The elementary interaction force fp for a small normal conducting precipitate particle is usually estimated assuming that the entire condensation energy of the superconductor 1/2 μ0H2c is lost in the volume of the particle, i.e., that the particle is equivalent to a void. It is demonstrated that this assumption, which neglects the proximity effect, leads to a serious over estimate of fp, by as much as three orders of magnitude. The ratio of fp of a normal precipitate to fp of a void of the same volume is shown to be of the order (t/ξ0)2, where t is the smallest dimension of the particle and ξ0 is the BCS coherence length. In addition, the ratio is temperature dependent, becoming smaller (larger correction) as T approaches Tc. These predictions are compared with recent experimental measurements of pinning by voids and precipitates and are shown to rationalize some hitherto puzzling experimental discrepancies between pinning by the two types of defects. Application of these ideas to flux pinning by other defects, such as grain boundaries and dislocations, is also discussed.