Western Security Consultants

1.  Good, concerned, truthful people are expected to be nervous.

2.  A person’s pulse can be over 100 beats a minute, but if that person listens carefully and answers accurately, the polygraph result will be truthful. 

3.  A polygraph is not a nervous detector - it is a lie detector.  The lines on the graph are never supposed to be flat and smooth.  In fact, the polygraph lines must move up and down in order for statements to be interpreted as truthful.

4.  Many people do not seem to have nerves, or conscience, or guilt when they lie.  That makes no difference to detecting a lie with a polygraph.

5.  You can pass a polygraph test if you listen carefully to every word of the questions, each time the list of questions is asked, and if you try to answer every question in a completely accurate way.  In football the fundamentals are blocking and tackling.  If you ignore them and concentrate on touchdowns, there will never be a touchdown.  In polygraph the fundamentals are proving that you are carefully answering word for word, and proving that "no" means absolutely never, ever, not even a little.  Ignore the fundamentals on even one question and there will be doubt that you really mean what you say.  If there is any doubt, you cannot pass.

6.  Too many people listen to half of a question, and then answer what they think the question should have been, not what was actually asked.  If anywhere in a person’s polygraph there is doubt the person is answering every question word for word, that person cannot pass any of the test.

7.  Too many people are loose with what they call the truth.  They think it doesn’t count if they did it a long time ago or if they had a good reason for doing it.  They think they can still be truthful when they say they never did it.  When taking a polygraph, it is necessary for everyone to go to the opposite extreme when answering every question.  “No” is not the truth unless it is 100% a fact. Because so many people twist the truth, an examiner has to be extremely careful that every answer is an exact fact.  If you were asked a really extreme question like, “Were you ever caught doing something wrong?”, you should remember an unusually broad question like that would even include having to stay after school because you were caught talking in class.  Polygraph examiners have to ask questions to find out if the person taking the test understands only an exact  fact is the truth.

8.  The person who is most nervous about every answer being perfect is probably the person who looks most truthful on his polygraph.

9.  Each question on your polygraph will be a test.  The purpose of every question, the real reason you are taking the test, is to prove you mean exactly what you say.

10. Your examination will take about 2 hours.  This amount of time includes a long pre-test preparation to ensure you are certain of the answer to every question that will be asked.

REMEMBER

Concentrate only on the questions

Forget about anything that distracts your concentration.  Forget about your heart rate, or how upset you feel that your truthfulness is questioned, or that sensation you feel when somebody asks “Did you do it?”  You are not supposed to think about anything but the questions.   The biggest problem truthful people have is failure to listen to every word of every question, and failure to give answers that are 100% accurate.  

Think only about the question which has just been asked

When you are asked a question, you must think only about that question.  Think of each question like a slippery stepping stone in a river.  Concentrate only on the question, the step, immediately in front of you.  You will pass your test one question at a time.  Don’t think about the question before, or the one to come; not how do I look on the lie detector; or what does the examiner think.  When the next question starts you must focus only on that question.  Answer all of the questions softly, with the same degree of emphasis.  Some truthful people mistakenly think if they say no louder, or with more emphasis, or say, "NO, I DID NOT," they will sound more truthful.  Actually they make themselves suspicious because, to the polygraph examiner, the only important question is the question that is a lie.  It makes sense, it is a lie detector, so to any examiner the only important thing in any polygraph is the lie.

Sit still like a statue, don't even tilt your head or put your chin down

You must sit perfectly still.  As soon as the question is finished, answer with only one word, yes or no.  The examiner will write your questions with you before the test starts.  You will have heard every question, and talked about every question, and you will have already answered yes or no, before the polygraph is attached to your body.