The interview (I): achieving rapport

By identifying an interviewee’s dominant mode of expression – visual, auditory, or sensation – (and when he or she deviates from it) you can mirror the subject and begin to achieve rapport, says Don Rabon .

For more than 20 years Don Rabon has instructed investigators and federal, state, and local criminal justice personnel in 40 US states, Puerto Rico, Belgium and Germany. He also has provided training to NATO counter-intelligence personnel. Rabon has rural and municipal law enforcement experience and provides investigative technical assistance to entities throughout the United States. He is a long-time faculty member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE, www.cfenet.com). Further information on the interviewing process is to be found in Don Rabon’s two books, “Interviewing and Interrogation,” and “Investigative Discourse Analysis,” both available from the ACFE. This article is reprinted with permission from the March/April 2004 issue of Fraud Magazine, a publication of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners in Austin, Texas ©2004.

Sam, a suspect in a fraud examination, sits in the interview room with his arms crossed and a frown on his face.