Don’t tell people they did great when they didn’t. Then your “great” stops meaning anything.

Praise works because it carries information. Hand it out regardless of the result and it stops telling anybody anything, so the person who genuinely did well gets the same empty word as everyone else. Inflated encouragement feels kind in the moment and leaves people unable to tell whether they are improving. Honest praise is worth something precisely because you sometimes withhold it.

When something is not good, name one real thing that worked and one that did not. Keep your strongest words for when they are true. If you have been overpraising, get specific rather than suddenly cold.