BLACK CHAMBERBY ROSSAD Enquire

Focused workshop

People
Intelligence.

Ask better questions, establish what a source knows and decide what needs checking.

Enquire about the next workshop

Enquire about the workshop

The purpose
of the programme.

A practical workshop for professionals who gather information through conversations and need to assess the claims they hear. Learn to separate observation from interpretation and identify an independent route to verification.

The emphasis is on professional conversations and the reliability of information. Two rounds of paired practice let you apply feedback to a second attempt. Short scenarios explore pressure, conflicting accounts and requests made through potentially misleading digital channels.

The workshop retains the existing ROSSAD People Intelligence format, with more structured practice and contemporary verification scenarios. The proposal confirms the delivery details before booking.

Who it is for

  • Leaders and business owners clarifying a partner's claims or an unusual request.
  • Researchers and analysts who obtain information through conversations.
  • Risk, legal and security professionals assessing incomplete or conflicting accounts.

Be ready to practise, listen to feedback and discuss your reasoning. No specialist software is required. Exercises use fictional situations, and the facilitator explains the roles and handling arrangements before practice begins.

What you will practise

  • Separate an observed fact from an interpretation or assumption.
  • Prepare open, neutral questions and clarify how a source knows something.
  • Recognise when urgency, authority or a digital identity needs independent verification.
  • Produce a concise source note and a proportionate plan for checking a material claim.

Questions that
improve the account.

A focused sequence of short demonstrations, conversation practice and review.

  1. 01

    Separate observation from interpretation

    Examine the same account from several perspectives. Identify what was observed, what has been inferred and which question could distinguish the explanations.

    Practical output A fact, assumption and verification worksheet.

  2. 02

    Verify identity and unusual requests

    Work from a transcript of a purported executive voice message, an unverified professional profile and a request made under time pressure. Choose a trusted, independent channel to establish identity, authority and the intended action.

    Practical output An identity-checking decision and a record of the next steps.

  3. 03

    Practise the conversation

    Prepare the purpose and topics, invite an account, then clarify it through neutral questions, reflection and summaries. Complete two rounds in pairs, reversing roles and applying feedback to the second conversation.

    Practical output A question plan, two source notes and feedback on questioning.

  4. 04

    Decide what the account supports

    Compare the conversation with a conflicting document. Record the source's direct knowledge, uncertainty and interests, then identify an independent check.

    Practical output A short assessment and a prioritised verification plan.

The method
behind the work.

The workshop adapts structured interviewing and listening skills to ordinary professional conversations. The emphasis is on the account, its limits and the next useful check.

  1. 01

    A structured conversation

    PEACE interviewing framework

    Prepare, explain the purpose, obtain and clarify the account, close the conversation and evaluate what was learned. The structure guides voluntary practice with a fictional source.

    In practiceA question plan and two paired conversation rounds.

  2. 02

    Listening and clarification

    Selected OARS skills

    Practise open questions, appropriate acknowledgement, reflective listening and summaries. These communication skills help you explore meaning and invite corrections; they do not determine whether someone is truthful.

    In practiceSpecific question feedback and a corrected source note.

OARS originates in motivational interviewing. Here, selected listening skills support professional enquiry. This short workshop provides practice and feedback, not clinical training or an investigative interviewing qualification. Black Chamber is independently developed by ROSSAD. We adapt selected principles to controlled training exercises. The referenced organisations do not accredit or endorse our programmes.

How the learning works

  1. 01

    Notice your starting assumptions

    Complete a short opening scenario and identify which parts of your response depend on interpretation. Watch the facilitator demonstrate a structured conversation.

  2. 02

    Practise, receive feedback, repeat

    Use the first conversation to identify improvements, then apply them in a second role-play.

  3. 03

    Explain the next check

    Finish with an individual scenario requiring a clear source note and a justified verification decision.

How the methods become practical skills

Learning objectives, exercises and review criteria are linked. Demonstrations lead into practice, specific feedback and a further attempt or revision appropriate to the programme.

The references inform the teaching design. They do not establish measured learning outcomes for Black Chamber.

The practical assignment

An account
you can verify.

Clarify a fictional account, prepare neutral follow-up questions and produce a source note. Then respond to a conflicting document or unusual digital request, explaining what you would verify and how. A short closing exercise is compared with your opening response to identify progress.

How your work is reviewed

The workshop provides structured feedback on your practical work. The facilitator and your partner review your questions, notes and proposed checks. You receive feedback on the individual closing exercise and identify one specific improvement to carry into your work.

What the review considers
  • Observations are kept separate from assumptions and interpretations.
  • Questions are neutral and clarify the source's basis of knowledge.
  • The source note represents the account accurately, including uncertainty.
  • The proposed check is independent and proportionate to the decision.

Further development

Choose this workshop to improve professional conversations and verification decisions. Intelligence Practice develops the documentary research that supports those checks. The ROSSAD Operator Programme combines these disciplines in a sustained investigation.

AI and digital material

AI, used
with judgement.

AI-enabled impersonation makes it particularly important to check identity and authority through an independent channel.

  • Use a transcript of a purported executive voice message to practise independent confirmation of identity and authority. The exercise assesses verification decisions, not acoustic detection.
  • Assess a professional profile through corroborating records and direct checks, rather than presentation alone.
  • Explain why behavioural cues, an AI detector's output or the absence of provenance metadata cannot settle a claim by themselves.

The discussion of AI-enabled impersonation and information integrity draws on selected risks described in the NIST generative AI profile.

Programme lead

Madars Balodis

ROSSAD / Black Chamber

Madars leads Black Chamber. His experience includes military communications, cyber security and professional teaching. Your written programme brief confirms who teaches and reviews the work for your group.

About ROSSAD

Discuss your
next step.

Let us know whether you are enquiring for yourself or a team, your preferred language and any timing you have in mind.

Enquire about the workshop

Your objectives, programme scope and full commercial terms are agreed before booking.

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