What do you say in response when a person compliments a positive attitude, a moral act, a great performance, or your good looks? Many people choose to just say appreciation. That works fine.
Some people turn the compliment around and appear modest. Some people throw compliments back.
All of these are nice ways to respond but what happens when the compliment makes you nervous? Some compliments sound sarcastic.
They sound like the speaker means the opposite but it ends there at least. Some compliments literally make you pee in your pants.
You would wonder what sort of compliment can make you pee in your pants. [Keep it up] is an example. [I want to see you continue this way] is another one.
[Keep it up] can put absurd pressure on you. However way you may feel about the phrase, there are right ways to respond.
17 Great Responses to “Keep It Up”
- Thank you, I will.
- This took vigils. Thanks for noticing.
- You think it’s good?
- Really? Thanks.
- Are you pulling my legs?
- I appreciate that.
- I may need an extra hand, next time.
- As long as no one’s pulling it down, it will stay up.
- You’ve never given me compliments. Thank you.
- I am happy to hear that.
- Coming from you, I feel drunk.
- I hope so
- You won’t be disappointed.
- It would help to have one more person.
- This took some time. Thank you.
- I am glad you are impressed.
- Now I know my efforts are not wasted.
Thank you, I will
You can simply say you will keep it up even if you don’t mean it. It is very easy to say this if you did not put a lot of effort into impressing the person that tells you to keep up with your good work.
You can imagine putting a lot of effort and time into creating a masterpiece that may be the one good memory of your entire lifetime, then getting a lot of praise for it. It is always beautiful.
However, your sweet smile may not last so long when your boss tells you to keep it up. He tells you that he would like to see more from you. That puts pressure on you and you don’t know if it will ever happen again.
You can imagine starting a new job and getting praised for the first work you do without much effort. You know you just have to do the simple things you did earlier to [Keep up] the good work.
This took vigils. Thanks for noticing
We have established that appreciation is good but you may want to let your boss know that you didn’t just pull a good job out of thin air. You can even ask how many vigils he has had. No, don’t do that.
By telling the person that it took vigils, you are telling him or her that it took a lot of sleepless nights to get it done and it may not happen again if you don’t have more sleepless nights dedicated to the job.
That will pass the message and you don’t have to feel the pressure of having to impress him or her with your one-time great performance.
You should also add the [Thanks for noticing] which implies that you wanted the compliments and he or she has just shown that your work deserves it.
You think it’s good?
A person might say this naturally if he or she has just started the job or if there were no extra efforts put into the delivery of the project. Sometimes, it may just happen by mistake.
You can do a job your whole life and never get a compliment on it. You are never the fastest, the best at it, the cleanest, or whatever compliment they could give to you.
Then a day comes when you do the same thing you do and your boss calls you out for doing an exceptional job. This question may spring up in your mind or even out of your mouth.
If you don’t know how you did it, it may piss you off a little bit, especially if he tells you to keep it up. That would be extra pressure.
You are not advised to say this if you don’t think you can perform better. This suggests that this is not the best you can do.
Really? Thanks
This is similar to the one mentioned earlier. When you say this, it may seem like you can perform better.
For some people, telling them to keep up a good job will put undesired pressure on them. For others, it is just a compliment.
You can choose to see the phrase as the compliment that it is especially if it is the normal way you work.
If it is a feat that you are able to achieve easily, you can be okay with getting this compliment since you don’t even have to worry about doing the same thing over and over again.
In that case, you can be modest by saying [Really? Thanks]. This will make you appear like you don’t think the work is special so the person may assume that you can do even better.
Are you pulling my legs?
If you put extra effort into the work before getting the compliment, you would better make it clear than make it seem like it is something you can comfortably deliver every day.
When you ask this question, it implies that you think you are being teased with the compliment.
You should say this if you were able to get the job done easily. You can say it if you know that it is not your best.
That way, you will get the person even more impressed. However, if you don’t think you are good enough, you can make them think you put in extra effort even if you did not. That way, they won’t expect you to continue.
I appreciate that
You can just say [I appreciate that] instead of [thank you]. There is no difference between the two phrases. You just may be tired of using one so you may consider the other.
Note that you are agreeing to keep up the good work when you say this. Your boss will not challenge you if you don’t keep up the good work.
Your boss may expect more from you but it doesn’t mean you have to stress yourself out just to keep impressing the people around you.
Instead, you can consider other responses on this list that express your efforts on the project.
I may need an extra hand, next time
This should work but it depends on the situation you are using it in. You may have performed a great job that turned out beautiful and well for your company and this job may have taken restful nights away from you just to appear as beautiful as it did.
When your boss tells you to keep up the good work, he or she expects you to continue bringing more work like that but your boss can’t want you to harm yourself.
You can tell him that the constant delivery of good projects like that can require an extra person.
Your boss may ask why and you can explain how long and how much effort it took for you to put it together.
As long as no one’s pulling it down, it will stay up
This sounds like what a very hardworking person would say since it is what he or she does regularly. The person has no issues with delivering special projects that are worthy of compliments.
You should only say this to a colleague. You can also say this to your boss if he is open and jovial with you. If the office is strictly formal, this may seem too casual to use in your conversation.
By saying this, you are implying that you are capable of being obstructed from delivering a good job.
You can also say this if one or more people used to impede your productivity. Keep in mind that you are promising to continue doing good jobs like that if no one stops you.
You’ve never given me compliments. Thank you
This is a sweet response, especially if you think the compliment was not totally honest. You can say this if you are hearing it from a colleague rather than your boss.
This implies that you do a good job regularly. The compliment may not be on a particular project.
Rather, it may be on your regular performance. In this case, it is like saying a compliment on your beauty.
As long as your beauty cannot walk away suddenly, your regular performance should not disappear due to pressure.
I am happy to hear that
You can say this instead of saying thank you. You are telling your boss or your colleague that you feel delighted to know he or she is impressed by your work.
You are not making a comment on whether you will keep it up or not but you seem like you will find it easy to keep up the good work.
You can say this even though you put in extra effort. It does not mandate you to keep stressing yourself out. You can just put in some extra work once in a while.
Coming from you, I feel drunk
This response suggests that you regard the person very highly and you only feel good about it because you are hearing the compliment from his or her mouth.
You can say this because the person seems to be hard to please and you have never impressed the person before.
You can say it because the person does not say a compliment to the works of people. You can also use this if the person happens to be the best at the same work you are doing.
Getting the person impressed may mean that you are also getting better.
I hope so
This sounds carefree but, since you don’t care, you can just get it over with. It sounds quite modest too. You should say this if it’s the same kind of work you deliver every day.
By saying you hope so, you are not showing any excitement about the compliment. You are indirectly saying you may have impressed people by mistake. That is possible. It may have happened to you once before.
Alright. You won’t be disappointed
This sounds like what you may hear from the mouth of a hardworking person who just resumed work in a company.
His first assignment may have turned out marvelous and the boss is saying compliments to him.
How he feels about it will depend on how much stress it took to get the assignment done and how much money he is getting paid for it.
By telling your boss that he or she will not be disappointed, you are saying that you will continue doing a good job. It is a promise in this case.
It would help to have one more person
Instead of agreeing to keep up a good job, you can state all the requirements to make the good job keep coming.
If it took you sleepless nights and your strength, you can use one more person to get the job done faster and more easily.
However, you should not ask if the [good job] is not excellent enough to have the company employ one more person just to assist you.
This took some time. Thank you
If you don’t think the work is good enough to make the company employ a new person, you can just make your boss know that it took your time and your effort.
This will pass the message that you won’t always put in the same amount of effort and time, and you won’t be delivering excellent projects at all time.
I am glad you are impressed
Just say this if it is a person you didn’t think would be impressed with you. You can also say this if you worked tirelessly to get the job done.
You can add that you worked hard to get the project completed beautifully. You will get more compliments for your efforts.
Now I know my efforts are not wasted
You are not only telling the person that you put extra effort but also appreciating the compliment.
You are showing that you expected the compliments and you are glad that he or she has noticed the great work you did.