The ability to give advice is the basis of interpersonal communication. Expressing your point of view on an issue without offending the interlocutor is an art. It is important to give the right advice. Giving advice correctly is even more important!
Types of tips
Tips can be roughly divided into two categories: practical and abstract. The first includes all the tips from the field of practical activity, such as: where to buy a car inexpensively, how to fix a crane, what to read, and so on.
The second type of advice implies not so much the provision of useful information as general comforting words like: "relax", "do not worry" or "pull yourself together." Here even intonation is of greater importance than the words themselves.
There is a third category of advice, mixed - advice concerning personal life, and here you should be especially careful.
There are a number of techniques for giving advice in a way that makes the "recipient" happy.
How to give advice correctly
The most important recommendation for the advice giver is not to put yourself higher. And this applies to both practical and abstract advice. If you show arrogance, your advice will not be followed at best, and at worst, you will lose an acquaintance or even a friend. They turn to you for help as an equal, simply possessing a large amount of knowledge in a certain area, a person when it comes to practical advice, so arrogance is completely inappropriate.
If you have been asked for moral support, you should limit any general phrase with emotional coloring and appropriate situation to the intonation, and the person asking himself interprets your advice in accordance with his desires. In fact, you are only being asked to accept some of the responsibility for a decision that has already been subconsciously made. Example: "Yes, you are right", "You deserve it", "You shouldn't take it too close to your heart."
If you are asked to give advice on your personal life - be extremely careful! Even being the best psychologist, you cannot be aware of all the nuances of another person's relationship. You find yourself in a delicate situation: on the one hand, you cannot directly refuse advice, since this will surely cause resentment, on the other hand, sloppy advice can contribute to making a decision that the asker will regret all his life - and harbor a grudge against you, like on an accomplice in making the wrong decision. The best way out of such a situation would be to gently explain that the responsibility for making such a decision lies entirely with him, and no one has the right to interfere in this. Therefore, phrases like “Listen to yourself”, “I know you can make a decision yourself, you are strong” and so on are optimal.
And the most important advice is to be tactful, reasonable and respect those around you. By taking this approach, you will never give bad advice or offend the requestor with a refusal.
