Asking before supplying the answer

Text A: an original contemporary practice extract.

My neighbour mentioned that she was rearranging her kitchen. I immediately recommended shelves like mine and explained how much easier they made finding pans. She waited until I had finished, then said her question was where to put a table for her father when he visited. I had supplied a solution to the part of the room I recognised.

I asked what she needed the table to do and how the visits worked. We discussed two positions, and she chose one I would not have chosen for my own kitchen. The shelves were still useful to me. Their usefulness did not make them an answer to every conversation containing the word kitchen. At the next mention of a change, I tried to hear the question before searching my house for a solution.

Text B: an original contemporary practice extract.

A friend said he was considering joining a swimming club. I began describing my club’s training sessions and the coach I liked. He explained that he wanted an occasional social swim, not a weekly programme of training. My enthusiasm had answered the version of the decision I would have been making.

I asked which times he could attend and whether he wanted instruction. We found a session that suited his reason for going. It was not the one I usually recommended, and I remained happy with my own club. I had learned that a good experience could become poor advice when I carried it into someone else’s plans without first discovering what those plans were.

Both texts describe the changes in the way advice is offered.

What similarities do the changes in the way advice is offered share in these extracts? Use evidence from both texts to support your answer.