise or compliments we receive from others that we don’t know how to receive them.

If you think about it, sometimes that’s exactly why we try not to look arrogant. In the end, however, we reject or look down on the praise or compliment we receive. We forget that people expect us to be grateful, not so modest.

And sometimes we use humor to circumvent praise or otherwise just become embarrassing. Let’s look at it a bit…

Why do some people ignore or belittle praise

We can accept, ignore, translate, or even deny praise. We can also respond with self-criticism, argument, or negotiation.

Why is it so hard for us to accept praise? Why do we push praise away and allow ourselves to be down? Isn’t it nice to get an appreciation for what we do or what we are like?

Some reasons why we find it difficult to fully accept praise:

• Fear of people seeing you in vain. This is one of the most common reasons why people reject or ignore praise. They experience responding to courtesy mainly as self-praise and arrogance.
• The need to restore balance. Because courtesy is a positive act, a person may feel a psychological need to balance what they feel, either by denying praise or by quickly giving back praise.
• Concern about “remaining” in debt. A person is afraid of falling into debt to a person who praises him or says nicely. This increases the pressure to restore praise. So, if we deny praise altogether, we will also avoid giving back praise.
• Low self-esteem. We don’t believe if someone says something good about us. Sometimes we may even ban it altogether. And when we refuse to listen to such a view of ourselves, we also look for ways to reinforce praise as false.

• Inability to be convincing. Lack of persuasion often makes it difficult to accept praise, let alone respond to it. We therefore recommend that you practice this social skill to improve your relationships in the future.
• We suspect impure motives. If we believe that behind the praise lies a hidden message, our first reaction is to reject it. In some cases, this may be the right solution.
• The desire to show an even better picture of yourself. People sometimes use false modesty to improve their self-image. That’s why we sometimes end up rejecting praise to look good ourselves.

Accepting praise

Before we can learn to be grateful for praise, we must learn to accept them. Praise can come from false intentions or dishonesty, but in most cases they come with good intentions.

Whatever the intention, people expect their praise to be accepted. And this must happen modestly – but not with false modesty – and gratitude.

As we have said before, the biggest problem is probably that people tend to ignore praise.

While ignoring praise is quite common, it doesn’t mean it’s right. Ungrateful behavior is not polite or clever. In fact, denying praise is very contradictory or even offensive to another person.

How to respond to praise with gratitude and without false modesty

The art of responding to praise starts with sincerity and authenticity. It’s that easy. You don’t have to justify anything. You don’t have to add anything.

The person who praises you only expects you to accept praise and thank them. In most cases, thank you is all you should do.

Of course, we cannot forget the importance of non-verbal communication, especially when we are talking about the eyes. It is important to look a person in the eye when thanking them, in some cases a handshake can also be polite.

Sometimes a hug can also be in place. Such gestures are far more significant than any words.

If the praise is the result of a collaboration, don’t forget to give recognition to people who might be left out as well. By mentioning people who helped or inspired you or were part of your journey, you can show respect for them.

In any case, avoid small things to reject compliments. Things like “it was nothing,” “don’t worry about it,” or “no problem,” all of which show false modesty and can be taken as personal rejection.

If you want to say more than thank you, look for something positive to say.

You should also thank them by saying something nice back. Many people see responding to courtesy with courtesy as gratitude, even though it sounds forced and unfair.

If you have worked hard to get to where you are now, why would you reject the praise you receive from others? You deserve them!