Find Out Anything From Anyone, Anytime: Secrets of Calculated Questioning From a Veteran Interrogator

Pyle James

Karinch Maryann

The secret to finding out anything you want to know is amazingly simple: Ask good questions. Most people trip through life asking bad questions – of teachers, friends, coworkers, clients, prospects, experts, and suspects. Even people trained in questioning, such as journalists and lawyers, commonly ask questions that get partial or misleading answers.

People in any profession will immediately benefit by developing the skill and art of good questioning. Find Out Anything From Anyone, Anytime will give you the power to:

• Identify and practice good questioning techniques

• Recognize types of questions to avoid

• Know the questions required when hearing unconfirmed reports or gossip

• Practice good listening techniques and exploit all leads

• Determine when and how to control the conversation

• Gain real expertise fast

Within professional interrogation circles, Pyle is known as a strategic debriefer – meaning there is no one around him more skilled at asking questions and getting answers. He has been training other interrogators in questioning techniques since 1989.

James O. Pyle, Maryann Karinch

Find Out Anything From Anyone, Anytime

Dedications

JIM PYLE

To my grandpa William Owen “Stump” Bagby, who made my childhood special.

To Bob Brubaker, an old-Hollywood actor and keen salesman who made me pay attention to myself and my talents.

To Ken Hobson, a superb U.S. Army student who paid the supreme price as a soldier and intelligence professional in Tanzania in 1998.

MARYANN KARINCH

To my mother, brother, Jim, and Greg Hartley.

Acknowledgments

JIM PYLE

I want to thank Greg Hartley, a most insightful and intriguing individual and friend, for his kind Foreword, and Maryann Karinch, for expanding my concepts and understanding of good questioning and making my oral teaching presentations, concepts, and formulas a clear and interesting read. For my good wife, Deborah, who still believes in me nearly a quarter century later, and my five “natural born interrogators,” Jimmy James, Corrie Anna, Sharon Marie, Jamie Dale Dorothea, and Megan Marie Louise Pyle, for demonstrating the curiosity and discovery that I finally recaptured for myself and have delivered to you, dear reader, to consider and hopefully enhance your careers and life.

Among the band of brothers and sisters who defend this great land, I am but a stepchild. I offer my most heart-felt thanks and respect to the thousands of U.S. military, special warfare, intelligence agency, and wounded warrior students it has been my humble privilege to stand before and teach the art of Human Intelligence Collection. Thank you for your attention, your service, and your sacrifices every day and from now on.

MARYANN KARINCH

Thanks to my curious and unflappable coauthor, Jim Pyle, and the great friend and colleague who brought us together and contributed so much to this book, Greg Hartley. As always, I want to tell Jim McCormick, my mom, and my brother how much I appreciate their consistent support and helpful insights. Thank you to the other contributors to this book whom I know personally – Judith Bailey, Dr. David Sherer, Dr. Bob Domeier, Jeff Toister, Susan RoAne, Peter Earnest, and Dr. Haven Caylor and his angelic, smart, and spirited children Carter and Ammon Caylor-Brown – as well as those I don’t know, but whose diligent questioning I appreciate, especially NPR’s Terry Gross, Fox News’s Chris Wallace, Staff Sergeant Eric Maddox, and Jamie McKenzie of From Now On. Thanks also to Colonel Harry R. Bailey (Ret.) for hosting the series of meetings Jim and I had when we launched our work together. I also greatly appreciate the support from Career Press; the team supporting us on this venture is tremendous: Adam Schwartz, Michael Pye, Kirsten Dalley, Laurie Kelly-Pye, Karen Roy, Allison Olsen, Ron Fry, Kara Kumpel, and Jeff Piasky.

Foreword by Gregory Hartley

Throughout my business career, I have watch