As in many walks of life, you must be able to communicate
effectively. You need to be able to do
this on the phone, in email, in written reports – almost in any form of
communication you can think of. Your
ability to communicate on the phone will likely be what gets you more cases or
not.
It is not just about being able to express yourself
either. You must be a good listener in
order to effectively communicate. In order to be good at interviewing people,
you must be able to communicate effectively with the person to whom you are
questioning. If you don’t have good listening skills, it will impair your real
effectiveness as an interviewer.
As a consequence, you will find it very difficult to be a
successful criminal defense or corporate investigator if you cannot conduct
good interviews. There is nothing more offensive or annoying than someone
speaking down to someone or using speech or language that is difficult to
comprehend. You must be able to speak to anyone from a young person with a
limited education to a professional person, in language that is appropriate and
clear. Always use the most concise word
– the word that has the clearest meaning.
Make sure that when you ask a question, it is not too
complicated. It is better to use several
simple questions instead of a long complicated one. This applies to information that you are
giving too. It is always better to be
short and concise instead of wordy and complicated.
Try to keep your ideas and questions about certain issues
together. For instance, when covering
the “Where” question: Keep all questions concerning the description of the
location together. Do the same thing
when asking about the description of a person.
Keep those types of questions together. It is easier for the other
person to keep their train of thought. It
is OK to go back later and ask a question on any topic for the purpose of
finding out if they are telling the truth.
Avoid wording your questions so that you are asking about
what a person does not know. Do not ask
“You didn’t see the license plate did you?” unless it is a follow up question
to something they may have said about the license plate. Instead ask them to describe what they
remember about the vehicle. You can help
the person you are interviewing describe the vehicle by asking questions about
the size, color, type, and so on.
Here are some tips to communicating effectively:
- · Listen, then in your own words repeat what you understand the person is telling you
- · If you are giving any kind of information, ask if the other person understands the directions or information
- · Project positive attitudes towards others and try to foster good human relations
- · Be empathic and express concern for others
- · Manage conversations and effectively draw out information
- · Pay great attention to the other person’s non verbal cues
Whatever you do - Stay safe!
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