Concreteness

Concreteness is an aspect of communication that means being specific, definite, and vivid rather than vague and general. A concrete communication uses specific facts and figures.[1] Concreteness is often taught in college communication courses as one of the aspects of effective communication.[2] Counselors, attorneys, job interviewers, etc. often prod their interviewees to speak with greater concreteness. For instance, if a witness says he gave his wife "a bit of a slap," the cross-examining lawyer might ask how hard he hit her. A job interviewer will often ask probing questions to elicit more concrete information; e.g., "Could you give me an example of when you did XXX?"[3]