Episode 321 How to Earn Trust, Reveal Truth, and Communicate with Brad Beeler (Part 1)

John talks with Brad Beeler — retired United States Secret Service agent, former member of President George H. W. Bush's protective detail, polygraph examiner, keynote speaker, and author of the book "Tell Me Everything: A Secret Service Agent's Proven Strategies for Earning Trust, Revealing Truth, and Communicating with Anyone." Listen to this episode to learn more: [00:00] - Intro [00:53] - Brad's bio [02:05] - What interrogations are really like (not like the movies) [04:30] - Applying interrogation skills to normal life [07:25] - How others code you as friend or foe [09:04] - The right way to give a handshake [10:19] - Remembering names & using them well [11:35] - Brad's journey into law enforcement and the Secret Service [16:20] - The value of practice and repetition [17:46] - The five-star recruit problem [18:56] - Hire people better than you [19:43] - The history of polygraph testing in the Secret Service [23:27] - How frequently polygraph testing is used [24:31] - Working child exploitation cases and the challenges involved [26:52] - How interrogations sharpened Brad's communication skills [31:51] - Most people never get to share their story [33:20] - Creating a confessional space in conversations [36:17] - How Brad's observation made a suspect confess to his crime [39:57] - How Brad handles the internal aftermath of interrogations NOTABLE QUOTES "If you demonstrate tactical empathy and you focus on their why instead of what, you're more likely to get information from people." "Effective communication is almost like effective podcasting." "Entrepreneurs, you don't need to just look at where this person (potential hire) went to school or where they did this. You need to look at who's grinding. Who has not just the skills, but the attributes, those hardworking attributes that make them want to get better every single day." "If you want to hire a team for 25 years, you don't want them where they're at when you hire them on day one. You want them based on the potential of where they're going to be 25 years from now." "If you think somebody has the potential to take over something that you're doing, something you know somebody else could be doing, and when they get 60–65% as good as you, set them free. Let them go. Let them do it." "You give me a bad script and you deliver it well, it's going to be received better than vice versa." "One little tidbit to communication is this: you have to watch yourself without listening, so you can see your body language. And you have to listen to yourself without the video on. If you do those two things, you'll definitely level up your ability to communicate." "Communication is a skill like any other, and if you don't work at it, it will diminish." "They think that by saying, 'Me too,' they're building rapport with you. No, they're doing the exact opposite. They're showing they're not letting that person get that dopamine pumped out of their body and get those neurochemical soups going in the right way." "Secrets are shared with whispers, not with yells." USEFUL LINKS: https://bradleybeeler.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradbeeler1865/ https://www.instagram.com/bradbeeler1865 https://www.facebook.com/beelerbrad https://www.youtube.com/@BradBeeler1865 Tell Me Everything: A Secret Service Agent's Proven Strategies for Earning Trust, Revealing Truth, and Communicating with Anyone (https://a.co/d/01BWF62x) CONNECT WITH JOHN Website - https://iamjohnhulen.com    LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhulen Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/johnhulen    Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/johnhulen    X - https://x.com/johnhulen    YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLX_NchE8lisC4NL2GciIWA    EPISODE CREDITS Intro and Outro music provided by Jeff Scheetz - https://jeffscheetz.com/