Share advice with permission (ask–offer–ask)

Ask what they know, offer information with consent, then ask what they make of it.

Why it works

Unsolicited advice triggers reactance; information requested or permitted does not. Sandwiching advice between asking what the person already knows and asking how it lands preserves their autonomy and keeps them actively processing rather than passively resisting.

How to do it

1. Ask first: "What do you already know about…?" and "Would it be okay if I shared something?"
2. Offer neutrally and briefly, without insisting it applies to them.
3. Ask: "What do you make of that?" and follow their response.

Evidence

Ask–offer–ask (elicit–provide–elicit) is the standard MI method for giving information without eroding motivation; it applies the autonomy-support principle that runs through MI. (clinical)

Established clinical practice rather than a separately trialed technique; its rationale rests on the autonomy/reactance evidence underlying MI as a whole.

Common mistake

Skipping the permission step and the closing question, which collapses ask–offer–ask back into ordinary advice-giving — and its ordinary resistance.