I love Alfie Kohn too, and while I support the idea, mostly, I also believe no praise is not the answer. Praise for the sake of praise, I acknowledge, is unnecessary, but there have be times when I might say "Wow! I love that picture you drew!" because I actually do love the picture.

If you pay attention to Eriksen's theories, which I do, then I hold to praising relevant actions. So in the autonomy stage, you praise actions of autonomy (or use phrases like "you did it!") and in the initiative stage, you praise initiative - a three year old canot be told often enough that "that was a good idea" - even if the execution leaves your kitchen floor covered in golden syrup.

But I have heard a lot of nonsensical praise in my time - good dancing, good clapping, etc. Completely unnecessary, and not helpful at all.

And at the end of the day, don't overthink it too much. Don't go out of your way to praise, don't stifle what comes naturally. Stressing over your words will NOT improve your parenting.