Training Programs
REDUCE RISK. IMPROVE OUTCOMES. BUILD TRUST.
Discover our specialized training programs designed to address difficult and potentially dangerous encounters. Our courses are tailored to meet various industries' specific requirements, enabling organizations to proactively enhance safety and communication capabilities.
Improve Communication Skills:
Effective crisis communication goes beyond just de-escalation. Use our Professional Sincerity approach to build connections and influence behavior.
Recognize Hostile Intent:
Identify warning signs. Stay safer by knowing when to remove yourself from dangerous situations (for civilians), developing a well-thought-out safety plan, and being aware of your surroundings.
Learn What They're Really Saying:
Use Professional Sincerity and systematic analysis of written and verbal statements to help you determine where they are leaving something out, trying to cover something up, being plain deceptive, or outright lying.
Courses
Jeff has developed and taught many programs, including crisis negotiation, interview and interrogation, search warrants, hate crime investigation, implicit bias, and procedural justice, to name a few. Other topics stand out as being essential not only to police officers and public safety officials but also to members of the public in schools, companies, religious institutions, and so on. Here are some:
From Crisis to Calm
Enhanced Safety & De-Escalated Encounters
This is 886 Consulting's flagship class. Its fundamentals have been taught to thousands nationwide, from police officers to social workers, HR professionals to customer service experts, fire investigators to campus security officers, and so on. Initially designed to be 8 hours long, it can be modified to fit your organization's needs for time and content and presented in two, four, or eight hours. It can include the bare basics to a deeper dive and group activities and scenarios. The entire eight-hour class is described here.
What Makes This Course Different:
While most "de-escalation" classes focus on Crisis Intervention Training fundamentals, From Crisis to Calm isn’t about scripts or theory. It’s about connecting, calming, redirecting, and staying safer when the stakes are high.
De-Escalation as an Outcome.
This course teaches that communication is the strategy, not the fallback. Participants learn how to prevent or reduce escalation through subtle cues, measured responses, and authentic connection.
Behavioral Recognition + Situational Awareness.
Using tools like the OODA Loop, baseline behavior analysis, and threat assessment indicators, participants are trained to “see the unseen” in high-stress moments.
Communication That Actually Works.
Learn how tone, timing, voice control, and nonverbal cues affect emotional regulation, compliance, and cooperation—even when logic fails.
Rooted in Neuroscience and Emotional Intelligence.
Gain insight into how stress and fear affect human behavior—and how to reach someone who's shutting down, blowing up, or spiraling.
Applicable Across Professions.
Whether you’re managing a team, calming a student, supporting a client, or defusing a heated conversation, these tools meet you where you work.
Key Learning Points:
How to recognize and respond to early warning signs of crisis or aggression.
The difference between a problem and a crisis—and why it matters.
Techniques to redirect emotion through empathy and emotional labeling.
How to project calm authority using tone, body language, and pacing.
Using the “4Cs” to Contain, Control, Communicate, and Connect.
Reading microexpressions and identifying signs of hostile intent.
Dealing with emotional overload, shutdown, or unpredictable behavior.
Adjusting your approach by personality type (DISC model).
Strategies to protect your own wellness in high-stress interactions.
Instructional Style:
Instructor-led, class active listening, awareness, communication exercises, case studies, and discussion.
Who Should Attend:
HR professionals
Health care providers
Educators & administrators
Social workers
Customer service & hospitality staff
Managers & team leaders
Campus/public safety
Anyone who works with the public or manages conflict in their role
What You’ll Walk Away With:
Increased confidence in difficult conversations
The ability to defuse tension and build trust—even in crisis
Tools to recognize threat indicators before things escalate
Reduced stress and burnout from repeated emotional interactions
A communication mindset that supports safety, dignity, and resolution
This course isn’t just about talking. It’s about listening, observing, adapting, and leading with intention. Join us for From Crisis to Calm and experience a smarter, calmer, and more capable way to handle what comes next.
Reading Between the Lines
Analysis of Written and Verbal Statements
A powerful course that trains professionals to detect deception, spot hidden meaning, and uncover what’s being said—and what isn’t. Words are windows. People reveal more than they intend in every interview, report, complaint, or conversation—if you know how to listen.
Reading Between the Lines is a practical, eye-opening course that teaches professionals how to identify deception, truth, avoidance, and intent by analyzing the structure, word choice, and content of spoken and written statements.
Built for anyone who interviews, evaluates, documents, or investigates human behavior, this course gives participants the tools to assess statements with clarity, ask sharper follow-up questions, and spot the subtle signals of evasion, omission, and stress.
This is not about body language or guesswork. It’s about what the words themselves reveal.
What Makes This Course Different:
Language is behavior.
Participants learn how people naturally reveal what they think, feel, and fear—through the words they choose and the way they structure their stories.
Science-Backed, Reality-Tested.
Grounded in decades of applied research in forensic interviewing, psychology, and law enforcement, this class delivers real-world techniques for uncovering false allegations, validating victim disclosures, and detecting deception in high-stakes scenarios.
Works Across Contexts.
Whether you are analyzing a workplace complaint, vetting an incident report, evaluating a client statement, or conducting an HR interview, this training meets you where you are.
Key Learning Points:
How to identify linguistic indicators of truth, deception, evasion, or manipulation
The “First Person Singular” rule—and what its absence often reveals
The significance of pronoun use, tense changes, and time gaps
Why “left out” = “leaked out”
How to build better questions based on the subject’s own language
Using statement analysis ethically and objectively
Real case exercises to apply the skills in context
Who Should Attend:
HR professionals handling complaints or misconduct investigations
Social service providers conducting interviews and intakes
School resource and campus safety personnel
Behavioral health professionals
Internal investigators & compliance officers
Law enforcement & corrections staff
Journalists, attorneys, and anyone who takes statements or tells stories
What You’ll Walk Away With:
The ability to spot potential deception without relying on body language or instincts
Confidence in analyzing written and verbal statements for clarity and accuracy
Tools to formulate more effective, revealing follow-up questions
Better decision-making when evaluating credibility and content
A deeper understanding of how people hide, reveal, or distort the truth—intentionally or not
When people speak or write, they tell you who they are. You just have to know where—and how—to listen or read.Join us for Reading Between the Lines and gain one of the most underutilized yet powerful communication tools available today.
Crisis Communication
Enhancing Safety & Success in Police-Citizen Encounters
A one-of-a-kind course built from two powerful disciplines: Professional Sincerity® and Teach toTalk™
A collaboration between 886 Consulting and Advanced Strategic Communications
In law enforcement, communication is more than just a tool; it’s your first line of defense. In every call, every contact, every crisis, the words you choose and the way you deliver them can either defuse tension or escalate it. Crisis Communication: Enhancing Safety & Success in Police-Citizen Encounters was developed through the combined expertise of Jeffrey Scholz and Joseph Auriemma, two nationally recognized instructors with decades of frontline experience.
This course unites Jeff’s Professional Sincerity® model with Joe’s Teach to Talk™ communication philosophy to deliver a unique course that blends the science of behavior with the heart of connection. Together, these approaches give officers an edge not just in what to say but also in how to say it authentically, effectively, and with purpose.
This isn’t a checklist or a canned response course. It’s a practical, scenario-driven training that equips law enforcement professionals with the communication skills to lead, influence, and resolve even the most high-pressure encounters.
What Makes This Course Different:
Two Disciplines. One Mission.
By combining Professional Sincerity® and Teach to Talk™, officers learn to establish trust quickly, communicate authentically, and shift the emotional tone of an encounter—all while maintaining control and credibility.
Real Techniques for Real Situations.
Every concept is grounded in field-tested strategies drawn from both crisis negotiation and investigative interviewing. We don’t just talk about theory, we practice it.
Communication That Drives Safety.
Whether recognizing a mental health crisis, managing disruptive behavior, or giving a lawful order under stress, officers leave with the tools to get it right when it matters most.
Key Topics Include:
De-Escalation as an Outcome.
Communication is the tactic; de-escalation is the result. Learn to use tone, timing, and presence to influence behavior and calm chaos.
The Science of Crisis.
Understand what happens to the brain in high-stress moments, yours and theirs, and how to engage with clarity and control.
Behavioral Recognition & Decision-Making Tools.
Use the OODA Loop and baseline behavior analysis to assess threats and make confident decisions under pressure.
Mental Health & Disability Awareness.
Build your ability to recognize and respond to individuals experiencing PTSD, schizophrenia, autism, diabetic shock, and more.
Foundational Communication Skills.
Learn and apply Professional Sincerity®, Teach to Talk™, ORBIT principles, and the Behavioral Change Stairway Model, as well as how to deliver a firm “no” while keeping the door open for dialogue.
Empathy, Rapport & Influence.
Utilize motive mapping, empathetic stems, and credibility tactics to foster meaningful engagement and achieve voluntary compliance.
Tailoring Communication by Personality Type.
Apply the DISC personality model to adjust your approach for better outcomes in emotionally charged situations.
Officer Wellness and Resilience.
Explore how stress, communication fatigue, and personal wellness are interconnected, and how improved communication can help you return home feeling well.
Instructional Style:
Realistic scenario-based drills
Back-to-back listening exercises
Crisis encounter replays
DISC personality analysis
Guided self-assessments and group discussion
Who Should Attend:
Patrol Officers
Field Supervisors
Crisis Negotiators
School Resource Officers
Dispatchers
Any public safety personnel facing critical, high-pressure encounters
What You’ll Walk Away With:
Enhanced officer safety and public trust
Reduced use-of-force incidents
Greater confidence in handling crisis encounters
Improved outcomes in mental health-related calls
A renewed sense of purpose and professionalism in how you communicate
When communication becomes your strongest tactical skill, safety becomes the outcome. This course is not just a training; it's a mindset shift. Enroll in Crisis Communication: Enhancing Safety & Success in Police-Citizen Encounters and experience what happens when the best communication disciplines combine to transform how law enforcement connects, leads, and protects.
To get more information, ask questions, or book a class, contact Jeff via email at jeff@886consultingllc.com or visit Joe at
https://www.advancedstrategiccommunications.com/
Professional Sincerity is a registered trademark of Jeffrey G. Scholz. TM and (R) 2024. From Crisis to Calm is a trademark of 886 Consulting, LLC, TM 2025.
Teach to Talk is a trademark of Joseph R. Auriemma, JR. TM 2024
All rights reserved.
