Be Prepared to Communicate Part I

1
Be Prepared to Communicate Part I
Expect the Unexpected Are We Clearly Prepared?

• Dean Benard, RN, LL.M (ADR)
• Benard Associates

Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation
2006 Annual Conference
Alexandria, Virginia
2
Todays Objectives

• Communication styles
• A few words on general communication
• Communicating in an interview
• Preparing for an interview
• Elements of an interview
• Interviewing techniques
• Dos and Donts

3
There are Many Communication Styles to Choose From
4
Exerting Ones Authority
5
The Direct Approach??
6
Intimidation
7
Columbo Style
8
Communication

• What are some of the things that
• get in the way of good
• Communication generally?

9
Obstacles to good communication

• Being preoccupied
• Poorly developed active listening skills
• Failing to maintain eye contact
• Being unaware of our posture or facial expression
• Not being ourselves

10
Obstacles to good communication

• Lack of confidence to use communication tools
  like
• Summarizing
• Paraphrasing
• Reframing

11
Obstacles to good communication

• What about when we are conducting interviews?
• Do these issues get amplified?...
• yes they do, but why?

12
Obstacles to good communication

• The communication now has a specific goal
• Anxiety may be higher as we know we may be
  scrutinized by others
• The party we are communicating with may challenge
  us in different ways

13
Dealing with the Challenge

• What can we do to help ourselves in
• becoming better interviewers?

14
Becoming Good Interviewers

• Prepare for the interview
• Be yourself Arch Lustberg
• Conquer your fears of some things like
• Silence
• The need to be perfect
• Practice / Experience

15
Interview Preparation

• Think about
• Location of interview
• Goals of the interview
• Review relevant documents in advance and have
  them ready if you need them
• Know the questions that need to be answered
• Be aware of any cultural, gender or racial issues
  that may be present

16
Interview Preparation

• Four components of all interviews
• Orientation
• Narration
• Cross examination
• Closure

17
Interview Goals

• Ensure the witness understands the process
• Gain the witnesss willingness to cooperate now
  and in the future
• Establish a rapport with the witness
• Assess their non-verbal communication
• Obtain a complete and truthful statement
• Relevant information only 5 ws in context
• Determine if witness possesses or is aware of
  documents or other materials relevant to the case
• Determine follow-up questions for this witness or
  other witnesses

18
POOR LOCATION
19
Location Considerations

• Avoid interviewing in any place where you cannot
  control the environment
• Avoid peoples homes
• Avoid restaurants or coffee shops
• If it can be done over the phone thats okay
• Complainants usually prefer a neutral location

20
Location Considerations

• Ensure the location is
• Private
• Comfortable
• Clean
• Properly equipped (audio / video if required)
• No distractions or interruptions such as
  telephones

21
GOOD LOCATION
22
Location Considerations

• Confidentiality
• Comfort
• Professional

23
Establishing Rapport with the Interviewee
24
Why Establish Rapport?

• Likeability Factor Arch Lustberg
• People will give more to someone they like
• Helps to determine the baseline
• Reactions and general behavior may be compared to
  more stressful periods during the interview

25
Establishing Rapport
26
Establishing Rapport

• Try to put the witness at ease and help him/her
  relax
• Be friendly polite and not too stiff
• Talk initially about innocuous topics such as
  weather, traffic, etc.
• Explain your role and the purpose of the
  interview
• Offer the witness an opportunity to ask you some
  questions

27
Establishing Rapport
28
The Orientation

• Often we are required to provide a
• preamble to interviewees concerning
• their obligations etc. This part of the
• orientation phase
• Now that everyone is relaxed how do
• we approach this?

29
The Orientation
30
What Went Wrong?

• What should you do?

31
Orientation

• Explain your role
• Acknowledge that it isnt easy
• Offer assurances you will make it as easy as
  possible
• Explain what will happen what you will do

32
Orientation

• Advise the witness that there may be difficult
  questions
• If using audio / videotape explain why
• Reassure the witness that he/she may not remember
  everything and thats okay
• Advise the witness that he/she can ask questions
  and take breaks if needed

33
The Orientation
34
Interviewing Techniques

• Human memory often requires assistance to
  retrieve details and facts
• Provide some general information about the events
• Use documents that might assist in recollection
• Allow the witness to tell her/his story in full
  then seek clarification or ask follow-up
  questions
• This can be a challenge with some witnesses who
  require more prompting or assistance in staying
  on point

35
Interviewing Techniques

• Be careful not to make notes too early in the
  interview
• If support person present
• Explain ground rules No commentary
• Support person sits behind the witness

36
Interview Questions

• Know what you are looking for in advance of the
  interview
• Ensure your own understanding of the facts in
  issue before you commence your interview
• Write down important questions in advance
• Write down questions or the need for clarifying
  comments when they come to mind as the witness
  provides the statement

37
Interview Questions

• Example A person is alleged to have struck
  another person in the head
• What questions will you ask?
• What was the vantage point of the witness
  (angles, obstructions, distance)?
• Where in the head was he/she struck?
• How many times was he/she struck?
• Struck with what? - weapon, fist, open hand, back
  hand, foot
• Did the person who struck the other draw back
  before hitting?
• What was said by either party before, during or
  after the event?
• What was the context of the interaction?
• What did you do as the event unfolded?

38
Interview Questions

• Dont be afraid to ask the difficult questions!
• Ensure there is no doubt about what happened
  (e.g. sexual abuse allegation)
• Slept together (what does this mean?)
• Does intercourse mean that the penis was in the
  vagina or the anus or the mouth
• Sexual relations could be anything depending on
  who you askRemember Bill Clinton?!

39
Interviewing Techniques

• Not all witnesses will be forthcoming with
• information
• Answering questions with questions
• Repeat the question as you originally asked it
• Phrases like thats basically it or I guess
  thats all I can remember
• Consider this an admission that he/she has more
  to tell keep probing
• Hypothetically structured phrases like I would
  normally do this is a signal of possible
  avoidance of providing a direct answer.
• Remind him/her that you want to know what they
  did, not what they normally do

40
Interviewing Techniques

• Not all witnesses will be forthcoming with
• Information
• Indignation about a question may signal deception
  e.g. what kind of question is that, I wouldn't
  dignify that question with an answer
• Stay calm and repeat the question with an
  explanation why it must be asked
• Answers like its hard to say or thats a hard
  one to answer indicates possible credibility
  issues later
• Make note of this and keep probing. Consider
  asking why the question is so hard to answer

41
Interviewing Dos

• Treat witnesses with respect
• Be an active listener
• Restate and rephrase, keep the interview on track
  with appropriate redirection, and summarizing
• Listening is not just waiting for your turn to
  speak
• Assist the witness with reference points
• e.g. how was the light in the room compared to
  this room
• Use silence effectively
• Dont feel the need to fill the silence. Silence
  is a passive way to put pressure on a person to
  speak

42
Interviewing Donts

• Dont rush the witness
• Dont be judgmental or display emotion
• Dont lead the witness to answers or even suggest
  possible answers
• Dont make promises, coerce or unduly influence
  the witness
• Dont omit questions during an interview because
  you think you already have the answer
• Dont ask questions that suggest an answer e.g.
  did the gas leak smell like rotten eggs?

43
Closing the Interview

• Close with thanking the witness and praising
  his/her effort
• Provide your contact information
• Provide the next steps and if possible a timeline
  for next steps
• Leave the door open for further interviewing
• Give the witness an opportunity to ask any
  further questions and ask her/him if you have
  covered everything and if there is anything else
  she/he wishes to say

44
Language Obstacles

• Use a qualified interpreter if English is not
  spoken
• Do NOT rely on family or friends or a coworker
  who speaks the same language
• Every word must be translated during interview
  and in the transcript of the interview

45
(No Transcript)
46
CREDITS

• The College of Nurses of Ontario
• Andrea Burck Interviewee
• Shelley Ledger Bad Interviewer
• Luke LaRocque- Good Interviewer
• Lynda Tyson - Lady wanting Salt
• Sophia Stefou - Waitress

47
Speaker Contact Information

• Dean Benard
• Benard Associates
• 10 Duke Street Suite 300, Waterloo,
• Ontario, Canada Address
• Phone [phone], Fax [phone]
• dbenard_at_benardandassociates.com
• www.benardandassociates.com