Get the Truth: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Persuade Anyone to Tell All (30 page)

In the acknowledgments we shared in
Spy the Lie
, we noted that throughout the process of writing it, we had been “surrounded by individuals who have demonstrated not only a gracious generosity with their time and expertise, but a genuine desire to help make this book a worthy voice of subject matter that can truly change people’s lives for the better.” Many of those same individuals, and quite a few others, were equally gracious and generous this time around. Chief among them were our colleagues at our training and consulting company, QVerity, including founding partner Bill Stanton, training specialist Jack Bowden, and marketing guru Bryan Stevenson.

We were extremely fortunate to have an insightful and discerning group of friends, family members, and professional associates who read the manuscript and offered enormously helpful advice on ways to improve it. That perceptive group includes Todd Simkin, Nate Hukill, Bill Fairweather, Dr. Kyle Harner, Lisa Harner, Dr. David Frazier, Vicki Haddock, Spencer Grant, Angela Moss, Bill Ebsworth, Karen Flanagan, Toni Sikes, Richard Johnston, Mike Houston, Casey Houston, Alex Reeves, Stephanie Floyd, Marcy Romary, Dr. Mark Cervi, Dr. Alethia Cook, Dr. Carmine Scavo, Ardith Tennant, Don Tennant II, Dan Tennant, Shelly Tennant, and Alex Wimberly. We also wish to thank Mike Hagel and Dave Kilmer for sharing their artistic expertise by providing valuable feedback on the cover design.

Finally, very special thanks go out to our remarkably talented colleagues at St. Martin’s Press. The skilled copy editors and designers, editorial assistants Jaime Coyne and Kate Canfield, and production editor Kenneth J. Silver, worked tirelessly to make this book what we all wanted it to be. Most tireless of all was our editor, Marc Resnick, who couldn’t have made this journey any more enjoyable. His editorial vision was keenly incisive, and his ability to balance strong editorial command with an accommodating, gracious style was nothing short of extraordinary.

PHIL HOUSTON
’S PERSONAL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Get the Truth
is a natural outgrowth of our first book,
Spy the Lie
, so it’s not surprising that those who helped to make
Spy the Lie
a success are also many of the ones who enabled
Get the Truth
to become a reality. First and foremost, a special thanks to my wife, Debi, for your love and support, and to Phil Jr., Chris, and Beth for making Mom and me so proud of all of you. I’m also very proud and lucky to have a wonderful daughter-in-law, Rebecca, and an equally wonderful son-in-law, Nick Dawson. I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to Phil Jr. and Rebecca, for giving us something even more special than a
New York Times
bestseller. Thanks to them, last October we welcomed our granddaughter, Paige Leigh Houston, to the family.

If not for our agent, Paul Fedorko, and our editor, Marc Resnick, both of our books would still be dreams. Thanks so much, guys! Also, thanks to St. Martin’s Press for taking another chance on us.

When a person has partners like
Mike Floyd
,
Susan Carnicero
,
Don Tennant
, and our newcomer,
Peter Romary
, the ride is fun, meaningful, and most important, one that makes it easy to believe that the brass ring is actually within reach.

I cannot forget the original III gang of Jack Bowden, Bill Fairweather, Bill Mitchell, and Gary Baron, who not only are wonderful friends, but are amazing practitioners and teachers of the techniques we write about in both
Spy the Lie
and
Get the Truth
.

Special thanks go out to those at the CIA and those in uniform who continue to fight and sacrifice so that the rest of us sleep easy. Words will never be enough!

I’d also like to mention my siblings: Bill; Mike and his wife, Penny; Casey and his wife, Debbie; and Terri and her husband, Alex. I love you guys dearly, and I know how much we all miss Mom, Dad, and our brother Brett, who passed away unexpectedly last year.

Finally, I would like to make very special mention of my mother-in-law, Frances Winstead; and the biggest
Spy the Lie
fan I know of—my father-in-law, Jim Winstead. He passed away this past year, and I know he’s eagerly waiting above to read
Get the Truth
. We miss you!

MICHAEL FLOYD
’S PERSONAL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To my darling wife, Estelita, thank you for holding my hand in my quest for the Truth with a capital
T
. To my family, precious friends and colleagues, too numerous to mention by name, please know that I am blessed to have stood on your shoulders. To my dear friend, colleague, and crazy-talented writer of this book,
Don Tennant
, you have once again worked your magic. Your name may not be in lights, but you will forever shine brightly in my heart. I would also like to express a very special thanks to our loyal QVerity clients for your trust in our ability to serve you.

Lastly, it is with great humility that I acknowledge the strength and fortitude shown by the thousands of men and women who, over the decades, bared their souls to me regarding life-changing missteps—some too grizzly to share, others too minor to matter. Knowing full well your confessions meant certain public scorn, shame, embarrassment, termination, family strain, incarceration, or even potential execution, you still had the courage to stand tall and look your accusers in the eye. For this, I always felt a profound sense of responsibility to gain your trust, and an unwavering resolve to treat you with the dignity, respect, and compassion you deserved. Simply put, when I told you I understood, I did. I never judged you, because I had never walked in your shoes. I always knew, “There but for the grace of God go I.”

SUSAN CARNICERO
’S PERSONAL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The publication of our second book has afforded me the opportunity to once again reflect on those friends and family members whose support has made this journey of mine successful.

Firstly, my involvement in this project would never have been possible without the unwavering love and support of my wonderful children, Lauren and Nicholas Carnicero. Their understanding and acceptance of my career path have been invaluable, and have allowed me the latitude to do what I do. Fortunately, Lauren and Nick continue on their paths toward young adulthood with grace, kindness and a marvelous wit. No less was expected of them, and I remain immensely proud of both of them.

I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to also thank my parents, Anna Marie and Jack Brenton, and Cliff Muncy. Your influence and patience throughout my life led me to become the adult I am today, and I thank you for your unconditional love.

And finally, those friends who have supported me without fail throughout many years certainly deserve mention. Unfortunately, I lost one of those dear friends, Sheila Derryberry, to cancer a few months ago. Even when enduring the worst of her illness, she remained a solid support in my life, and an influence that was made even more poignant as I watched her undergo a horrendous and courageous battle for life. Her tenacity and grace in the light of her illness left me awestruck at her strength, and she will be missed immensely. Additionally, Cindy and Steve Gensurowsky remain as close as any family member, and their support in so many areas has been an invaluable part of my life. Cindy has been a continuous sounding board and sanity check (which was certainly needed), and both Cindy and Steve have taken the ride with me through many of my life’s ups and downs. More important, they have done so without judgment. And for that, I am eternally grateful.

In retrospect, I am extremely blessed to have all of these people in my life, and I thank them all for the love, direction, and support they have provided me, both in co-authoring this second book, and for being just what I needed, when I needed it.

PETER ROMARY
’S PERSONAL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Before I acknowledge those near and dear to me for their kindness, love, and support, I first want to recognize, and commend to readers, those whose work I have studied, absorbed, relied upon, and cited: Dan Ariely, Tali Sharot, Amy Cuddy, Daniel Kahneman, William Ury, and Robert Cialdini. I urge you to read anything you can by these greats.

In my work I have been surrounded by wonderful friends, colleagues, and students—I have learned from each and every one of them. My journey of learning is ongoing, and there are too many people to thank individually, but they know who they are and what they mean to me. That said, I want to recognize and thank my colleagues at Sigma Threat Management Associates, especially Marisa Randazzo, Dorian Van Horn, Andy Patrick, and Gene Deisinger; and I would like to extend a very special thank-you to Jeff Pollard.

I have been supported professionally and personally by my longtime law partner, Jeremy Tanner, and by April Uzzell, the finest paralegal I have ever known. I wish to recognize a few of my colleagues at East Carolina University: Carmine Scavo, Alethia Cook, Brad Lockerbie, and Bob Morphet. I am also eternally grateful to Jim Galloway and Mark Cervi, two of the finest physicians—and friends—I could have ever wished for.

Special thanks also go to my family: to my parents, John and Joy Romary, for their unfailing support and faith in me; and to my in-laws, John and Bobbie Wiggs.

Finally, to my daughter, Elizabeth, and wife, Marcy: You mean everything to me and, while work has taken me away too often, I hope that you always know that I love you deeply, and that I am so very proud of both of you. Without you, my life would be incomplete. The proudest titles I will ever hold are those of father and husband.

DON TENNANT
’S PERSONAL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My dad would have loved this book. He used to enjoy reading everything I wrote, but this book would have been special. He met
Phil Houston
thirty-five years ago, when Phil was a newly recruited CIA officer, and I was finishing my studies at Georgetown University and preparing to join the National Security Agency. As a career military serviceman, he was devoted to this country, so he was especially proud of the professional paths Phil and I had chosen. My dad died in 2004, after a three-year battle with ALS—a tough way to go for anyone, but especially for someone who was so used to doing things for others, rather than having to rely on others to do things for him. Yet he never complained, and he never lost his sense of humor. It takes a lot of perseverance to write a book. Most of what I’ve learned about perseverance, I learned from my dad.

It also takes a certain amount of sacrifice, and the example there was set by my mom. We didn’t have a typewriter when I was in school, so over the years she spent innumerable lunch hours, and countless hours after work, at her office, typing up my term papers, essays, and other writing assignments. She never even graduated from high school, but somehow her accuracy as a spellchecker was unmatched. I don’t know that I fully appreciated how much support she lent to my writing at the time. I do now.

Support has come from many other quarters, as well. I’m especially grateful to our friends in the Bahá’í communities of Worcester and Sturbridge, Massachusetts, whose encouragement throughout the writing of this book has been uplifting and ceaseless. My four kids have been supportive in more ways than even they realize, not least of which has been the way they make me laugh. But it’s my beautiful wife, Ardith, who has always been most supportive of all, whether I deserved it or not. I found truthfulness—the foundation of all virtues—when I found her.

INDEX

The index that appeared in the print version of this title does not match the pages in your e-book. Please use the search function on your e-reading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.

abuse.
See also
domestic violence; physical abuse; sexual abuse access control

Aesop

agreement

American Bar Association

Ames, Aldrich

anchor point

anchoring

answers.
See also
questions arm touch

assessment

of elicitation progress

global behavior assessment

in negotiations

assets.
See also
spies elicitation of

security interviews with

attack behavior

Auden, W. H.

autonomic nervous system

bait question

Barbieri, Paula

bargaining.
See also
negotiations Barnum statements.
See
Forer effect baselining

Baum, Frank L.

behavioral pause/delay

behaviors.
See also
nonverbal deceptive behaviors; verbal deceptive behaviors attack

baselining and

denial

exclusion qualifier

global behavior assessment

liking

best-case/worst-case continuum with confessions

with transition statements

biases

cognitive

confirmation

managing

optimism

Billings, Jim

bin Laden, Osama

The Black Banners
(Soufan) blame.
See
projection of blame blood

bluff

Burpee, Don

Carnicero, Susan

cliff moments and

interviews and

catch-all question

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

death of assets

The Farm

checklist mentality

children

interviews

monologues tailored for

sexual abuse of

CIA.
See
Central Intelligence Agency Cialdini, Robert

classrooms

cliff moments

close-ended question

closing, in negotiations

cluster

Cochran, Johnnie

cognitive biases

cognitive dissonance

confirmation bias

Dunning-Kruger effect

Forer effect

halo effect

optimism bias

cognitive dissonance