Axios Finish Line: Don't underestimate the power of compliments

Studies also found: Compliments don't get tired.

• And hearing something positive can activate some of the same parts of the brain as winning money.

But saying something nice, particularly to a stranger, requires getting up the nerve.

• Surveys indicate that 90% of people think they should compliment each other more often, but many don't, Boothby says.
• They worry about how to deliver the compliment, for instance, she says.
• "Especially with British people, they would be more at home with an insult," says British comedian Milo McCabe, whose videos as enthusiastic complimenter Troy Hawke have gone viral.

As for what makes a quality compliment, there's an art to it, according to McCabe.

• "Sincerely appreciating something someone has made an effort on will make their day," he says.

Here are some memorable compliments Axios readers shared with us:

After a car service employee complimented her "gorgeous" hair, Axios Austin reader Joanna Luna decided to open up about her alopecia.

• "We went on to have a long, delightful chat.… This compliment has motivated me to be more of an ambassador for hair loss and wig wearing," Joanna tells Axios.

"Once, out of nowhere, an elderly woman approached me on the sidewalk and said, 'You have lovely posture.' I'll never forget it," says Axios Portland reader Callan Beres.

After his college Glee Club sang in the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, Axios Portland reader TJ Carlson was told by a monk: "I've been here for five years, and that's the best sound I've ever heard in there."

• Carlson says that compliment has stuck with him for over 20 years.

Fifty years ago, an author peeked at Axios Austin reader Victoria Hunter Cheney's unfinished letter to a friend, and complimented her writing.

• The "meaningful and life-changing" words encouraged her to become a magazine writer, publications specialist and editor, she tells Axios.

Once at church someone told Axios Nashville reader Elizabeth Whitehead that she looked "stu... pendous!"

• "I really thought he was about to say 'stupid,' which would have been shocking.... That was at least 20 years ago, and it still cracks me up," she says.

Axios Tampa Bay reader Charlotte Kibert had just gotten off a tough work call last week when a woman in the park complimented her "super chic and stylish" outfit.

• The comment turned Charlotte's day around, she tells Axios, so she "started randomly complimenting people on simple things, to spread the love forward."

My thought bubble: This month, a nurse measuring my blood pressure said I had a "cool vibe," and it made me feel so good that I decided to write this story.

• Go deeper: How to make friends and compliment people; Keep a kudos folder

This article originally appeared in Axios Finish Line, our nightly newsletter on life, leadership and wellness. Sign up here.