The Lie Guy ®

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I know why you are here.

You need to …

If I were to ask you…

“What were you searching for on the internet when you landed here?”

I know your answer will be one of the following…

• You or your staff have never got the chance to learn investigative interviewing skills,

• The skills you or your personnel learned to use are not really working, or

•  Because of the techniques that you DID use during a critical interview…
  You, your agency or company, are now facing a big legal mess!

“How does he know?” … you may be wondering.

Because I have been getting the same inquiries from people just like you for more than 30 years.

Whatever the reason you found your way to this website, the most important thing is that you are here and you’re trying to fix the problem.  Unfortunately, you’re not alone.

The good news is your problem can be fixed…
Discover how Stan B. Walters & Associates, Inc., can help you.

• Intriguing keynote speeches & breakout sessions that inspire.
• Field proven interview skills training by a recognized professional.
• Expert case analysis & coaching.

How big are the risks you’re taking?

Did you know the same techniques for interviewing victims, witnesses and offenders have been taught for decades?  The cold hard facts are that many people just like you learned those techniques “on the job” and as a result bad habits have been handed down year after year after year.

What you deserve to know is that those methods are failing judicial and legal scrutiny and in many cases with some major ramifications.

• Of all the criminal cases of exoneration by the DNA, 25% of those people where convicted on the basis of false confessions.

• You may not be aware of the fact that jurors, judges, review boards and personnel boards place more value on confessions and witness statements than physical evidence.

• The flawed techniques that are used to gain questionable admission and confessions are being perpetuated by skills development courses taught to many interviewers.  You or your staff more than likely attended one of those courses.

• The majority of interview skills programs that many investigators attend fail to teach effective victim and witness interviewing.  This is despite the fact that our most important information comes from those interviews.

• There is now considerable scientific evidence that these methods are responsible for poisoning the statements of victims and witnesses.

• I must warn you, that if you work for a business or public or private company, you’re not immune.  Lawsuits against businesses for wrongful dismissal on the basis of false confessions and faulty witness statements by biased interviewers are dramatically on the rise.  Some are now even being filed in the US Federal Courts!  These lawsuits are costing corporations millions of dollars in some cases.

• You need to know that fellow investigators, in the corporate arena as well as government compliance and regulatory agencies, and even in education and sports regulatory agencies are using the same flawed methods.

Will you, your case or your employer be in the next headline news story about a failed interview?

Will you be the next defendant name in yet another multimillion dollar law suit?

Identify what works … then do it!

As an investigator you know how important interviewing is to clearing cases. But, you probably suspect there has got to be a better way than what you may have even been doing. Maybe even what you have been doing for years! You need more up to date, proven methods of interviewing. Practical Kinesic Interview & Interrogation® skills is the answer for which you have been looking.

After extensive observational studies of literally thousands of recorded interviews, we do know what methods are the most effective at getting information, securing the person’s compliance and obtaining ethical admissions and confessions.

The interviews that were proven successful had four key elements present -

• The interviewer’s philosophy or strategy was not just to get a confession but to gain information.

• A narrative-based interview approached was used…
  The results of employing a narrative tactic was 60 – 80% increase information and less contamination.
• The interviewer utilized a tactic of adjusting to the subject’s cognitive and emotional changes…
  The result was a higher level of compliance and cooperation.
• Finally, the interviewer used a reasoning process that matched the specific personality and reasoning process of the subject.

If you use the information-gathering strategy along with the narrative approach, adjust to cognitive and emotional changes of your subject and you employ personality specific reasoning tactics, you will be successful 85% of the time at gaining and maintaining your subject’s compliance and cooperation.  All other combination of strategies and tactics you could possibly use will fail 50% or more of the time.

You need to improve your odds! Why not schedule Stan B. Walters to address the investigators in your agency own how they can reduce their risks and improve their skills in forensic interviewing?

Practical Kinesic Interview & Interrogation®  is based on those four elements of successful interview tactics. It is based on the information-gathering philosophy, employing a narrative-based interview, cognitive and emotional change recognition and adjustment, and personality specific reasoning tactics.  This what will give you the very best chance of a successful interview.

So what are your options?

There is always the option of continuing to use the same interviewing methods you’ve been using…
That is of course if  the ethical problems of false confessions, wrongful conviction or employment termination are not of any concern to you.

Oh sure, you can maintain the philosophy that this is the way we have always done it…
But now that you do know the difference, how high is your risk of losing a case?

Of course you can believe that an innocent person will never confess to something they did not do…How much are you and your agency willing to pay in damages from a major lawsuit and the accompanying negative publicity?

There is a better way to conduct your forensic interviews. When the appropriate, proven modern interview techniques are used, not only are the rights of the offender protected, but also we improve the reliability of the statements of victims and witnesses and we dramatically reduce the risk of wrongful employee dismissals and criminal convictions.

Your best option is to plan for you or your staff to dramatically improve your results while also reducing the risks of legal liability associated with wrongful dismissal and false confessions.

Make your decision now … before it’s too late.

Can you afford NOT to develop those core skills taught in our
Practical Kinesic Interview & Interrogation® programs?

Before you become tomorrow’s headlines about poor or improper interview techniques …

I urge you to contact us today!   CONTACT US

Presentations are available and custom designed for:

Just the list of top agencies who have attended presentations…
- SAMPLE CLIENT LIST

As a forensic interviewer you will benefit from our presentations…
– WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Presentations are available in multiple formats…
- PRESENTATIONS AVAILABLE

Have a custom presentation scheduled for your agency…
- HOST AN IN-HOUSE PRESENTATION

You can study at your own pace…
- PERSONAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT TOOLS

Presentations by a preeminent instructor on interviewing skills…
- STAN B. WALTERS, CSP

Whatever you or your agency’s or company’s specific needs, the key is to be proactive.

You need to act BEFORE one of your cases falls under the scrutiny of the courts, regulatory board or even the media as a result of dated, problem, or ineffective techniques.

CONTACT US right away for more information.

The Real Difference …
Practical Kinesic Interview & Interrogation® courses…
and “the others.”

The interview techniques and tactics you use could mean the difference between a solved case and a cold one.

“Just because we always have” is not a valid reason…

Years and years of using the same technique that everyone has always used doesn’t mean it’s the best or the only one available. Legal changes, scientific studies of interview room behaviors and the results of those studies dictate that the professional investigative interviewer keep up with the current understanding of human behaviors in the interview room.

Will it stand?

Sure you got a statement and maybe a confession but will it withstand judicial scrutiny? In today’s judicial system, confessions are being challenged as to whether they are voluntary or in fact coerced or even false. Do you know the reason why the confession you got using “the same technique we’ve always used” may be tossed out of court along with your case?

Don’t Take Our Word For It!

Read some of the state and federal courts most recent rulings. Statements and confessions are being dismissed on a regular basis.

There are three main reasons for the rejections:

1. Three step accusatory techniques that have been taught and used for years.

Those techniques worked in the past… but not anymore.

2. Diagnosing a person as being deceptive using behaviors signs that have been proven scientifically to be erroneous.

3. Wrongly identifying a person as being a liar then proceeding with a three part accusatory technique dramatically increases the chances of false confessions.

A non-coercive and non-confrontational technique…

Practical Kinesic Interview & Interrogation® techniques have always been non-coercive and non-confrontational! Today some of the old methods have been modified and announce they are now non-coercive and non-confrontational.  Why the change now after all these years?

The Truth About Lying

Every day you are faced with making very important decisions and the outcome depends on your ability to determine if someone has been truthful with you. It may be whether to hire a person for a job. It may be during the investigation of some incident or accident on the job or a crime in the community. Whether to make a large financial investment or allow someone access to your home or family. Should you always believe the victim or can you trust a witness?

How good are you really at spotting deception?

The reality is that the greatest majority of people can not accurately spot when someone is being truthful or deceptive. Research studies have shown we wrongly diagnose people as truthful or deceptive 50% of the time. That includes judges, law enforcement, doctors, therapists, counselors, teachers, media, parents – people just like you and I are notoriously bad at reading honesty in people.

The Key To It All …

When you talk to someone and use the lie-spotting techniques you were told were foolproof, are you totally comfortable with your decision that the person is or is not being honest? The reality is that you and I are may be identifying another person’s behaviors as signs of lying when in fact they may be telling the truth. Does that make you wonder how many truthful people have been branded as liars or the number of innocent people wrongly accused? How many others have gotten away with their deception and victimized people like you or me?

What is stopping you from spotting a lie?

There are a number of reasons we miss deception or call a truthful person a liar. The most significant reason – for more than 50 years we have been taught to look for the wrong cues. Through the history of mankind, we have been looking at the wrong behaviors as indications of deceit. Today the results of modern research discovered what are more reliable signs of deception but we have not been told how to spot those signs. How could you protect yourself in the future or discover the real truth if you knew the difference between the signs of honesty and deception?

It May Not Be Very Important…

Perhaps determining if a person is or is not being totally honest is not important in making the right decision. Getting to court and having an attorney tear into a voluntary statement made by a subject and challenge it as actually having been coerced is now happening on regular basis.

The choice is yours…

What would you like to see happen when you or your staff conduct their interviews? How soon would you like to be successful at discovering the truth and identifying honest people? What is really stopping you from being a great interviewer and consistent at spotting deception and uncovering the truth? You want to get to the truth as quickly as possible. Cooperative victims, witnesses and customers should not be alienated by your approach or tactics. When the interview is completed you want to be sure that you have gotten all the critical information needed. Ultimately, you want to be sure that any incriminating statements or admissions obtained will be judged as voluntary and under non-coercive conditions.

We have an interest in your success…

There certainly are numerously training programs you can try. Remember, you need scientifically based and legally tested techniques. You are interested in techniques that are not based on 50 year old principles that have been shown to not produce consistent, reliable results. You want complete and accurate statements from all your subjects. You want to be confident that the interviews you conduct will survive a judicial review that they are voluntary and accurate and have not been coerced.

How You Can Participate…

Practical Kinesic Interview & Interrogation® courses are for dedicated professionals who want to improve their interview and interrogation skills. Available for in-service or open registration courses, these top quality programs can be presented in various formats

- keynote, break-out sessions, one day overview, three day or even five day workshops.

Your Benefits of Hosting a Class for your Agency or Association

Contact Us today to learn more!

Stan B. Walters, CSP – “The Lie Guy®” has opened two new websites for all professional interviewers!

‘The Interview Room” now has it’s own website!
My popular newsletter has been on hiatus while I’ve been working on rebuilding TheLieGuy.com website.  I’ve also created a website for “The Interview Room” all it’s own!  The site has all the past articles from “The Interview Room” since 2002.  Eventually, it will have all the “Humor in the Room” submissions, the Tools & Resources section and great website locations.

Check out “The Interview Room.”
Make sure you are subscribed!
Bookmark the page!
New issues will be coming January 2011!

The3rdDegree.com – A Research Resource Web Site for the professional interviewer.
This is a brand new website I’ve created to hold all the research about interrogation, deception, false confessions, science of interrogation and more!  This site is going to be constantly growing as I constantly add new information.

Anyone who has attended classes in Practical Kinesic Interview & Interrogation® knows that our course content relies very heavily on behavioral science research and socio-psychological research.  I dispel a lot of the myths about deception and I support all my course content with empirical research.

Check out “The3rdDegree.com.”
Bookmark the page
Visit often for more research!

The Lie Guy® Stan B. Walters, CSP welcomes you to our new web site.

We’ve overhauled the site our site to make it easier to find what you need as a professional interviewer and interrogator.

Practical Kinesic Interview & Interrogation®

• Upcoming classes
• Course content
• Course Registration information
• How to host a class
• Class registration information
• Student comments
• Past clients

Instructors – Practical Kinesic Interview & Interrogation®

Find out more about

• Stan B. Walters, CSP “The Lie Guy®
• Daniel E. Sosnowski, Sr. Instructor

Learning Tools -

• Principles of Kinesic Interview & Interrogation: 2nd Ed
• Practical Kinesic Interview & Interrogation® – Pocket Guide
• Practical Kinesc Interview & Interrogation – Audio Lecture Series I
  Now also available in digital download format
• The Truth About Lying: How to Spot a Lie & Protect Yourself from Deception
  (Translated into foreign languages)
• Tools of Influence – Tele-Class – Now in digital format
• Electronic Recording of Interview & Interrogations – Tele-Class – Now in digital format.
• F.A.C.T. – CD: Follow Along Computer-based Training – Information Recovery System
  

Media Access – Stan B. Walters, CSP “The Lie Guy®”

• Improved access for Stan’s media experience
• Preview video of Stan in the media
• Media reviews

Check us out.  We will also been expanding the website even more with information you need about preparing yourself or your agency to meet the increasing legal demands for professional integrity interviewing techniques.

Be sure to sign up for our e-Zine “The Interview Room” in the upper left column.  We keep all our readers up to date on new research, websites and great articles on interview and interrogation techniques.

Join our RSS feed and get immediate notification of all our web site updates.

Stan B. Walters, CSP
“The Lie Guy®”

Hello Professional Interviewers, Guests, Media & Researchers:

The Lie Guy® website is undergoing a MAJOR overhaul!  It shouldn’t take too long (said the optimist!).

We’ll be back up in just a day or two.  In the meantime, if you need anything, drop me an email at

Stan (at website) TheLieGuy.com.

THX!

Stan