How to Get Anyone to Tell You Anything
What if people willingly gave you the truth — not because you forced it, but because they wanted to?
Drawing on FBI, CIA, and Special Operations interrogation practices, alongside the insight-driven methods of experienced therapists and behavioral experts, this course teaches you to use word choice, nonverbal cues, physiological signals, and strategic empathy to elicit reliable information.
You'll learn to recognize when someone is withholding or reshaping the truth — and how to gather accurate, actionable information without coercion, while preserving the subject's dignity. The best interviewers do this so subtly the person may not even realize they were being questioned.
You'll also explore how these same skills apply far beyond the traditional interview room. Whether you're uncovering the real reason behind a missed deadline, learning what a customer isn't saying, identifying risks your team is hesitant to raise, or detecting tension before it turns into conflict, you'll gain the ability to surface the truth calmly and confidently.
These skills and techniques are universally applicable to any situation. Whether at work or at home, they'll help you build trust with others and open lines of communication, strengthening teams and preventing costly surprises — in business, leadership, and life.
This course is taught by Melinda Milheim, JD, a trained interrogator who has spent thirty years learning how people reveal what they know. She studied FBI and CIA interrogation and interview techniques, served two years as a teaching and research assistant for the Fact Investigation series of courses offered at her law school, and is a Certified Mediator and contract negotiator who has conducted hundreds of negotiations, mediations, and fact-finding interviews throughout her career. She draws on that training, her law degree and MBA studies, and decades immersed in the behavioral-science research to teach this skill the way professionals actually use it. An award-winning instructor, featured speaker, and content creator, she is also the author of the forthcoming book Powder Keg: The Science & Strategy of Successful Negotiations.
Best for: anyone who needs the full story to do their job well — investigators, HR and compliance professionals, auditors, attorneys, hiring managers, leaders, salespeople, and negotiators. If you interview, investigate, or have to get to the truth when people would rather not share it, this is for you.
Format: Half-day course, delivered in person or virtually, 4 CLPs / 0.4 CEU. Phoenix Canyon issues every attendee a certificate of completion documenting the training hours as well as CEUs and CLPs earned, which employers may count toward Continuous Learning or Professional Development requirements at their discretion. How to Get Anyone to Tell You Anything pairs with its companion course, Detecting Deception: Learn to Read Lies Like an Expert— one teaches you to catch the lie, the other teaches you to get the truth. Take either on its own, or combine them for the whole skill set in a single day.
You might also consider
Detecting Deception: Learn to Read Lies Like an Expert — Want to become a human lie detector? People can lie — but their body can't. Learn to spot the tells that give them away, and see what everyone else misses.
Mind Games & Money Moves: The Psychology of Negotiation — Anytime you can't get what you want without someone else's cooperation, you're negotiating — and, the most dangerous negotiation is the one you don't know you're in. Learn the science and strategy of getting what you want.
Signals: Mastering the Skills of Powerful Communicators — great ideas die if no one listens. This course gives you the complete toolkit to become a masterful communicator: voice, delivery, and presence.
Pricing is set per engagement. Contact Phoenix Canyon to request a quote.
What if people willingly gave you the truth — not because you forced it, but because they wanted to?
Drawing on FBI, CIA, and Special Operations interrogation practices, alongside the insight-driven methods of experienced therapists and behavioral experts, this course teaches you to use word choice, nonverbal cues, physiological signals, and strategic empathy to elicit reliable information.
You'll learn to recognize when someone is withholding or reshaping the truth — and how to gather accurate, actionable information without coercion, while preserving the subject's dignity. The best interviewers do this so subtly the person may not even realize they were being questioned.
You'll also explore how these same skills apply far beyond the traditional interview room. Whether you're uncovering the real reason behind a missed deadline, learning what a customer isn't saying, identifying risks your team is hesitant to raise, or detecting tension before it turns into conflict, you'll gain the ability to surface the truth calmly and confidently.
These skills and techniques are universally applicable to any situation. Whether at work or at home, they'll help you build trust with others and open lines of communication, strengthening teams and preventing costly surprises — in business, leadership, and life.
This course is taught by Melinda Milheim, JD, a trained interrogator who has spent thirty years learning how people reveal what they know. She studied FBI and CIA interrogation and interview techniques, served two years as a teaching and research assistant for the Fact Investigation series of courses offered at her law school, and is a Certified Mediator and contract negotiator who has conducted hundreds of negotiations, mediations, and fact-finding interviews throughout her career. She draws on that training, her law degree and MBA studies, and decades immersed in the behavioral-science research to teach this skill the way professionals actually use it. An award-winning instructor, featured speaker, and content creator, she is also the author of the forthcoming book Powder Keg: The Science & Strategy of Successful Negotiations.
Best for: anyone who needs the full story to do their job well — investigators, HR and compliance professionals, auditors, attorneys, hiring managers, leaders, salespeople, and negotiators. If you interview, investigate, or have to get to the truth when people would rather not share it, this is for you.
Format: Half-day course, delivered in person or virtually, 4 CLPs / 0.4 CEU. Phoenix Canyon issues every attendee a certificate of completion documenting the training hours as well as CEUs and CLPs earned, which employers may count toward Continuous Learning or Professional Development requirements at their discretion. How to Get Anyone to Tell You Anything pairs with its companion course, Detecting Deception: Learn to Read Lies Like an Expert— one teaches you to catch the lie, the other teaches you to get the truth. Take either on its own, or combine them for the whole skill set in a single day.
You might also consider
Detecting Deception: Learn to Read Lies Like an Expert — Want to become a human lie detector? People can lie — but their body can't. Learn to spot the tells that give them away, and see what everyone else misses.
Mind Games & Money Moves: The Psychology of Negotiation — Anytime you can't get what you want without someone else's cooperation, you're negotiating — and, the most dangerous negotiation is the one you don't know you're in. Learn the science and strategy of getting what you want.
Signals: Mastering the Skills of Powerful Communicators — great ideas die if no one listens. This course gives you the complete toolkit to become a masterful communicator: voice, delivery, and presence.
Pricing is set per engagement. Contact Phoenix Canyon to request a quote.