By Adam Turteltaub

Yes or no: Do you do investigations? Do you prepare questions in advance? Are those questions yes or no in nature? Did you know that may not be the best way to do it?

In this podcast, Michael Johnson (LinkedIn), Chief Strategy Officer, Traliant, explains that closed-end questions are often unproductive. Worse, questioning the target of an investigative with the goal of securing a confession can be dangerous since it may yield a false convention and, potentially, a lawsuit.

Instead, he argues for a different approach. Start by thinking through the report that will eventually be written and what factual questions it will need to answer. That can help you think through the potential sources of evidence. Next, determine who needs to be interviewed and in what order.

When it comes to the interviews, take a cognitive approach. Establish rapport and help get the person talking by asking about their background and responsibilities. Minimize the use of closed-ended questions, asking, instead, opened-ended questions which invite them to tell a story about what happened. If there are blanks or confusing parts, go back and ask more specific questions.

Another technique to try is to ask them to tell the story in reverse order. It’s much more difficult for the person to do so if they are lying.

Listen in to learn more about this technique and how it could help improve your investigative efforts.

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