Motivational Interviewing

Here are 100 practical Motivational Interviewing (MI) tips, techniques, do's, don'ts, and questions that you can use in coaching, counselling, healthcare, leadership, and everyday conversations.

Mindset

1. Believe people can change.

2. Respect autonomy.

3. Avoid trying to "fix" people.

4. Be curious before giving advice.

5. Accept ambivalence as normal.

6. Meet people where they are.

7. Listen more than you speak.

8. Collaborate rather than direct.

9. Show compassion.

10. Focus on the person's own goals.

Do's

11. Ask permission before giving advice.

12. Use open-ended questions.

13. Reflect what you hear.

14. Summarize often.

15. Affirm strengths.

16. Explore values.

17. Encourage self-discovery.

18. Support confidence.

19. Celebrate small wins.

20. Highlight previous successes.

Don'ts

21. Don't argue.

22. Don't shame.

23. Don't lecture.

24. Don't label people.

25. Don't interrupt.

26. Don't rush.

27. Don't diagnose prematurely.

28. Don't threaten.

29. Don't force change.

30. Don't make decisions for them.

Open Questions

31. What brings you here today?

32. What's important to you?

33. What concerns you most?

34. What would you like to change?

35. What has worked before?

36. What have you already tried?

37. How do you feel about the situation?

38. What would success look like?

39. What matters most right now?

40. What do you hope will happen?

Exploring Ambivalence

41. What do you enjoy about the current situation?

42. What don't you enjoy?

43. What are the benefits of changing?

44. What are the costs of staying the same?

45. What worries you?

46. What's holding you back?

47. What's pulling you forward?

48. What feels difficult?

49. What makes this complicated?

50. What would make change worthwhile?

Importance Questions

51. Why is this important?

52. Why now?

53. On a scale of 1–10, how important is it?

54. Why not a lower number?

55. What would move you one point higher?

56. What would increase its importance?

57. What would happen if nothing changed?

58. What motivates you?

59. What's driving this?

60. What's your biggest reason?

Confidence Questions

61. On a scale of 1–10, how confident are you?

62. Why not lower?

63. What gives you confidence?

64. What strengths can you use?

65. What has helped before?

66. Who can support you?

67. What's the next small step?

68. What obstacles might arise?

69. How could you overcome them?

70. What would make success more likely?

Evoking Change Talk

71. Tell me why you'd like to change.

72. What would be different?

73. How would life improve?

74. What are your hopes?

75. What values are connected to this?

76. What kind of person do you want to be?

77. What would your future self thank you for?

78. What's one reason to begin?

79. What excites you?

80. What opportunity do you see?

Reflections

81. "It sounds like you're feeling stuck."

82. "You're torn between two choices."

83. "You care deeply about this."

84. "Part of you wants to change."

85. "You're worried about failing."

86. "You really value your family."

87. "You've overcome difficult things before."

88. "You're looking for a better future."

89. "You want more control."

90. "You're ready for something different."

Closing Questions

91. What's your next step?

92. When will you start?

93. What's your plan?

94. How will you know you're making progress?

95. What support do you need?

96. What might get in the way?

97. How committed are you?

98. What are you taking away from today's conversation?

99. Is there anything we've missed?

100. Would it be okay if we talked about this again next time?

The Core MI Skills (OARS)

• O – Open Questions

• A – Affirmations

• R – Reflections

• S – Summaries

A useful principle to remember is the "Righting Reflex": when someone resists change, our instinct is often to persuade or correct them. In Motivational Interviewing, instead of convincing people to change, you help them discover their own reasons for change. Those self-generated reasons are usually much more powerful than advice from someone else.