Finally, if you ask how you can help, you are entering a conversation and a relationship on more equal footing. You are likely to be open, as you should be, to the possibility that the person you are offering to help will likely have something to offer you in return. After all, you are inviting them to teach you enough about their situation or their lives to enable you to help them. In this way, asking how you can help is an invitation to begin a genuine relationship, one based on the notion of reciprocity.
