Testimonials

John (Guzman) I just wanted you to know that your training was one of the best classes I have been to in a very long time. The Friday after I went to your class I worked off duty in Raleigh in a place that hires off duty cops to keep the peace. A customer came up to me and the manager and stated that an employee smell like marijuana and she thought he was high. I interviewed him about the drugs using what I learned in your class and he confessed to the drugs and then confessed to taking money off the top when he was selling tickets. He then took me to his vehicle and told me where a small amount of marijuana was located. He was arrested and charged with both.

The course was brilliant – undoubtedly the most beneficial training / development course I have been on in the 20 years I have been an auditor! I could have sat there and listened and learnt for a month – Chris was great – totally captivating and I would love to watch him in a real life interview (Brett too!!). Although I have conducted probably hundreds on interviews over the years – I find myself slightly apprehensive about the next one – getting things in the right order / reading the signs correctly so I don’t lose the momentum of the interview and potentially fail in the admission stage – I have rehearsed it over and over in my mind all the way home yesterday! I can’t wait to put it into practice – give it a go and learn from any errors – I guess each one builds confidence and knowledge, and I probably won’t get it right first time!! Please pass my regards to Chris and thank him for a great couple of days – can you remember the last time you went on a course and at 7pm you really didn’t mind still being there – I think that is hugely down to the delivery from Chris. I hope I will be able to persuade the bosses here to let me go on the advanced course in the future – so much to learn!!

Shane, I attended your training session in Sioux City, IA this past month and thought I would pass on a note of thanks. I’ve been a cop for 20 years and have had very good result interviewing/interrogating suspects. One area that always presents problems is dealing with “career” criminals. I recently had a case involving the theft of tools from a construction company. The only suspect they had (no proof, just a suspicion) was one of our local halfway house “clients”. I spoke with his parole officer and he told me the suspect had been a problem since being paroled and that he has always had an attitude problem. I told the P.O. I would like to interview the suspect and he just laughed saying the guy would never talk. Well, I set up an appointment (as you suggested) and met with the suspect at the center. After 45 minutes I had a full confession and his cooperation in retrieving the stolen property. I was amazed at how efficient the introductory statement worked. His P.O. and the others at the center could not believe that this guy folded. His blunders and subsequent confession were unnoticed by him until it was too late. Just thought you might appreciate some feedback.

Lou, I just wanted to thank you for the great training week. It was by far the best 5 day class I have attended. You and your speakers were able to maintain our interests throughout the program. It says a lot that you have done a great job as a former investigator and that you take pride in giving others the training and tools to be better investigators!

This was a wonderful class. Lou, Nancy and Jeff were great instructors. Their personal experience and familiarity with the material made the course interesting and very helpful.

All three speakers were unbelievably good. The course provided much more information than just homicides. Hands down one of the best classes I’ve had the pleasure of attending.

Mr. Guzman, I want to express my appreciation for the three day class. It was very well done. I have already used the interrogation methods, or at least attempted to, and had success in less than 24 hours. It wasn’t much, but I am handling a case where an inmate is sending death threatening letters and white powdery substance, which he claimed in the letter to be Anthrax, to a Court of Common Pleas judge and his family. Well a letter showed up at a federal judge’s office and the FBI and US Marshal’s got involved. The inmate was suspected of sending this letter also, but the FBI could not break him and his denial was somewhat strong. I used the method, although it was not a perfect pitch, I had him confessing within about five minutes. It was really cool to be able to put this to use so quick.

Mike, I just wanted to take a minute of your time to thank you for the W-Z training you hosted last week in Austin. The work you do could be thankless at times, but I wanted you to know how much I appreciated the time you take out of each year of your life to teach people. I have been to several trainings in my career with Best Buy. This was by far the most impactful training I have attended. I am sure some of that comes from the fact that it was voluntary and within the scope of work I wish to pursue in my career, but nonetheless very impactful. You had the entire conference room bought into 100% of what you were teaching. Your professionalism and patience with us was above and beyond. I am confident that I can use this training every day in my scope of work. I never realized the possibilities that this training could offer. I already caught myself evaluating people yesterday during employment interviews. Thank you again for your time and dedication. I will not soon forget the impact you left on me and my career.

Mr. Hoover, I attended the W-Z seminar in Cleveland last week. I had my first interrogation since being back from the seminar, this past Tuesday, September 6. I wanted to write you, and let you know that your seminar and teaching methods really paid off. It was at the 40 minute mark, an employee at my business who was in the interrogation, had tears running down her face, as she admitted to three different theft & policy issues, which were not my “Ace Card.” After I finished obtaining admissions on incidents which I had no idea about, I then gained the admission on my “Ace.” It is amazing, to see just how true everything you taught, really is. All the way down to small eye movements, and change in body posture and behavior. I read over the “W-Z Method” for about 12 hours leading up to the interrogation. I was able to remember just about every part of it, and was able to just “Push Play” on my mouth, and “Watch the show.” I remember at one BRIEF point during the interrogation, thinking to myself, “Wow….THIS IS REALLY WORKING!” Thank you again for your time at the seminar last week. Your teaching methods and extremely enthusiastic attitude, truly engrained the process in my brain. So much so, that I have recommended your website to a friend at the Marion County Sheriff’s department, in Indianapolis, IN. I told him if their department was really wanting to learn, W-Z was the place to go. Good luck with your future at W-Z, and thank you again.

Shane/Chris, I attended your Interview and Interrogation Course in August and was very impressed. I have been using the techniques ever since and have been very successful in interviews including workplace violence interviews, selective interviews and theft interrogations. The skills I obtained by attending this seminar are invaluable in my position. However, there was one technique that I believe Shane spoke about during one segment of the course that I put no faith in. I should have known better! You told us that if a suspect tries to leave an interview don’t give up. Talk to the chair they were sitting in! I laughed at this point and couldn’t believe it would ever work. Well, two days ago during the interrogation of a suspect the interview began to get away from me and the suspect tried to leave. Almost ready to cut my losses I quickly decided to give this technique a try. What else did I have to lose? As the suspect gripped the door knob I looked directly at her chair and kept talking. I even used the suspect’s name when addressing the chair. This went on for 30 seconds or so as the suspect slowly removed her hand from the door knob and crept closer to the chair. After about a minute of this she eventually rested one of her hands on the back of the chair and began to calm down. Then I suggested she make herself comfortable…she did! I ended up getting 20 more minutes out of her! UNBELIEVABLE! It goes without saying that the skills obtained by attending the Wicklander-Zulawski Course are a great asset. The two of you did a wonderful job. Even this truly bizarre technique that was taught has been proven in this case. I will never doubt again

Shane, I attended your seminar in Phoenix on 5/18 & 19 and I just wanted to share with you how I was able to apply the information I learned. On 5/22, I conducted two employee theft interviews using what I had learned in your class. However, I had difficulty moving from one part of the interview to the next. I obtained confessions from both subjects, but I was not satisfied with how I conducted the interviews. On 5/24, I conducted an interview of a long-term employee that I had been “watching” for the last month. I had practiced the night prior and I felt very confident going into the interview. I followed your (Wicklander) format “to the letter” and within ten minutes I had her confession. I could not believe how well the statement “my investigation is clear but I just don’t know why” worked. After 45 minutes, her admission amounted to over $15,000 in theft of merchandise and cash. Prior to taking your seminar, I always relied on the information I already had going into an interview. When I conducted the interview on 5/24, I forgot about the information I had (until the end of the interview), and look how well the interview went. Thank you for a great seminar. You’re a very good communicator and presenter.

Since taking your class in Middlesex, NJ a few weeks ago, I have been able to use the WZ Non-Confrontational Method in a couple of burglary and theft cases with great results. I’ve been to several classes but yours has been the most useful.
Thanks for all you do.

John, “I took your class last year at the Florida Public Safety Institute. I just wanted to thank you in giving me the knowledge and training. I don’t normal get to investigate more serious crimes but after asking hundreds of times to investigate a more serious offense they finally said yes. So most of interviews I do are done at the patrol level but I just completed my first real interrogation yesterday. I was investigating a rape that occurred in 2007 and actually got a confession out of the guy. It was cool to see the stuff I learned from the class in real life. I just wanted to say hey and thank you. Hope all is well.”

Hi John, I enjoyed your Tactical Field Interviewing class and have used the methods you thought, which lead to two arrests. The first was an non-cooperative mother who was lying about her daughter, who was wanted, being inside. Daughter was arrested. The second case resulted in the arrest of narco pill dealer. Again using methods learned in your class I minimized the crime, built rapport and she confessed to selling. This was only two days after your class.

I was in your class on 10/14 to 10/16. Three days after your class, I was involved in an interrogation. One of my night troopers had come to me and told me he had a female heroine addict who had burglarized her sisters house and prior to that had stolen approx. $2,000 dollars from her sister, when the addict was living with her sister. Since I just took your course I thought I would do the interrogation for him. When the addict arrived I only knew of the larceny and the burglary. By the time I was done with her I had a confession to multiple counts of prostitution. She is now working with our Drug task force. She is flipping on the guy who set her up for the prostitution. I believe I had the initial confession on the burglary and the larceny with in an hour, the prostitution came shortly after, and the written statement was finished three hours later. During the statement I even got her to give more exact details and more counts to be charged. Thanks for the Training.

The first interview I did after attending the W-Z school in Beaverton, Oregon, with Brett Ward as the instructor, was successful because of this class. I interviewed a male that had tried to strangle a family member and was arrested for attempted murder and kidnapping. As the interview began, the suspect was reluctant to talk to me about the events of that evening. I could tell from his body language and words that he was emotional about his reason for committing this act. I used the WZ Method with the suspect to tell his side of the story and he confessed. The suspect described his actions in great detail and even included what he planned to do with the victim’s body after she died. This training allowed me to understand what to look for in the suspect’s behavior as well as how to use that in the interview. Thanks again for what you teach.

Wayne, this is Adam Moon, I was in your Interrogation class at the Exchange HQ in Dallas, TX, November 15th 16th. I conducted my first interrogation since the class last Thursday night with a contract cleaning person. I observed him live stealing one item, so I went out and escorted him to the LP office to begin the interrogation. During the course of the interrogation he admitted to not only to the item from that night but an additional seventeen items from the past two months. I have no doubt that your class gave me the tools and the confidence to ask the right question at the right time to get a great admission and statement, thank you!

Angela, I just wanted to share a success story with you. I was glad to have opted in your “Advanced” class when you were here in Seattle. I was asked to interview an associate for a Drug use policy violation. We had no evidence and only 1 statement. I was able to sit down with the associate in question and due to the techniques I learned at your class I was able to get an admission from the associate. It was not easy, but when you apply the WZ the right way it seems to work out in your favor. The interview started off as a selective type interview fact finding. He started to give me something to work with so I took it WZ.
I walked out of your class very confident. I have interviewed several people in the last few years. I was pleased to learn some new tools from the “Advanced” class I attended. I may even attend next year when you are all back in town…
Thank you for your continued support. Take care.

“I just completed and passed the WZ final test and printed out my certificate. The course is outstanding! The voice over is excellent. The course content is extremely well done and valuable. I believe every person who conducts interviews/interrogations should take the WZ Investigative Interviewing course.”

Lou Tessmann is, again, one of the best and informative instructors I’ve seen. This is the third time I have attended this course and I get a little more out of the course every time. I have used the W-Z Method in probably 80% of my interview-interrogation and have had great success.

Angela, I just wanted to share a success story with you. I was glad to have opted in your “Advanced” class when you were here in Seattle. I was asked to interview an associate for a Drug use policy violation. We had no evidence and only 1 statement. I was able to sit down with the associate in question and due to the techniques I learned at your class I was able to get an admission from the associate. It was not easy, but when you apply the WZ the right way it seems to work out in your favor. The interview started off as a selective type interview fact finding. He started to give me something to work with so I took it WZ. I walked out of your class very confident. I have interviewed several people in the last few years. I was pleased to learn some new tools from the “Advanced” class I attended. I may even attend next year when you are all back in town…Thank you for your continued support. Take care.

John, thanks, great class I enjoyed it and found it very informative. During the class I kept thinking of the ones that I couldn’t crack but was oh so close. After taking the class I feel confident enough in my newly obtained skills that the next time they won’t be so lucky. Thanks again, Sean

Update…FYI – I’ve gotten 4 confessions since the class. I’m not so sure I would have without the techniques I learned. Thanks again.

Hi John; hope all is well. The class was outstanding and I too obtained a confession in a sexual assault case the first time employed what I learned in your class (the weekend immediately following the class)! Studied up the intro statement like you suggested, reconfigured the interview room…worked like a charm! I wish I had the opportunity to have taken your class years ago. I have recommended your class to many colleagues and told them to keep an eye out for it.