1. J. Randall McNeill Deputy Director Alabama Securities Commission

2.  Face to face  Purpose driven series of questions to obtain relevant information. It is NOT a conversation.

3.  Enables you to listen and observe  Focuses on relevant conduct

4.  If you do not have a plan then you are wasting everyone’s time!  Reflects poorly upon you and your agency

8.  What is the purpose of the interview?  Who should be interviewed?  What questions should be asked to reach the purpose of the interview?  In what order should they be asked?

9.  Where should the interview take place?  What is the attitude of the person being interviewed? Friendly? Hostile? Neutral?  Does the witness have any infirmities that could hamper the interview?  How can the witness be made more comfortable so that he/she will cooperate?

10.  Obtain information that establishes or refutes the issue under investigation  Obtain all information and documents relative to the investigation  Questions should elicit specific details of financial transactions and the movement of money

11.  The witness should be someone who can explain the flow of the money and/or the workings of the office  If possible, work from the outside to the middle

12.  Chronological/Time Line approach  Questioning according to documents  Specific transactions or events (narrower in scope)

13.  Have two examiners to conduct the interview; one to ask questions (senior) and one to take notes

14.  Show identification/business card  Provide request list (if this is the initial interview)  Explain the purpose of the interview

16.  Design your questions to get as much information from the witness  Ask clear, open-ended questions  Do not ask questions that elicit an opinion  Control the interview. If an attorney is present do not let him/her answer the questions.  Do not interview more than one witness at a time  Stay calm

20.  Three catch-all questions: “Is there anything that I forgot to ask you?” “Is there anyone else that I should speak with?” “Is there anything that you would like to add?”  Thank him/her

21.  It is necessary to prepare a permanent record of each interview for future reference and use.  The complexity and importance of an interview determines the best method to record it.  However if it is recorded, it must be accurate and complete.

22.  Informal notes: These are not a method to record an interview and should only be used as a way to refresh your recollection when you are memorializing the statement.  Memorandum of Interview  Written questions and answers  Affidavit  Tape and transcript

23.  Sigmund Freud said, “He that have eyes to see and ears to hear may convince himself that no mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with the fingertips; betrayal oozes out of him from every pore.”

25.  Change in pitch  Change in speed  Verbal skippers, stammering, stuttering  Anger  Depression  Overbuild denial statements, such as “To tell you the truth”  Stalling tactics, such as repeating the question  Religious statements, such as “Honest to God!”

26.  Sweating  Blinking: increases when the interviewer is in rapid thought process; slower means evaluation process; no blinking means that the person is involved in a mental conversation  Eye movement  Lips, such as biting or squeezing  Open versus closed positioning