Two recent examples illustrate the value of handwritten notes described in Business Communication and Character, Chapter 6: messages on Starbucks coffee cups and get-out-the-vote postcards.

New Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol is bringing back the personal notes on cups to lure customers who have left. Armed with 200,000 Sharpie markers, baristas will write names or messages on cups, a practice that stopped in 2020 during the pandemic. His other ideas are the condiment bar and cushy furniture to recapture the “second place” that Starbucks used to be. I wonder how baristas feel about the change, which will likely add time to each order. Were baristas involved in this decision? See my other post about communicating change.

The second example of a handwritten message is the get-out-the-vote postcard. Studies show a higher turnout rate when people receive these cards, depending on the audience and the type of postcard and message. Although from 2018, one project used six different postcards to determine impact. They found that a partially printed postcard with a handwritten message did just as well as a fully handwritten message and that neat, legible handwriting is important to the recipient.

Students will have their own examples of personal, handwritten notes, although perhaps few of them. This is an opportunity to talk about when and how to write notes during the job selection process.

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