# Presentation: 116780

## Interviewing Techniques

- Developed as part of the National Emergency Services Curriculum Project

##    What is an Interviewing Team?

- The interviewing team is a small, lightly equipped, mobile unit used to conduct interviews to find new information and to investigate leads during a search
- Information collection should be considered one of the most important functions of a search, in that one piece of information could bring a search to a rapid close

##   Who to Interview? 

- People in remote areas and relatively quiet suburbs tend to notice unusual sights or sounds
- Forest service personnel
- All night gas stations
- Farmers
- People who work outdoors
- Persons frequenting places where people gather and may have discussed events

##    Interviewer Attitude 

- Professionalism in questioning citizens will do much to reveal information.  Steps to take include:
- Properly identify yourself as a member of Civil Air Patrol  Wear a proper uniform and show an ID card.  Photo IDs are best
- Do not relate details of the mission to civilians.  Do not "put words in their mouths"
- Only give enough detail to help the interviewee recall the situation

- Let the witness tell his story in his own words and in its entirety.  Afterwards you can question him about details or to establish the validity of his information
- Use CAPF 106 and/or the Missing Person Questionnaire only after the interview is complete.  Most people interviewed will not follow a form exactly to relate information
- Tape recording the interview with the interviewee’s permission can help, but should not be a requirement

- Interviewer Attitude Continued

## Interviewer Attitude Continued

- Be skeptical of statistical information given by untrained observers like altitude or angle of attack.
- Courtesy and patience when dealing with a witness is essential.  Never rush a witness because he or she may leave out important information.

- If the witness is a child, question very carefully and have him tell his story several times and in several ways.
- Talk to the child's parents about the child's reliability under such circumstances
- Make sure that you don’t offend the parents in the process

- Interviewer Attitude Continued

## Interviewer Attitude Continued

- Leave the mission operating base telephone number and the interviewer’s name with the witness and ask them to call in if they recall any other helpful information.
- This let’s the interviewee know that you are interested in additional relevant information

##   Speed of Information Distribution 

- Data collected must be transmitted to the Mission Coordinator or designated receiver as soon as possible
- Use the telephone primarily and two-way radio alternatively if it must get back, couriers may be a wise idea as well
- CAPF 106 and other standardized forms facilitate transmission of data by using the block numbers or sequenced sections instead of saying the whole phrase

## Guidelines for conducting an interview

- Introduce yourself and state the exact purpose of the interview, but don’t be forceful
- Try to make yourself available to the person
- By forcing an immediate interview, you may frustrate a person with prior engagements to rush and forget an important detail
- Create a comfortable atmosphere
- What climate would you need to reveal things about yourself?

- Start with non-threatening questions.  It helps in two ways:
- Reduces tensions between the interviewer and the interviewee
- Shows you care about the interviewee’s feelings
- Understand his/her need to express emotional feelings

- Guidelines for Conducting Interviews Continued

## Guidelines for Conducting Interviews Continued

- Know yourself and how you come across - you get back what you project
- Know what you are after and have a general plan of attack
- Prepare the interviewee for personal questions
- Listen! Listen! Listen! You will learn nothing if you do all the talking

##   Techniques to get people talking

- Use structured questions (questions that require only a simple one or two word response) to clarify a point.
- Use unstructured questions (questions such as why...? How about ...? What do you think may have happened? Etc.) to get the interviewee thinking and talking about the subject of interest.
- Once you have the person talking, encourage him to continue. Listen!

- Give no implicit message to stop
- Show acceptance - nod, uh-huh, yes..., Please continue, etc
- Silence forces him to continue
- Ordinarily those being interviewed will add additional information and it will probably be the most important information received

-   Techniques to get people talking Continued

## To probe an area of interest (particularly a touchy or sensitive area):
Restate words that the person just used, but don’t interrupt
Summarize back what you perceived him to communicate

- Restate words that the person just used, but don’t interrupt
- Summarize back what you perceived him to communicate

-  Techniques to get people talking Continued

##  Evaluating Information Received

- Guide the interviewee into giving you more information to either support or refute each hypothesis that you make
- Remember, you are trying to put together a picture of what may have happened, and the information gathered is only one piece of a big puzzle

## Evaluating Information Received Continued

- Do not try to analyze leads in the field. You don't have the "big picture."
- If asked for your opinion or analysis, give it.
- Don't jump to conclusions, but listen to what is being said and form hypotheses as you go

## Interviewing Tasks

- Ground Team Leader
- O-1101