This week’s International Association of Interviewers interview and interrogation training series, provided by Wicklander-Zulawski, has Chris Norris, CFI, director of WZ Europe and international training, talking about the development of an admission—and especially the use of assumptive questions along with rationalizations in this context.
We often think that once we get a subject to open up and share a secret, we’re in good shape. But from there, we need to develop further information:
- When else?
- Where else?
- Who else?
- What else?
How do we do that?
Think about the following cycle: With each topic that you introduce, there might be a little bit of resistance. What do we need to do to decrease resistance? Build more credibility, show understanding, and eventually lead to another assumptive question.
In one case that I had a few years ago, I went from my first admission to a several-hundred-thousand-dollar confession in a matter of six or seven minutes. How? Next assumptive question: ask. Use my follow-up. If there was a little resistance before I asked my question, I would briefly rationalize through that resistance to set up my assumptive question.
Remember, the assumptive question is the path of least resistance to the truth when we talk about using follow-up questions. The bottom line: in the process of development, encountering any potential resistance means you need to reduce resistance, rationalizing before you ask about the new topic or new subject matter.
Every loss prevention investigator should continuously strive to enhance their investigative interviewing skills as part of an ongoing commitment to best-in-class interviewing performance. This includes holding ourselves to an elite standard of interview and interrogation training that is ethical, moral and legal while demanding excellence in the pursuit of the truth. The International Association of Interviewers (IAI) and Wicklander-Zulawski (WZ) provide interview and interrogation training programs and additional guidance to investigators when dealing with dishonest employees, employee theft, sexual harassment, policy violations, building rapport, pre-employment interviewing, lying, denials and obtaining a statement.
By focusing on the latest information and research from experts in the field as well as academia, legal and psychological resources, these video tips provide interview and interrogation training techniques that can enhance the skill sets of professionals with backgrounds in law enforcement, loss prevention, security, asset protection, human resources, auditors or anyone looking to obtain the truth.
To learn more, visit www.w-z.com or www.certifiedinterviewer.com .
