What really works in interrogations? (spoiler: it's not reading nonverbal behavior)
5/5/20261 hr 8 min
Many people think police interrogations often involve reading body language and catching “tells” of deception. Interrogation trainer Mark Anderson explains how much of what’s taught about using nonverbal behavior in high-stakes interviews is based on myth, not science—and how a faulty focus on “reading people” can actually damage interviews. We dig into why stress behaviors don’t signal guilt, how confirmation bias warps investigations, and why “reading people” is far less useful than most believe. Instead, Mark lays out what actually works: deep listening, better questioning, managing conversations, and building real rapport—even with people who’ve done serious harm. Along the way, he shares stories from his career that show how empathy and curiosity can unlock information in surprising ways. If you’re interested in psychology, communication, or the reality behind interrogations, this episode might challenge some of your basic assumptions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMark Anderson· Guest0:00
A lot of the nonverbal stuff was very much taught in, in the classroom and took up quite a bit of time in the classroom. I really immersed myself in a lot of the research. I recognized that the stuff that I was taught, there really was no research or basis for it other than folklore, legacy practice, stories told from one person to another. So this transition has been one of those transitions over time, uh, where I've had to come to the realization that what I did was wrong, and I question, uh, how many interviews I damaged as a result of that.
Zach Elwood· Host0:39
[upbeat music] That was a snippet from my talk with Mark Anderson, someone with over forty years of experience in law enforcement, investigation, and training, and someone interested in sound, science-based practices for interrogation and interviewing. This is the People Who Read People podcast, which is aimed at better understanding the people around us, the things they do, and the things they say. You can learn more about it and sign up to get episode updates at behavior-podcast.com. I got interested in talking to Mark based on a few posts he wrote on LinkedIn earlier this year. I'll read from one of these posts. "After fifty years of research and hundreds of studies, the verdict is in: behavioral lie detection doesn't