Here are 6 things I learned on how to give great advice. I learned these from asking advice and for giving not so good advice.
1. Listen carefully – take note of every detail, every thing that the person tells you are the most important things.
2. Ask specific questions – if you are not sure what he/she meant, ask. It is important not to assume certain things. Every person has different views on certain issues.
3. Get to know the person – observe how he/she views things, know his/her background and where he/she came from, get to know his/her personality.
4. Based your advice on his/her experience – often times we give advices based on our experience. Yes, it is our best teacher and it is where we gained our knowledge from. But take note, not all of us have exactly the same situation. Therefore, it is also important to know the person first, analyze his/her concerns well and try to put on your feet on his/her shoes and ask this question to your self “if I were this person, what should I do?”. Those small details will give you the idea and on how to respond and guide that person. Also, make sure you’re on the same page, because there are times that you interpret things on a different perspective.
5. Never judge – don’t give sudden judgments without knowing the facts. Instead that you’ll encourage them you might just make them feel bad even more or cause confusions.
6. Pray and ask God for wisdom – no matter how old you are or how experienced you are, you still don’t know everything. Even when you’re close to that person nobody knows them well like God does. He is the only Person who understands everything. So as you give advice be humble and ask God for wisdom and help, and ask Him to use you in His behalf to give the best advice that person needs.