Make praise as specific as criticism

Vague praise is nearly worthless; name exactly what was good and why.

Why it works

Generic praise ("great job") tells the person nothing they can repeat and often reads as filler. Specific praise functions as reinforcement — it identifies the exact behavior worth doing again and signals you were actually paying attention. Treating praise with the same rigor as criticism also keeps your feedback credible: people trust critics who notice real wins too.

How to do it

1. Name the specific action and its specific impact, just as you would for criticism.
2. Praise in a way that tells the person what to do more of, not just that you’re pleased.
3. Avoid the "compliment sandwich" — don’t use praise only as padding for bad news.

Evidence

The value of specific over generic praise is well supported by reinforcement and feedback research; Scott applies the same specificity standard to praise that she does to criticism. (mechanistic)

Specific feedback being more effective than vague is studied; the parity-with-criticism framing is Scott’s. Praise used purely to cushion criticism loses its value.

Common mistake

Defaulting to vague positives ("nice work, really good stuff") that give the person nothing to repeat, while saving all the specificity for the criticism.