It does not matter what business we are in. We can always learn things from someone who is in a business that seems to have nothing in common with ours.
Enter Diane Fanning, author of 26 crime novels.
I was fortunate to be part of a Zoom meeting where she presented to us her Interviewing the Psychopath. Diane’s point was if we are in any business that involves interviewing people, the principles she uses in talking to psychopaths, serial killers, sexual predators and others with demented minds can be applied in our field as well.
How does a nice lady land up interviewing psychopaths? It began when she was 9 years old. She was walking alone when a car stopped, the driver opened his door, asked for directions, grabbed her arm, she wiggled away, he took off, she memorized his license plate number. Her parents reported the incident to the police and the next day they apprehended the man. In his car they found child pornography and were able to trace him to the sexual assault of an 8 year old the prior day.
A crime novelist was born. One of the most interesting and fascinating people I have come across in my lifetime.
Here are 7 tips from Diane you may want to consider:
- Prepare a list of questions – but don’t engrave them in stone.
- Know what you want to know – but be flexible.
- Ask YES or NO questions ONLY with a special purpose in mind.
- Save the tough questions for last.
- Let rambling responses flow – they can be goldmines of information.
- Don’t step on uncomfortable silence.
- Believe everything – believe nothing.
You can find her at dianefanning.com.
And if you have questions about your note situation or are interested in some pricing options, you can reach me at dennystanz@verizon.net.
