（2014-12-20）【行銷人的英文課】一年一度的聖誕佳節、跨年、農曆新年都將一一來到。大小聚會中的問候語，再來溫習一下。

《Holiday Greetings》

（文╱Robert Tolmasoff）Within the next few weeks, you may receive and want to send Holiday and New Year greetings to colleagues and clients. Below are some tips about how to handle both face-to-face and written Holiday and New Year greetings.

1. Face to face greetings
During the holiday season (roughly defined as between Thanksgiving and New year), you may often encounter a holiday greeting. When you encounter these greetings, especially from people you do not know well, the proper response is simply to return the greeting. For example, if someone says “Merry Christmas” simply reply “Merry Christmas”.

The most common face-to-face holiday greetings are listed below.

Happy holidays
Merry Christmas
Happy New Year

Note that if you have friends or colleagues who are Jewish, they may celebrate the traditional Jewish holiday Hanukkah.

2. Written
Written holiday greetings should be personalized. If you take the time to send a hand-written or electronic greeting card, you should take the time to put some thought into the message and personalize the greeting. A sample of a holiday greeting is below.

Dear XXX,

The holiday season is a good time to reflect on the past year and to tell those around us how important they are to us. I greatly appreciate your hard work and effort this past year. We have both been able to make great strides, and I look forward to working with you again in the new year, and achieving even greater results.

I would like to wish you and your family, a safe, happy, and holiday and new year.

Robert

Of course, the closer you are to the person you are writing, the more personal you can make the message.

Also, I strongly recommend that you use hand-written greeting cards, especially for important clients and customers. A hand-written care shows a lot of care and it is so rare to receive a hand-written card today that it will make your greeting stand out from all of the other electronic greetings we receive.

Happy holidays everyone.


*Robert Tolmasoff is a trainer, editor, and author based in Taipei. His clients include international companies as well as individuals looking to sharpen their communications skills. Robert’s last two books, 上班族完美英文e-mail輕鬆寫 and 1000 Essential Business English Terms, are available in books stores and from McGraw-Hill Taiwan. Have ideas for future columns or questions? Email Robert at rtlmsff@gmail.com