Step1
Smile and be polite. Your pleasant demeanor is your bread and butter and if you can prove to customers that you’re happy to help them, they will appreciate your hard work and show their gratitude by leaving a bigger tip. Your feet may hurt and your back may ache but the pain should never show on your face.
Step2
Bring beverage pitchers to your tables to save yourself a few steps and encourage bigger tips. Large parties or groups of thirsty patrons will require a lot of soda or beer. If you bring a pitcher to the table, your customers will be pleased because they won’t have to wait for refills and you’ll save yourself the trouble of having to carry glasses back to the wait station. Just keep the pitcher topped off and watch those tips pile up!
Step3
Keep an attentive eye on your tables. Check in with your customers often to ask if they’re enjoying their meal and to determine if anybody needs anything. Most diners will get irritated quickly if they’re made to wait for beverage refills or have to ask their waitress for extra napkins so beat them to the punch and bring what they need before they ask.
Step4
Start a friendly conversation with your customers if their food is taking longer than usual to prepare. Diners are in your restaurant because they’re hungry. If they don’t get their food in a timely manner, tempers will start to flare and you will become the brunt of their frustration. While you can’t do anything to speed things along in the kitchen, you can divert your customers’ attention when you engage them in a few minutes of light, friendly conversation. Apologize for the wait and look for anything you can use to start a conversation. Your customers will find it hard to be angry with you if you’re friendly and apologetic.
Step5
Clear dirty dishes promptly, especially if you’re working at a buffet restaurant where dirty dishes pile up quickly. Your customers don’t want to look at their dirty dishes while they’re eating and they’ll want them removed from the table as soon as they're finished with them. You can make bigger tips if you lead your customer to believe that he or she is your only concern even though you have ten other tables requiring your attention. It only takes a few seconds to gather dirty dishes and take them to the wait station.
Step6
Be respectful when serving couples. Always address the woman of the table before you address the man and when you speak, try not to make the woman feel as though you’re making a pass at her boyfriend or husband. If you smile too much or act flirtatious around the man, you’ll infuriate his wife or girlfriend and your tip will diminish. If the woman wants to make a big deal out of it, you could even lose your job for making her feel uncomfortable.
Step7
Act interested. Some customers want to talk to their waitress about everything under the sun and you can earn bigger tips if you act genuinely interested in everything they have to say. During the lunch or dinner rush, it may be difficult to show a real concern for what your customer has to say, but as long as you can fake it, you’ll rack in the tips. If you’re in a rush, take every opportunity you can to say something witty or clever and quickly move on to your next table. If you leave the table on a high note, your customer will pick up the conversation right where he or she left it when you return.
Step8
Flirt only when it’s appropriate. If you have a flirtatious customer, you may be able to earn a bigger tip if you return his innocent flirtations with a few of your own. However, you have to know when it’s appropriate to flirt and when it’s not. If there is a lady seated at the table or if your customer seems to have had a bit too much to drink, answer each flirtatious comment with a smile and nothing more. It’s impolite to flirt with a man when there is another lady present and an intoxicated customer may take your advances too seriously or forget to tip you altogether.
Novice 
