Word Search Key

Commit

Commit means to firmly express, accept, or take responsibility for a statement, position, or decision, often making it more difficult to change later. Closed-ended questions facilitate this by prompting specific, definitive answers, reducing ambiguity and increasing accountability.

Tell

Tell means to express, describe, or recount information in a detailed manner, often providing context, emotions, or explanations. Open-ended questions using "Tell" encourage a free narrative response, allowing individuals to share information in their own words without restriction.

Information

Information refers to relevant facts, details, or insights obtained through effective questioning and active listening. In information-gathering interviews, it is elicited through open-ended techniques that encourage expansive responses, helping with accuracy and depth over the restrictive nature of legacy methods. More information is always better than less.

Open

Open refers to open-ended questioning that invites expansive, free narrative responses, allowing individuals to provide detailed narratives rather than simple yes-or-no answers. Open-ended questions gather more case data than closed-ended ones, uncovering crucial context, clarifications, and the unknown unknowns—those unexpected details that lead to new investigative insights.

Clarify

Clarify means to refine, specify, or make information more precise by reducing ambiguity and ensuring accuracy. Closed-ended questions aid in clarification by prompting direct, definitive responses, helping interviewers confirm details, resolve uncertainties, and eliminate misunderstandings that may obscure the truth.

Show

Show means to demonstrate, illustrate, or physically present an action, detail, or concept to enhance understanding and context. In TEDS questioning, “Show” prompts an interviewee to reenact or visually explain events or actions, which can provide crucial evidence, especially when captured on body-worn cameras, offering greater clarity and explaination of their account.

Similarity

Similarity refers to the shared traits, experiences, or perspectives between individuals that builds connection and rapport. In interviews, highlighting similarities—such as common backgrounds, interests, or hobbies—enhances likeability, reduces resistance, and promotes a more open exchange of information, ultimately strengthening trust and cooperation.

Pause

Pause or an "effective pause" refers to a deliberate moment of silence used to encourage reflection, emphasize importance, or prompt additional information. An effective pause in active listening creates space for interviewees to process their thoughts, expand on their responses, and reveal crucial details they might not have otherwise shared.

SUE

Strategic Use of Evidence (SUE) is an evidence-based interviewing technique that involves carefully timing and presenting evidence to assess credibility, detect inconsistencies, and encourage truthful disclosures. By withholding or revealing evidence strategically, interviewers can elicit unguarded statements, identify deception, and gain deeper insight into a subject’s knowledge and involvement.

ALS

Active Listening Skills (ALS) refer to the deliberate techniques used to fully engage with and understand an interviewee’s statements, building trust and encouraging more detailed responses. ALS includes effective pauses, minimal encouragers, emotional labeling, paraphrasing, and summarizing, all of which build rapport, reduce resistance, and improve the quality of interviews and interrogations.

Adaptability

Adaptability is the ability to adjust strategies, communication styles, and questioning techniques in response to changing circumstances, interviewee behaviors, or new information. It is the defining trait of great interviewers and interrogators, allowing them to remain flexible, build rapport, overcome resistance, and maximize the quality of information gathered in any situation.

Transition

Transition refers to a transition statement, a technique used to smoothly shift between topics or deepen understanding during an interview while maintaining cognitive compatibility. Effective transition statements help interviewers guide conversations naturally, reducing confusion, preserving memory flow, and improving the accuracy and detail of responses.

Evocation

Evocation refers to the technique of prompting interviewees to recall and articulate their own thoughts, feelings, or experiences rather than being led by the interviewer’s assumptions. Evocation-based questions encourage deeper reflection, increase engagement, and elicit richer, more reliable information by drawing from the interviewee’s own memory and perspective.

PIE

PIE stands for Paraphrasing, “I” Messages, and Emotional Labels, three key components of Active Listening Skills (ALS) that enhance communication and rapport. Paraphrasing ensures understanding by restating the interviewee’s words in a clear and concise manner. “I” Messages express the interviewer’s perspective without blame, reducing defensiveness. Emotional Labels acknowledge and validate feelings, helping to build trust and encourage more open and detailed responses.

TEDS

TEDS (Tell, Explain, Describe, Show) is a questioning technique designed to elicit detailed, narrative responses by encouraging interviewees to provide open-ended, free-flowing accounts. These prompts help gather richer information, uncover unknown details, and improve recall, making them essential for effective investigative interviewing and truth-seeking.

Quality

Quality refers to the accuracy, depth, and reliability of information obtained during an interview. Science-based interviewing techniques enhance the quality of information by reducing contamination, minimizing interviewer bias (red-teaming techniques), and creating conditions that encourage interviewees to provide detailed, truthful, and meaningful responses that withstand scrutiny.

Leading

Leading refers to the practice of phrasing questions in a way that suggests or influences a specific response, increasing the risk of the misinformation effect—where an interviewee’s memory is altered by external cues. Leading questions can contaminate recall, introduce false details, and reduce the accuracy of information, making them a critical concern in investigative interviewing.