In this week’s International Association of Interviewers interview and interrogation training tip provided by Wicklander-Zulawski, we have Chris Norris, CFI discussing telephone interviewing and a couple of basic tips for conducting a non-confrontational interview over the telephone.
First and foremost, just because we’re on the telephone, we don’t change our tactics. We’re still going to utilize what we’re familiar with when we sit face-to-face with an individual. We just take those same tactics and apply it to the phone.
A couple tactical tips would include:
- We want to have our subject on a landline whenever possible. We can then have our witness call in on a conference call. The reason we prefer to have someone on a landline is your voice is in their ear. This create a much more intimate and private conversation. Your voice isn’t echoing throughout the building and it allows them to speak to you very calmly and casually.
- On our end we will begin our conversation on a speaker phone. The reason we take this approach is there will be a point in the conversation where we will want to go from the stale speaker phone to subtly picking up the handset to create a sense of closeness, thus closing the gap between us and the subject even if we are thousands of miles away.
- The third tip is use an engagement technique. We will say their name and ask a simple closed-ended question to assure the subject is listening to you, and to read their behavior as well as any changes in their demeanor.
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 about interview and interrogation training and how you can further develop your professional skill sets, please visit www.w-z.com or www.certifiedinterviewer.com for additional information.