The last several BCW Newsletters have described the downside of employing confrontational interviewing/interrogating techniques as well as presenting some of the most effective and ethical approaches. As a student of the process, you already understand that interviewing is an art not a science. Herein below find some additional suggestions to conducting successful interviews. If you currently are employing one or more of these techniques, look at this as validation of your own process.
Relationship building is the best first step to a successful interview/inquiry/legal proceeding. In fact, 50%+ of the success rate is directly attributable to your personality and your ability to relate. But what do you do after you build the rapport? Certainly, each event/encounter is different, and no one technique works all of the time. Feel free to add these to your toolbox, and employ when you think that the time is right:
- A good interviewer is an effective listener! Paying close attention to responses will provide you with the most accurate and complete information. Get in the habit of allowing the applicant/claimant/witness to complete his/her entire answer without interruption and/or interjecting the next question.
- As often as possible, ask short, simple questions, such as, “what happened next?” Most people speak at a speed of about 125 words per minute. This is extremely slow to what the brain can handle. To be a good listener and to aid in maintaining your own concentration, use this extra time to think ahead of the talker, to formulate ideas on where the talker is headed and then to connect that information with what already has been said.
- Be aware that the more suggestive the question asked, the more you are influencing a person’s response. Instead, ask a person to describe an event or something about themselves in their own words, and they will provide their best understanding of what they know. Patiently listen to their complete explanation, and then ask passive, short, follow up questions triggered by your careful listening. Follow this strategy, and you should be able to obtain the most accurate and complete information.
There are many other effective, ethical interviewing techniques, and more will be presented in the coming months. Please watch for them, and “play” with these suggestions in the mean time!
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