Replace vague feedback with clear advice
Three focused prompts move groups past opinions into specific, useful suggestions.
Tool
The Advice Game
A simple feedback tool that helps groups name what works, offer useful advice, and raise better questions.
Use it when feedback conversations get vague, noisy, defensive, or hard to turn into action.
Best for
- Classroom
- Student Teams
- Feedback & Reflection
Use During
- Review
- Retrospect
What it helps with
Make critiques and reviews feel safe
A shared structure lowers the stakes so every student or participant can contribute.
Turn feedback into next actions
Advice and wonderings translate directly into changes for the next iteration.
Preview the template
When to use it
- Sprint reviews where students share work in progress.
- Design critiques and gallery walks.
- Peer feedback on project work and presentations.
- PLC feedback rounds with educators.
- Team reviews where many perspectives are useful but discussion may get noisy.
The three prompts
The Advice Game gives everyone the same simple structure before the conversation begins.
What did you like?
Set a positive tone and surface what is working.
What's your advice to make it better?
Replace vague opinions with solution-focused suggestions.
What do you wonder about?
Open safe questions that invite deeper thinking.
How to use the Advice Game
Choose the work that needs advice.
Pick something specific: a student project, prototype, draft, presentation, lesson plan, sprint review outcome, or team process. If the focus is too broad, the advice will be too broad.
Give everyone the same three prompts.
Ask participants to respond to:
- What did you like?
- What's your advice to make it better?
- What do you wonder about?
Start with silent writing.
Give everyone a few minutes to write before anyone speaks. This protects thinking time, gives quieter people a way in, and keeps the first voice from shaping the whole conversation.
Cluster the advice.
Group similar comments together. Separate appreciation, improvement advice, and questions.
Choose the next move.
Decide what changes now, what waits, and what needs more discovery.
Why the Advice Game works
Feedback gets better when thinking is visible.
Most feedback sessions go sideways because people start talking before they have had time to think. The Advice Game creates a short silent round first, so everyone can notice what works, offer advice, and raise questions before the conversation begins.
Why “advice” instead of “feedback”?
Feedback can sound like judgment. Advice changes the posture of the room. It asks people to help improve the work. The goal is not softer critique. The goal is feedback people can actually use.
The facilitation rule
Do not skip the silent writing round. That is the mechanism. Name the focus, give the three prompts, let people write, then cluster the advice and choose the next move.
Want the full explanation and examples? Read the article: The Advice Game
A quick classroom example
A team shares a project draft. Instead of starting with open discussion, everyone writes silently under the three prompts. The team can then see what people appreciated, what advice came up more than once, and what questions need to be answered before the next version.
Skills & Alignment
This resource supports feedback, communication, reflection, and collaborative improvement. These are suggested connections, not a formal standards alignment.
IB Learner Profile
- Communicators
- Thinkers
- Open-minded
- Reflective
IB Approaches to Learning
- Communication skills
- Social skills
- Thinking skills
21st Century Skills
- Communication
- Collaboration
- Critical thinking
Inquiry Practices
- Questioning
- Reflection
- Revision
- Evidence-informed improvement
Related resources
Try it in your next Review or Retrospect
Download the free printable template with the three Advice Game prompts and try it in your next review, critique, or feedback round.
Download for free