Complimenting

Compliments and acknowledgement are an easy yet powerful way to share your gift. The three most common categories are Appearance, Performance, and Possessions and the most common adjectives used are Nice, Good, Pretty, Beautiful, and Great. A fourth category of Moral Beauty recognizes traits such as Kindness, Compassion, Forgiveness, Courage, or Self Sacrifice and can be especially meaningful to receive. Here are some tips when sharing a compliment:

• Your compliment should be something you genuinely believe.
• It should be believable, appropriate, and unqualified.
• It should be something that aligns with the receivers self perception.
  
• Compliments should not be followed by requests or expectations.
• Be specific in your praise.
• Avoid backhanded compliments such as “you did great (for someone who…)”
• Avoid comparison compliments “you did great (compared to…)”
• Offer a compliment when it feels natural and not forced.
• Don’t give too many compliments at any one time.
• Consider delivering it in private if they may be embarrassed around others.
• Return a compliment if someone gives you one with “That is very kind of you to say.”
• Give a compliment through someone else such as telling a friend something positive about a mutual friend.