A Soft Skill That Can Make You a Better Investigator
Great investigators have skills beyond the technical. They also have human skills – and one that can make you a better investigator is learning to observe body language.
What are you missing while you listen?
When you are talking to employees to gather information, do you focus so much on a person’s words that you miss everything else happening in the conversation? For example, did the worker’s behavior change when you touched on a particular topic? In other words, did the worker appear more engaged when discussing one part of the incident and uncomfortable discussing another?
When you notice things like that, it’s worth exploring the behavior change further by asking follow-up questions. Observation makes you a better interviewer.
Learning to recognize nonverbal communication helps you respond to the person in front of you. You may realize it is time to slow down or allow a little more silence instead of immediately asking another question. You might ask a follow-up question or return to a subject later in the interview.
These may be called “soft skills,” but they have a very practical effect on an investigation. They can help you recognize areas that need more information, notice when a response may be incomplete, and adjust your interviewing approach in real time.
It’s a skill you can practice.
You don’t need to become a body language expert to become a better observer. Start paying attention to how people communicate when they are comfortable and uncomfortable. Notice posture, movement, gestures, facial expressions, and changes in behavior. Then stay curious.
The goal is not to assign meaning to every crossed arm or change in posture. Look for changes and patterns during your conversation, since individual behaviors can have many explanations. The more you practice, the easier it becomes to recognize when something in a conversation deserves more attention.
Better observation leads to better evidence. Better evidence leads to stronger rcas.
Coming in 2027
This is one of the skills Mark Paradies and I explore in our upcoming book on evidence collection and investigative interviewing. We take a deeper look at decoding nonverbal behavior and how you can be a better investigator by using those observations to improve the quality of the information you collect.
The new book will be available in early 2027, and the updated course, along with the new book, is available to all attendees of the Effective Interviewing and Evidence Collection Course at the next Global TapRooT® Summit.
