Most praise gets forgotten within the hour. Here's why, and a quick fix.

The problem with "good job": it's generic enough to apply to anything, which means it doesn't actually tell the person what to keep doing — and it's forgotten almost immediately.

The fix — a simple formula:

[Specific action] + [the impact it had] = praise that lands

Examples:

• ❌ "Good job on the presentation."

• ✅ "The way you paused for questions after every section kept the whole room engaged — that's why nobody checked their phone."

• ❌ "You're a great teammate."

• ✅ "You caught that scheduling conflict before it became a problem for the client. That's the kind of thing that builds trust."

Why it works: specific praise is tied to something real, so it feels earned rather than automatic — and it tells the person exactly what behavior to repeat.

Try rewriting one generic compliment you gave recently using this formula. It takes about 10 extra seconds and the difference in how it lands is noticeable almost immediately.