Advanced Strategic Interviewing Course (ASIC)

(2 or 3 days)

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Lena created this training in 2015 and has trained for numerous organizations in both the public and private sectors. Her credentials and decades of real-world experience in interrogation and interviewing make her a subject matter expert in this field. The Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services certified a three-day version of this course, which is taught around the country. Her 3-day Strategic Law Enforcement Course (SLIC) has replaced the old-school REID Technique and has become the leading interrogation/interview training for state and federal law enforcement in the US. (Lena's SLIC course is offered through Investigative Concepts.)

 

Lena teaches entities outside the LE arena the same interviewing skills as in the ASIC. Her method is referred to as the SISCO Method of interviewing and focuses on non-accusatory, rapport-based, strategic interviewing practices. Participants who attend either the two-day or three-day ASCI will learn skills in four critical areas:

 

• Enhanced Communication & Awareness: Lena will test participants on their level of self- and situational awareness. Awareness plays a crucial role in interpersonal communications because individuals must be aware of how they come across to others through tone of voice and body language, and they must also be able to pick up on how others they are communicating with really feel. A lack of awareness can unintentionally invite negative consequences and hinder rapport efforts. Without awareness, communication, through words and body language, can be misinterpreted and cause a loss of trust. You may be inadvertently closing yourself off to contact, you may give the perception you are disinterested, or you may look insecure and thus lose respect and trust from others. Without awareness, you will not be able to observe and listen to others to pick up on the subtle indicators that indicate anxiety and stress, and deceit. When we don't actively listen to others, we will make assumptions and let our biases and prejudices lead us to make critical decisions and report incorrect information. Active listening is a state of mind that involves paying full and careful attention to the other person, avoiding premature judgment, and clarifying detailed information. The ability to listen actively can descalate conflict, strengthen cooperation, and foster empathy and understanding. Participants will  learn how to overcome conversational challenges, how to remain emotionally controlled, and how to change negative language to positive; the avoidance of negative language alone can change the entire outcome of a conversation. Enhanced communication skills shape successful interviewers. 

 

• Interviewing: Participants will learn non-accusatory interviewing skills, such as proper and improper questions and questioning techniques that uncover lies and influence the truth - and they work on almost everybody! Lena uses her expertise in communication, psychology, and human behavior to create foolproof ways to fully exploit truthful information. She identifies seven ineffective question types that waste time, cause frustration, and feed the person of interest information. You will learn and practice her techniques, such as "Don't Tell, Ask," asking unanticipated questions, timelining, and her four lie-exposing questions. By asking effective questions, participants will collect pertinent, non-biased information, increase positive relationships, and avoid the misinformation effect. Participants will learn how to structure an interview by taking the interview from the Macro level to the Micro, and back to the Macro to ease concern and increase cooperation. Participants will learn icebreaker tips to get the interviewee engaged and how to handle interview challenges. By preparing for the "what ifs," interviewers can effectively handle situations where the interviewee shuts down, refuses to answer, or seems irritated or pressed for time. Participants will analyze and critique interviewing techniques in real-world case studies.

 

• Elicitation: Participants will learn conversational elicitation techniques to obtain information without disclosing their objectives or intent. Elicitation relaxes the interviewee because, instead of asking questions, the interviewer uses provocative statements to collect information. Asking questions can sometimes sound accusatory, and sometimes identify what we don't know. Elicitation is an operational tool that exploits aspects of human psychology, which make human sources vulnerable to elicitation techniques. Participants will learn ten conversational elicitation techniques to gather information while concealing the objective of the interview or conversation. Participants will learn rapport-building techniques to gain likability and trust and will be taught body language dos and don'ts for looking and feeling confident, because if a person leaks insecurity and anxiety while in an operational status conducting elicitation, the effects can be extremely damaging to their safety and the mission. Participants will also learn how to control conversations by using conversational bridges and transitions. Elicitation is a brilliant tool to gain information indirectly, so that you never have to ask a question. Participants will be required to conduct an elicitation exercise where they will go out in town and elicit information from an unwitting individual.

 

• Deceptive Analysis: Lena will teach participants how to accurately read body language and how stress affects body language. Not all liars will exhibit stress, and not all truth-tellers will be relaxed - which is how liars can pass a polygraph machine. She will teach you about how lies are created and what happens in our brains when we lie. Participants will learn about the different types of liars and the most accurate indication of deception, which is when the verbal language doesn't match the nonverbal language (behavioral incongruence). Lena will teach participants how to uncover hidden meanings in the words people use; her method is called Sentence and Word Analysis Training (SWAT) and is part of the SISCO Method of Interviewing. Participants will learn the basics of how to accurately and quickly detect deceptive indicators in others. (She created TruthScan AI app that does the analysis for you! Check it out here: TruthScan AI.) During this class, participants will have real-world reports that they have to analyze for deceptive indicators as well as numerous videos of liars that they will analyze. Participants will be tested on their observation and deception-detection skills through videos and real-world role-play exercises throughout the course.