Page 23 - Deception at work all chapters EBook

14 Deception at Work

Rapport

Rapport is defined as ‘the process of establishing and maintaining a relationship of mutual trust
and understanding between two or more people’. It means ‘seeing eye-to eye’ or ‘getting on the
same wavelength’ as someone else. It does not mean being condescending or obsequious.
We should always try to establish rapport with the subject of an interview, while remaining
firmly in control.

There is overwhelming evidence that people tell more of the truth, more often, to people
they believe really understand and empathize with them. As a rule, if you show someone you
don’t like him by what you say, how you say it, or through your body language, he will not
like you, and rapport goes out the window.

Within the first few seconds of meeting someone, you will subconsciously decide – based on
their ‘emblems’ (see Chapter 4, Table 4.9) – how your relationship will develop (see Figure 1.2).

To establish rapport we must take conscious control of our prejudices and first impressions.
The ways in which we can consciously establish rapport are described in Chapter 5, page [xref],
but please remember the word: it is very important.

Figure 1.2 Who will you get on with? We all form immediate impressions of people based on their
‘emblems’ and the circumstances in which we meet them. Once an impression has been formed, we
are reluctant to change it and, as a result, can be badly misled, simple because our minds are closed to
conflicting input. In investigative interviews, we must always keep an open mind. However, if your
mind is left too open, your brains will spill out.