Transfer Control in Interview

In many interviews the compliant interviewee will expect the interviewer to control the interview, this perception usually gained by watching television shows, media interviews etc where the interviewer takes the active role. The interviewer must remember it was the interviewee who witnessed the event so it simply doesn’t make sense that the interviewer does all the talking.

The interviewer’s role is to facilitate the interview assisting the witness to recall the information and in as much detail as possible. For this to work the interviewee must be informed of this at the start of the interview, thus passing control to them. The witness is the most important person in the room and should do most of the mental work and most of the talking, not the interviewer.