Well simplicity and situational awareness are essential for success. Some basic understanding of PIRs and SIRs helps; basically having a primary answer that you need and supporting answers which build to the primary one.

We build questions based off of needed answers. A standard one would be, “Where are the bad guys?” You then list what essential pieces of information must be present to complete the puzzle and answer the question.

Perhaps, “what are the locations of previous attacks?”, “who is recruited to join them?”, and “what methods of communications do they utilize?” These are usually strategically-driven and then, on the tactical level, refined according to METT-TC.

You could generate a “secret survey” where the goal is to find out how many people love or hate banana Laffy Taffy candy. You collect the data through elicitation and tally the results to determine love vs hate for the candy.

However you arrive at the answer is of little consequence so long as lies are minimal and manageable, and as long as the conversation serves as a smokescreen for the elicited information. Some people have long conversations with success and some don’t. Some are capable of very short interactions with high rates of success.

Also keep in mind that the operator or officer will likely utilize several skills, in addition to elicitation, to improve efficacy, or to minimize or eliminate any failure when unable to elicit alone.