How to extract information from a person. Secrets of the Speaker

Carrying on a conversation can sometimes be quite difficult. Fortunately, there are simple techniques, which can be used to keep the other person interested in communicating and continuing the conversation. Show your interest in the conversation by asking the other person the right questions and listening to their answers. At the same time, try to set a rhythm for the conversation that will allow you to achieve mutual understanding with the other person. Also, remember to use open body language to make the other person feel comfortable while communicating with you.

Steps

Demonstration of Interest

Choose topics of conversation that you know your interlocutor is interested in. In general, people love to talk about themselves and their interests. Therefore, you can keep the conversation going by discussing topics that your interlocutor likes.

• Ask the person questions about school or work, their interests or hobbies, family and friends, or background (ask where the person came from or what their family history is).
• You can also use some context clues from earlier parts of the conversation to help you figure out whether a topic should end or be continued. For example, if a person previously mentioned that he was fond of horse riding, you can try asking him about this or about jockeys, or about what it was like to ride a horse for the first time in his life.

1. Ask your interlocutor open-ended questions. Questions that require simple yes or no answers can stall the conversation, while other question options will open up more possibilities. Try to ask open-ended questions that allow the interlocutor to answer them as fully as he wants.

   • On the other hand, open-ended questions are more demanding of the person who has to answer. For example, you shouldn’t ask your interlocutor a question like this: “So, you studied abroad for a whole year in 2006, right?” Instead, try asking him, “So what is it like to study abroad?” The second version of the question gives the interlocutor more space to give a detailed answer.
   • If you accidentally ask a question that requires a yes or no answer, correct it with a phrase like, “Please tell me more about that.”

2. Listen carefully to what they tell you. When it comes to conversation, listening is just as important as speaking. If you are an active listener, you have the opportunity to understand the other person's point of view. Wait until the person has fully spoken before you say anything. Then summarize everything that was said yourself to show the other person that you listened carefully. To do this, you can use the phrase: “It seems that...”

   • If something is not clear to you, ask your interlocutor a clarifying question, for example, the following type: “Do you mean that...?”
   • Being a good listener, you can bring up any topics in a conversation that were previously touched upon only in passing in order to continue further communication. For example, you can say: “A little earlier you mentioned that...”

3. Encourage the other person's desire to talk. A person who is the best listener doesn't just sit and stare at the other person during a conversation. Without interrupting the interlocutor, he demonstrates his interest in hearing the continuation. In this he is usually helped by small interjections, like “Ah!” or “Oh?” Also, encouraging phrases like the following can inspire your interlocutor to continue his story: “And what happened next?”

   • An incentive to continue the story can be nodding and facial expressions of the same emotions as the interlocutor, for example, surprise or sadness.

   Maintaining a good rhythm of conversation

   1. Don't filter what you're going to say. One of the reasons many conversations end up being short is because both parties are thinking about what they should and shouldn't say. When an old topic of conversation has run its course, you may not immediately realize how appropriate and impactful it would be to voice what came into your head. In such a situation, you should adhere to the strategy of telling your interlocutor everything that comes to mind, without any analysis.

      • For example, there is an awkward pause in the conversation, and you yourself are thinking about how uncomfortable you are in these high-heeled shoes. Of course, if you blurt out: “Damn it, these heels are killing me!” – this may seem strange to the interlocutor. But such an honest phrase can lead to a conversation about the feminist position of not wearing stilettos or to a discussion funny incident, when someone fell due to ridiculously high stilettos.

   2. Learn to acknowledge awkward moments. Even the best conversations sometimes run into obstacles that threaten to ruin everything. In this case, the most effective solution to the problem is to acknowledge it and move on. If you try to pretend that nothing happened, it may alienate your interlocutor.

      • For example, if you misspoke or said something offensive, apologize immediately to get back on track. Don't act like nothing happened.

   3. Make the other person laugh. Humor is a great way to keep a conversation going. It also allows you to strengthen your connection with your interlocutor. People are more likely to laugh with their friends, so if you make the other person laugh, you will become closer to them.

      • You don't have to make jokes to make someone laugh. Well-timed sarcasm and a sharp word can do the job just as effectively. For example, you have already mentioned your passion for anime several times in conversation. After the third time, you can say: "I think it's time for me to stop mentioning anime before you decide that I'm obsessed with it... Although, yes. I'm obsessed with anime. I even wear my favorite character's costume with me... Just kidding!"

   4. Go deeper into the topic of conversation with additional questions. After all initial formalities have been completed, the conversation can be moved to a deeper level. Think of a conversation like a meal: first you eat an appetizer, then move on to the main course, and then dessert. Once you and your interlocutor have already discussed a couple of superficial topics, you can move on.

      • For example, you could ask your interlocutor: “What do you do for a living?” After a while, you can go deeper and ask the question: “Why did you choose this career?” Typically, asking “why” questions helps you find out more information about what has already been said.
      • As you begin asking more personal questions, pay close attention to external cues about how comfortable your interlocutor feels. If he begins to feel uncomfortable, back off and move on to less personal questions.

   5. Don't be afraid of silence. Silence is also useful in communication, so it should not be feared like fire. It helps you catch your breath and collect your thoughts. It can also serve as a signal to change the topic if the discussion has become too boring or, conversely, tense.

      • A few seconds of silence are completely normal. Don't try to rush to fill them out right away.
      • However, if the silence continues, go to new topic, using the phrase: “I'm interested in learning more about what you mentioned earlier...”

   Using Appropriate Body Language

   1. Display relaxed body language. Correct body language is the main assistant in ensuring the comfort and openness of the interlocutor when talking with you. If you sit in front of your interlocutor strictly straight in your chair, then this may make him quite uncomfortable. To demonstrate your own level comfort, smile slightly and lean back a little in your chair to ensure a less tense posture. Or lean relaxed against a wall or column if you are standing.

      • Another way to show your relaxedness is to relax your shoulders. Lower them down and pull them back if they were tense before.

   2. Face your interlocutor. A good conversation involves establishing a connection between you and the other person. This connection will not be available if you turn away from the interlocutor. In addition, even if you turn only your legs or body away from your interlocutor, you will show him your desire to leave. Instead, turn your whole body towards the other person.

      • To show special interest in certain parts of the conversation, lean forward towards the other person.

   3. Maintain eye contact. Regular eye contact is very important to keep the conversation going. Make eye contact immediately at the very beginning of the conversation. This should then be maintained with regular gazes lasting approximately 4-5 seconds. It's okay to look away from time to time too! Take a few seconds to study your surroundings before re-establishing eye contact with the other person.

Option. How did you get to this party?

A simple question helps establish what you have in common with the other person. This is the easiest way to connect and find something to discuss.

At worst, you may always be amazed at how different the paths are to the same party. And this is a reason to ask more and more questions.

Question 2. What exactly do you mean?

Option. Never heard of this! How it works?

Actually, we don’t really like to ask again and clarify. Because then we look stupid and uneducated. It seems that they have overlooked something that everyone else has known about for a long time.

However, the tactic here is to feel like a newbie enthusiast. Then your questions will be pleasant for the interlocutor. In addition, you will ask about things that everyone around you would like to know about, and this will make the conversation even more pleasant.

Question 3. Why did you decide to do this?

Option. How did you get into this industry?

People love to talk about themselves. Such a question provokes the interlocutor to tell a story, from which you can isolate individual details and then use them to develop the conversation. You may find out that you went to the same university or worked in the same industry. And you can continue the conversation, which is interesting for both of you.

Question 4. What do you like most about (…)?

Option. I really liked (the speaker, the bouquet of flowers, this boulevard), what do you like?

Just like in the previous option, you simultaneously establish a connection with the person and provoke him to express his own opinion.

The fun starts when a person disagrees with your preferences. For example, if you said that the speaker was interesting, but your interlocutor practically fell asleep during his lecture. This is a guarantee that the conversation will never end.

Question 5. What is your favorite restaurant?

Option. Where can I go without encountering a crowd of tourists?

People like to be experts. If you are new to the city and meet a local, rest assured that he will tell you all the secrets of this place. He will advise where to go, where to eat and how to walk.

Comfortable! You will not only get your interlocutor talking, but also get a lot of useful information.

Question 6. Why do you think so?

Option. It’s strange, I thought (...), but you say that things are not like that at all.

Usually people take great pleasure in making unsubstantiated statements about a career, city or hobby. Something like: “Now is not the best best time to start a career in this industry.”

If you do not allow your interlocutor to wander away from this thesis, but ask him to talk about the details and reasons for this opinion, then, firstly, you will show that you are listening carefully, and secondly, you will show genuine interest in the subject of the conversation.

Question 7. What was the most difficult thing along the way?

Option. If you had to start over, what would you do differently?

People like to talk about how they achieved their goal. A conversation like this is bound to be emotional.

This question will work especially well if you need to start a conversation with someone you really respect: an author, speaker, leader in the field. Starting a conversation with a question like this can provide not only a lengthy answer, but also a valuable lesson.

The practice of obtaining information shows that psychological factors play a decisive role in this process. In most cases, success here depends on the ability to establish psychological contact with the interlocutor and, in the process of communication, influence his conscious and unconscious areas of the psyche. Such influence is exerted for different purposes. One of them is to obtain certain information that he would not like to share with anyone. Based on practical experience, there are two main ways to obtain the necessary information.

The practice of obtaining information shows that psychological factors play a decisive role in this process. In most cases, success here depends on the ability to establish psychological contact with the interlocutor and, in the process of communication, influence his conscious and unconscious areas of the psyche. Such influence is exerted for different purposes. One of them is to obtain certain information that he would not like to share with anyone.

The general psychological basis on which it is possible to obtain information of interest is the theory of the unconscious. The term “unconscious” is used to designate such phenomena that occur in the human psyche, but are not conscious of it. The meaning of obtaining information through elicitation is to rely on general patterns mental activity subject, to induce him to transmit information in one form or another. Since this subject, as a rule, does not want to consciously convey this information, he must be encouraged to transmit it unconsciously.

Unconscious mental processes for the normal functioning of the body are a direct necessity. This reveals another function of the unconscious: it provides “unloading” of consciousness, which is reflected in the development of the so-called “ defense mechanisms» consciousness. The meaning of defense mechanisms is that they displace or suppress all that information from consciousness that interferes with or contradicts a person’s activities and behavior in a particular situation.

If you turn to psychological structure personality, then in its various substructures one can find many elements that are unconscious mental phenomena. For example, the main elements of biologically determined qualities - properties of temperament, inclinations, innate drives, etc., as a rule, are not recognized by a person. Many mental phenomena have elements of the unconscious. Sustainable elements of professional and life experience, as a rule, are not realized by the subject. These are automated skills, abilities and especially habits. Many actions that a person performs repeatedly and have vital significance also remain outside his consciousness.

Finally, certain traits character, characteristic of a person, his inherent abilities, are also not always realized by him. Often, in order to realize these traits, the subject needs certain circumstances that will reveal these traits as elements of personality. Sometimes a person is not aware of his abilities and they are revealed as his self-awareness develops in the process of practical activity. Consequently, unconscious phenomena are not the realm of something mysterious; These are ordinary mental phenomena, but have not reached the level of consciousness.

Based on general theoretical principles and practical experience, we can distinguish two main ways to obtain the necessary information:

First- this is an inducement of the subject to involuntary statements of facts that are of interest to you.

Second- inducing the person of interest to involuntary physical and expressive actions containing relevant information. Within these methods, one can identify a number of specific techniques with the help of which the necessary information is obtained.

Demonstration of specific items,“revitalizing” relevant images in the memory of the person concerned and prompting him to make involuntary statements. For example, to find out some aspects of the life of a person of interest or to start a conversation on a political topic, you can use relevant newspapers or magazines.

In general, it should be said that personal belongings of this person (toilet items, books, etc.) can be used as specific objects that prompt the interested person to make involuntary statements; objects belonging to this person’s loved ones, or other objects accessible to perception. The presence of such specific objects gives a double psychological result.

It goes without saying that reviving images of the past in memory is a fairly conscious process. As for statements, they are, as a rule, unintentional, in the sense that the person we are interested in, talking about his life, does not realize that by doing so he is communicating the information that interests you.

Necessary conditions for successful application this technique:

the object chosen for demonstration must be associated with an object that would resurrect in the memory of the person of interest the events to be clarified;

the demonstration should always be natural and justified by the specific situation;

your actions and actions when demonstrating an item must be expressively justified.

It should be noted that the basic rule for using this technique is the following: the impulse to involuntary utterance when demonstrating objects reaches its specific purpose only if the person concerned is unaware that this item serves as a reason for speaking out.

Using a related topic of conversation. This technique generally makes it possible to conduct a focused conversation without resorting to asking questions. Such a topic revives a number of images in a person’s memory, inevitably capturing into its orbit images from the area of ​​forbidden information, that is, information known only to him. What should be taken into account here is not the list of possibilities, but the way of posing the topic itself, that is, the ability to ask the main question with leading questions and get an answer to it. Switching to a related topic can be done using a variety of neutral questions.

The essence of this phenomenon is that practically identical reactions occur in a person to all words that are similar in meaning, that is, they belong to the same logical group, and almost do not depend on their sound or spelling.

The main conditions for the successful use of this technique are as follows:

the topic of conversation used as a related topic must be known to the person of interest and have a certain personal significance and value for him;

the related topic should logically follow from the specific situation;

the actions and actions of the person receiving information must be psychologically justified and expressively confirmed, that is, consistent with professional and individual characteristics personality.

Methodological conditions for using this technique:

a related topic should not be too close to the main issue to be explored, since otherwise it takes on the character of a poorly disguised direct question;

the topic should not be too distant from the main issue being clarified, because this evokes a lot of other images and leads to statements that do not contain the information of interest.

Thus, using a related topic of conversation to obtain information of interest to you is to revive the impressions stored in the memory of the person of interest, to mask the real meaning of the related topic, and as a result to induce him to inadvertently convey relevant information.

Using the sense of significance of a specific person. People generally try to maintain and increase their self-esteem. By touching this feeling, you can ensure that the person of interest, defending his prestige, speaks out on an issue of interest to you. In targeted conversations, you can use a person’s desire to defend his point of view at all costs and increase his personal significance in the eyes of others. In this case, the existing relationship with the interested party should be taken into account. Taking into account how this person treats you, certain prerequisites are created for receiving information. These prerequisites include the following:

the desire of the interlocutor to sincerely and selflessly help the partner. This desire is usually expressed in attempts to give specific advice, convince, etc.;

a feeling of gratitude experienced in response to the actions and statements of a partner. Therefore, the interlocutor can provide information that interests us, considering his actions as a kind of return of a “debt”;

the desire to surprise the opponent and cause him confusion. This factor is clearly manifested in the process of a dispute that affects the interests of both interlocutors;

the need to receive a response from the interlocutor to one’s statements. This factor It has special meaning when the partner enjoys authority from the interlocutor. Sometimes, when they say something, they want to get advice or an approving response from the person they value.

All this gives reason to use specific techniques of this method when obtaining information of interest, such as appealing to self-esteem, showing indifference, “playing” on the interlocutor’s self-esteem and showing participation. Let's briefly look at these designated techniques.

1. Appeal to self-esteem. This technique involves praise, flattery, a emphasized expression of respect, great interest and attention towards the interlocutor. The technique is especially effective when communicating with vain and ambitious people. Appeal to self-esteem allows you to establish close relationships with such people and promotes sincerity on their part.

You should always give a compliment before praising;

when giving praise, you should adopt an appropriate facial expression and posture;

It is better to emphasize the “advantages” of the person of interest by comparing him with his opponents. At the same time, you should know that everything is good in moderation, and this should not be forgotten.

2. Showing indifference. This technique is used when the interlocutor has a great desire to discuss the information he has, to bring up in a conversation news known only to him, to which he attaches great importance. Showing indifference to information that is important from the interlocutor’s point of view, neglecting it hurts his pride and thereby stimulates to the expression of additional data emphasizing the significance of this information.

you need to sense in time that the person of interest is “overflowing” with information. This is certainly noticeable in the behavior of this person: he casts frequent glances towards the person to whom he wants to say something, cannot sit quietly in one place, and begins to gesticulate vigorously.

At this time, you cannot impose your topic of conversation on the person you are interested in;

a manifestation of indifference on your part can prompt this person to speak only in conditions of trust. This is recorded by the desire of the person of interest to be alone with you. In the absence of trust, an indifferent attitude towards this person will cause responses of this kind in him.

3. Use of emotional stress. In this case, emotional stress refers to a state of mental tension. In this state, a person’s control over his behavior and statements weakens. There are several stages in the development of this condition. Emotional stress occurs as a result of any sudden and strong impact on a person, exciting his psyche and disrupting normal orientation in the environment. The main stage is a period of violent experiences, poorly controlled actions and speech reactions. Emotional stress ends with a gradual transition to calm.

You can put the person of interest into a state of emotional stress by asking an unexpected question, making an inaccurate or false statement; report supposedly “important” information, show your knowledge of something.

4. Posing an unexpected question. This technique has two varieties. By asking an unexpected question, you can confuse the person of interest and convict him of something, for example, of deception. In the first case, this person may not be aware of the intentions of the interlocutor, in the second, these intentions are realized by him.

Conditions for successful use of this technique:

an unexpected question should not be related to the topic of the present conversation;

The basic rule for using this technique: if the task is to expose or incriminate the interlocutor, an unexpected question should confuse the person of interest; if it is necessary to confuse him, then it is necessary to provide for this person a way out of this situation.

5. Inaccurate or false statement. By deliberately making a false statement or speaking incorrectly on any issue, we count on the fact that the interlocutor will want to clarify or supplement our statement. This technique is especially effective when communicating with emotional and impulsive people, who are easily unbalanced by distortion of facts. This technique is no less effective in relation to people who consider themselves “experts” or great scholars.

Conditions for the successful use of this technique:

the inaccurate or false statement must relate to the area of ​​ideas that concern the person of interest at the moment;

such an action should create a certain difficulty for the person of interest in the form of a struggle of motives: to say - not to say, etc.;

the person using this technique must convince the interlocutor of the sincerity of his behavior.

The basic rule for using the technique: the falsity of the statement must be outlined basically correctly; only some specific detail of our information can be distorted.

6. Reporting “important” information. Using information that can change a person's mood helps guide the conversation. the right direction and get the information you are interested in.

Conditions necessary for the successful use of this technique:

when selecting “important” information, it is necessary to take into account the dominant needs of a person and his individual psychological characteristics;

it is required to be in a state of trust with the interested party;

the source of information must have the necessary respect and authority in the eyes of the person of interest.

7. Showing awareness. This technique is used when some details of the issue and events are already known and you need to get Additional information. Skillful handling of even a few known details can give the person the impression that the interlocutor is fully informed and encourage him to reciprocity and frankness.

8. Planting false evidence. It has long been known that a person trusts ideas that arise in his own head much more than those that are presented to him by other people. Therefore, people experienced in psychology try to avoid direct pressure on a person, but prefer indirect influence on his way of thinking. To do this, they seem to inadvertently throw him certain information, from which he must draw conclusions himself. The art of obtaining information lies precisely in the fact that with the competent presentation of certain facts, the object of your interest should draw exactly those unambiguous conclusions that you are counting on.

9. Creating the image of a “simpleton”. The essence of this technique is to deliberately belittle one’s own mental capacity, create a feeling of intellectual superiority in the object. As a result, a person loses his vigilance, since he does not expect any trick from the “simpleton” with whom he communicates. In fact, it is he himself who is the simpleton, not you.

Methodology for obtaining information of interest

Preliminary study of the interlocutor is, of course, one of the most important tasks of the methodology for obtaining information. In practical terms, one should take into account those norms that regulate the behavior and relationships of people in the process of communication and significantly influence the process of obtaining information. Some of these norms are also determined by the national psychological characteristics of a person. These are also the character traits of the person we are interested in. You must correctly imagine which character traits of the person you are interested in can make it easier and which can make it more difficult to obtain information in a conversation. First of all, you should pay attention to the degree of his suggestibility and conformity, as well as such weakness of character as talkativeness. There are people who cannot keep within themselves a single thought that arises in their head, or a single piece of news heard from others. Until these people tell what they have to several people, each individually, they cannot be calm. This trait is often used and should be used in purposeful conversations that intentionally involve people who have similar traits. Knowing a person's character traits makes it possible to use people's vanity and ambition. Under certain circumstances, people with such character traits may take rash actions and statements only in order to attract attention to themselves and deserve positive assessment another man.

It is also important to keep in mind that for most people, telling the truth is always easier than lying. Therefore, in situations where they have to tell a lie or hide the truth, many get lost and allow so-called “talks”, involuntarily expressing the truth, which always needs to be taken into account.

It is important to note the intellectual and speech abilities of the interlocutor, the features of his memory and observation. This helps to form a correct picture of a person and more objectively evaluate the data he reports. It is also important to know the degree of sociability of a person: how easily you can start a conversation with him, what position he usually takes in a conversation. The person’s mood during the conversation should also be taken into account. Events preceding a conversation can significantly affect the state of the interlocutor, his feelings, and his readiness to start a conversation and maintain it. Thus, various aspects of the personality of the subject of interest to us can lead to involuntary statements.

When making a final assessment of the personal qualities of the interlocutor, one should avoid prejudice and haste in forming an opinion. Bias interferes with a person's objective perception and leads to erroneous conclusions. In addition, there are cases when people who at first seemed withdrawn later turn out to be very pleasant interlocutors.

In order for a focused conversation to be successful, you must have sufficient general training to easily and naturally support the conversation and develop it in the right direction. Having erudition helps in conversations with people of different professions and interests, different social and age groups. General preparation and erudition must also include deep knowledge in the field of interest to the interlocutor.

Psychological preparation for focused conversations includes several components. One of them is the creation of an optimal psychological mood, which allows you to start a conversation without significant effort.

In order to free yourself from tension and maintain your interlocutor’s readiness to communicate, you should distract yourself from the upcoming action and remember situations in which you successfully solved similar problems. It is important to mobilize yourself for the upcoming action and constantly maintain it.

Another important aspect of psychological preparation is practicing the optimal line of behavior in the upcoming conversation. To successfully obtain information, you should behave freely, confidently and even somewhat condescendingly in a conversation. The choice of course of action depends on the individual qualities, character and temperament of the person you are interested in.

An independent component of psychological preparation for receiving information is predicting specific situations that may complicate the task: changes in the interlocutor’s mood, alertness, resentment, unfavorable emotional reactions. Good preparation for a conversation gives confidence and calm in a situation where there is practically no time left to think about a decision.

Practice shows that the conditions for conducting a conversation significantly influence its process. An “informal atmosphere,” a calm place conducive to casual conversation, and enough time for a detailed conversation help solve problems in obtaining information. Focused conversations are best conducted in an informal setting, when the person you are interested in is free from professional responsibilities.

When entering a conversation, you should try to create a relaxed atmosphere. Starting theme should help as much as possible to establish psychological contact and allow you to further move the conversation in the direction that interests you.

Attempts to obtain information without a previously established contact usually do not lead to the desired result. However, you should not over-tighten initial stage conversations to the detriment of solving the main tasks of obtaining information. Prolonging the conversation when discussing general topics can also lead to undesirable results. After receiving the necessary information, you should gradually reduce the conversation to a neutral topic and continue the conversation for some time.

Yuri Chufarovsky,
Doctor of Law, Candidate psychological sciences, Professor of the Department of Criminal Law Disciplines, Faculty of Law, Moscow Academy of Finance and Law.

In life, we sometimes come into contact with people whom we see for the first time. If the interlocutor is interesting to us, we want to know more about him, we want to structure the conversation in such a way as to also interest him. For business, information is money. And the more information you have, the less uncertainty, the easier it is to reach your goal.
How to get information from and about your opponent?

I offer some observations, methods that people most often use in business to promote their opponents for information.
These methods are not always honest; sometimes it is a conscious manipulation, sometimes an unconscious one. I am a proponent of a win-win situation.
But, you see, it is better to know the ways to be armed and not give away any secret information when someone uses them.
Or understand what kind of weapon you own and use it for its intended purpose and in the right situations.

This article is for those who want to know how and in what ways people influence each other in order to obtain the desired information.

Ways to promote information

1. Issue an option possible action, opponent's wishful thinking

using affirmative phrases “ I know», « You surely... (you do this, such and such a person, feel this way...)"
And carefully record your opponent’s reaction.

The more incorrect the option, especially the assumption about the interlocutor’s feelings (talking about feelings unconsciously turns off part or all of logic), the more frank his reaction.

Sometimes several options for solutions are given on behalf of the interlocutor, although he did not voice them. Information is obtained by comparing reactions to both situations.
List the problems that most likely exist.“Surely...” And ask your opponent what is interesting from the list and what is not important? Ask an alternative question: either this or that is interesting?
Even if a person doesn’t guess correctly, the opponent is more likely to reveal himself when he is credited with something that is not what he is.
Say what are the reasons for refusal. But at the same time make a challenge: “If I say that all this does not apply to us and prove it, will you sign?”

2. Start a topic with your interlocutor that is indirectly related to the topic of interest.

Moving from a safe, related topic to a relevant one is easier to do, and information can often be gained by listening to the opponent's beliefs.

For example, someone wants to know about a person's problem, starts a conversation about what causes it.
Do you want to know human diseases? They start talking about food, smoking, stress...
Want to know about a competitor's prices? They start talking about the high cost of supplies, the labor market...
Start a conversation about competitors. About their clients, about their prices... About the differences and advantages of the opponent with them. About the market situation in this segment.
Sometimes described a similar situation that allegedly or actually happened to him with his opponent’s competitor.
Bring up the topic of personnel in conversation. It is always relevant for the manager, just like sales. Start talking about what's new in these matters. Often the opponent himself begins to talk about plans.
Talking about dreams, drawing the desired image. Often managers easily talk about plans that are in dreams, i.e. ideal, not real. But if you listen carefully and encourage conversation, the person himself moves on to real plans and possibilities.

3. Find common ground with your interlocutor.

“I know that...” “I also had a similar experience...” “I came across...” “I’m from the same area, so I know what problems there are...” “I talked to everyone like you, and they have...”
It is clear that experiences bring us closer together, give us more understanding and trust. And information is given to those who are safe and trusted.
Link to authority.
Sometimes it’s easier to do what someone else has already done before you. And if it was authority...

4. Put the interlocutor into an emotional state.

This can be done through an emotional topic or a “different level” topic of communication.
An emotional topic is a topic that “transfers”, “switches” a person to the sphere of “emotions”. And both pleasant and unpleasant. If you make your opponent scream and start asking necessary questions, he can answer, because control over logic is sharply reduced.
Emotional topics are topics that may concern your interlocutor. Money, prestige, his status, driving on the roads and car brands, extreme sports, relationships (including with staff, competitors)…
Call for a discussion of a controversial topic in an opponent’s area, where there is no right-wing 50% to 50%.
It can be in the form of a request from your opponent for advice. “You are an experienced person, I wanted to know the opinion of a specialist on such a controversial issue...”

Now I'll tell you about usage different levels communication to obtain information in business.
There is one system that distinguishes 3 levels of communication: business, friendly and sexual.
Each level of communication implies its own certain behavior, your vocabulary of words, your themes, your gestures, permitted poses, even your breathing...
The business level involves talking about facts, the friendly level is about feelings, the sexual level is about sensations.
To put your opponent into a trance, or temporarily remove control over the main topic, it is enough to use one level as the basis of the conversation, and insert some element from another level.
For example, men can talk about serious things using sexual or friendly language.
Even phrases to a subordinate woman when concluding a serious contract “I want you” or when concluding a supply contract “I love large sizes” can unconsciously switch the opponent to another level, which already implies a different attitude. And it doesn’t matter whether the opponent agrees to move to another level, it is important that he switched and the thoughts that appeared led him off the main topic, and when they lose control, people can give out information.

5. Give original and on-topic compliments.

Recognize your opponent's advantages.“I know that you have a decision without me. But all my clients also had a solution. And they refused, because... ...But they were interested...Are you interested in development...?”
This method works according to the rule - give your interlocutor the opportunity to win by recognizing the merits, and he will be ready to give it to you.

6. Record a negative or incomprehensible reaction from your opponent

(a person’s silence, his “resistance”), even at the level of “Your feelings,” and describe this reaction out loud to your interlocutor.
For example, “I see that you are silent. You are not interested? What is important to you?” “I see that you don’t want to talk. What should I do differently?

When voicing one’s own feelings or guessing the feelings of another, interesting fact– “sharing of responsibility” for the emergence of these feelings.
To check this, try saying out loud “I have a bad headache” or “it’s stuffy in the room”, and those around you will most likely begin to offer solutions to your problem or suddenly begin to get angry, because... the appearance of a feeling of guilt that they cannot help can cause such a reaction. 🙂

7. Arouse curiosity, interest through a promise or disclosure of one’s own secret.

For example, “I have several solutions, several proposals, but I don’t know which one will interest you? So that you don’t waste time, I want to know the answer to one question, after which I will tell you exactly what is interesting to you..."
Curiosity operates at the level of instincts; it is difficult to refuse to find an answer. And when a person reveals secrets, it’s as if he’s giving up his weapons and becomes safer. And when there is nothing to fear, people relax more and have less control and tension in relationships.
It is not necessary to give away secrets, the disclosure of which could bring trouble to you or someone else, there are simply some revelations or new information for the opponent.

8. Play the role of the client. Ask questions as if you were an opponent’s client who is about to purchase his product or service.

Everyone wants to sell goods and willingly talks about this topic.
It is better to build questions based on possible problems with this product or service.
“Is this being done on time?” “How can I check the quality of your product?” “What if there is...?”

9. Find out the criteria in the opponent’s understanding of a “good client”, His benefit

i.e. “What is important to you in this product? (V this issue?). “I can talk for a long time about how I can be useful, but to save time, I want to hear the answer to one question”
This is the most honest and effective way!!!

P.S. For those wishing to receive a description of additional observations of “games” in the business environment, please write to me.

Sincerely, Ekaterina Gordeeva, business coach

Scouting has always been one of the most effective techniques for getting answers to questions that cannot be asked directly. The process of elicitation itself lies at the intersection of methods of psychology, social engineering, NLP and interpersonal communication. It consists in obtaining from a person (interlocutor) information that under other conditions he would never disclose. Roughly speaking, this is forcing a person to say what he would not like to say, without using any pressure. In fact, in the process of finding out, the initiator creates conditions in which his interlocutor himself tells about everything, without noticing it.

Russian expert on the use of intelligence technologies in business, Evgeniy Yushchuk, writes in his book “Competitive Intelligence” about eliciting information from a person.

We will try to analyze the capabilities of this method ourselves.

So, elicitation is a specific technical method of obtaining from a person acute information using legal and ethical methods. The purpose of this technique can be absolutely any information that is not too important and classified (like codes for launching nuclear missiles), but has limited access. And the person who has this information would not answer you if you asked him directly. For example, his company's sales figures or plans to introduce a new product to the market.

It is quite natural that your question “How many products have you sold this year?” your counterpart will indignantly answer that this is a trade secret. For such a question immediately gives a signal to the psychological defense about an attempt to obtain information to which access is limited. The main task when eliciting information is to remove such psychological protection, so that the interlocutor does not regard you as a potential enemy.

The technique is based on social and psychological tactics, which should remove the target's wariness, which will not allow him to give out sensitive information.

To achieve this goal, different techniques are used.

1. Relaxation. This technique is also called “posing a related topic.”

This technique lies in the fact that when the conversation smoothly flows from one plane to another, the psychological defense of your interlocutor may not react at the moment when you already find yourself in “hot” territory. And that's what we need.

In simple exaggerated words, by starting a conversation about the weather, birds and impending cold weather, you can smoothly move on to increasing energy prices and the prospects for the volume of their purchases. If you do this carefully enough, the interlocutor will perceive this conversation (“exchange of information”) as a matter of course social communication. At this moment, his “limiters” may not work, and since it is common for a person to share the information he has, there is a possibility that he will utter exactly those words that will lift the veil of trade secrets for you.

2. Using vanity. Or proving deliberately false arguments.

We are all a little vain by nature. People who are qualified specialists in their field are especially susceptible to this deficiency. Everyone has probably heard more than once that, having heard unprofessional statements on a narrowly professional topic, a specialist considers it his duty to correct the ignoramus and “put the presumptuous upstart in his place.”

If you force a person to argue his position, questioning the correctness of his point of view, then sooner or later, to strengthen his words, he can say what in “ in good condition"I would never give it away. This person will begin to give examples from life that confirm that he is right. In 99% of cases, he will start with the words: “Here in our company...”

Another method of using vanity is when you create in the eyes of a specialist the image of a careless student who turns to his teacher and mentor. Experience shows that people of science are very susceptible to mentoring behavior, which often replaces public recognition for them. Using this behavior of your interlocutor correctly, while simultaneously showing your ignorance, you can achieve serious success in obtaining restricted data.

3. You give me - I give you.

This method, which involves exchanging information, is not considered effective enough and should be used only after carefully studying the interlocutor.

It is how successfully you manage to build interpersonal relationships with your interlocutor (roughly speaking, “will they like you?”) that you can count on achieving success in the scouting process.

In this regard, one of the main and most important stages of scouting is the “approach” to your goal. The very moment of acquaintance (if you were not acquainted). Here it is necessary to take into account the characteristics of each individual person and his living environment. In state intelligence, it sometimes happens that a person is studied for months in order to make a visit to him.

For example, one of the fashionable techniques of Soviet intelligence was to organize a “minor accident” involving a target person. Thus, Soviet intelligence officers, wanting to get to know a potential source, lightly “kicked into his ass at a traffic light,” after which, profusely apologizing and offering all kinds of help in smoothing over the unpleasant incident, they got to know the person better. In our country, it is unlikely that an accident can serve as a path to goodwill on the part of another person.

In competitive intelligence, on the contrary, sometimes it is necessary to form an impression of a person within 2 minutes in order to immediately meet them at a conference or exhibition.

Scouting offline and on forums. Different environments - same approach. Part 2.

As the dispute that arose in the comments to the previous post showed, the process of ferreting out can be understood in different ways. In our opinion, this understanding mainly depends on who is the object of the elicitation (from whom the information is elicited), and what kind of relationship connects the object of the elicitation and the person who carries out the elicitation.

Thus, we can confidently identify two main situations in which it is appropriate to talk about using the elicitation method for business purposes.

Firstly, you can find out information from a person who is already familiar to the initiator and they already have a certain relationship. For example, this could be a colleague from a competitor's company with whom you regularly see at some industry or any other entertainment or sporting event. Often in this case common topics communication is found very quickly, and, depending on the personal qualities and character of both, conversations can go much further than “Hello, how are you?”

In this case, of course, you should remember, first of all, two things:

about the fact that you can be the same object of discovery for your counterpart as he is for you, and that, despite professional zeal, you need to respect your interlocutor as a person and not cross the limits of tolerance and ethics (which, of course However, everyone determines for himself).

Secondly, elicitation of information can take place when the initiator and his object were not acquainted before the moment of contact. It is in this case we're talking about about the approach and its importance, which we discussed in the previous post.

Naturally, before starting to find out, it is necessary to establish appropriate contact with the object, which will help to open up the psychological defense, which in turn will create the possibility that the counterpart will “blurt too much.” As we all understand, any person can weaken his psychological defense in front of someone from whom he does not expect a threat, but, on the contrary, feels some kind of sympathy or at least a commonality of interests.

That is why, in the process of eliciting from a previously unfamiliar person such important role plays the planning of the first approach. This is necessary so that after the first 2-3 minutes of the conversation the interlocutor is interested in continuing the conversation. In this regard, I can help with some NLP techniques and methods.

For example, such as “adjustment”. It is generally accepted that a person cannot “argue” or have a negative attitude towards his “reflection”. As NLP experts say, adjustments can be made based on many factors (body position or posture, manner of communication, use of terms and predicates of speech, interest in one topic, etc.), the main thing is to find the “bottlenecks” that can attract your subject to you .

The situation in which the first contact with the object takes place is also very important. Considering that when carrying out reconnaissance, one of the main factors is concealing your interest in the issues that you are trying to find out, the most ideal situation in which the first contact will take place will be the one when he himself initiates (appeals or speaks first).

It is also advisable to be selective about the moment of contact. If possible, it is better to choose a time when the subject is most relaxed (for example, taking a smoke break or drinking coffee) or predisposed to communication.

As for planning the conversation with the target itself, this issue is quite ambiguous. Of course, any good improvisation is a well-planned improvisation, and it is very good to have a few phrases or ways of developing a conversation ready in order to keep control of the thread of the conversation. However, it also happens that you have to quickly respond to the words of your interlocutor in order to strengthen the established contact. For example, if he drops a phrase about his hobbies in aircraft modeling or dog breeding.

Speaking directly about the process of scouting itself, it is advisable to recall the “rule of the edge”, which is so well known Soviet intelligence officer Stirlitz and modern Russian PR specialists.

This rule lies in the fact that people tend to remember information that was contained at the beginning and end of a message, and forget what was in the middle. The same applies to conversations, people remember more what happened at the beginning and at the end. Consequently, the most pressing questions that can reveal your interest in a “closed” topic should be asked in the middle of the conversation, and end with phrases on abstract topics. After this approach, when asked by a security officer at your facility’s company “what were they talking about?”, he will be able to confidently answer “About the weather, about pretty girls near the exhibition stands, about prices for holidays in Thailand...”

It will also be much better if, in that part of the conversation that concerns the problems that interest you, you do not formulate your words as direct questions. It is better to speak with general statements, insert inaccuracies into them, or make dubious statements.

Phrases should imply the expectation of a response from your interlocutor. I would also like to once again emphasize the strict need to prevent decoding of interest in closed topics. Because if your target realizes that they are playing a game with him and trying to “spin him for information” that he, in principle, should not disclose, he will not only close down and you will lose him both as a source of information and as a interlocutor... This is also fraught with a reaction from the security service of the company in which your subject works, and also carries certain reputational risks in the environment in which you communicate.

Scouting offline and on forums. Different environments - same approach. Part 3.

Many people already understand that communication on the Internet is practically no different from communication in real life. Moreover, communication on the Internet (on blogs and forums) often carries more threats than real life, for people who do not own specific tools.

One of the classic operations using scouting techniques on forums is described by Evgeny Yushchuk from the words of his colleague.

quote:

So...in one large company, in one of the areas of activity, an evil competitor appeared...(he constantly won the sweet tender). And the conditions were clearly better and they offered a good kickback, they even tried to stop by in an outrageous way... nothing helped... They discovered that a certain Lady X (53 years old, but looking young...) was representing the tender as a competitor.

There were attempts to work with this lady X... without results, well, God's dandelion was not afraid of anything... (by the way, she was just a competitor's finder). We filtered the corporate addresses of their mail, identified Lady X... purely, well, in general, she’s not sharpened in any way on the Internet... i.e. There is [email protected], and... and nothing else...

Well, it’s clear that if instead of a domain you stuff something like mail, bk, rambler, then it might shoot... Damn it shot...

Our lady X registered on one of the forums where cool (well, that’s what they think) managers hang out... We read her posts, looked at her profile... there is a clue... she once worked as a teacher, which means she will teach out of habit.. .

We registered a couple of brownies (one smart and the other a fool) and pulled her into a dialogue... it’s clear that the fool attacks, and the smart guy protects... then the smart guy turned to X “for help”, well, she couldn’t refuse... and started flowing ...

It’s not for me to teach you how to get the necessary answer... The meaning boiled down to the following... Lady X “gave away a trade secret”..."But we do this this way, and we do it differently..." well, in that spirit. ..

All this correspondence on the left was leaked to her current SB chief... (he had been catching spies all his life) and then he finally “caught”... For two weeks the SB officer, foaming at the mouth, “convinced” the management and convinced...Lady X was fired.. Five days later we hired her...the competitor died...(she obviously still hasn’t realized what happened).

The operation was organized and carried out very efficiently high level. As you can see, methods similar to those that we described in the first part of the material on scouting were used here.

After the object of the investigation was studied: “We read her posts, looked at her profile... there is a clue... she once worked as a teacher, which means she will teach out of habit...”, it was decided to use her “mentoring attitude” in relationships with interlocutors who are unequivocally ready to recognize her superiority and deep knowledge.

After this, a situation was created that served as a reason for contact with the object:

“We registered a couple of brownies (one smart and the other a fool) and pulled her into a dialogue... it’s clear that the fool attacks, and the smart guy protects... then the smart guy turned to X “for help”, well, she couldn’t refuse...”

As a result, subject to careful application of efforts and a certain skill in communicating with the object, the initiators of the eavesdropping managed to obtain the necessary information: “Lady X “gave away a trade secret”..."But we do this this way, and we do it differently... ""

Thus, the process of scouting on forums is in some cases even easier to implement than the process of scouting in real life.

Firstly, because the object does not see the initiator, and, therefore, the initiator can create any image that will facilitate the establishment of contact and create any situation, depending on the preferences of the object.

Secondly, the process of communication on forums gives you more time to think about decisions and your steps, because here it is very important what and how to write.

Thirdly, the forum makes it possible to use other “virtual entities” in the eavesdropping operation, i.e. images of other people who are completely controlled by the initiator, in order to push the object to contact or certain statements. Etc.

One of the disadvantages is that the initiator in this case can only predict and imagine the object’s reactions to certain steps. And the level of feedback is very low. There is no visual perception and cannot be noticed non-verbal reactions objects that could be used. In addition, the mentioned low level feedback also reduces the ability of the initiator to manage the situation. Having taken a certain step (writing a message), the initiator has no choice but to wait for a response from the object.