Corporate
Diligence Driven Interviewing
Proven techniques to unlock insight, surface red flags, and drive better investment decisions.
Delivery:Live - 1 Day
Experience Level: Emerging M&A Pros | Mid-Career M&A Pros | M&A Leaders
What I Will Learn
- Tactics to ask better questions.
- The elements of trust and rapport building.
- Effective frameworks for diligence sessions and interviews.
- Approaches to tackle controversial or sensitive topics.
- Tools to spot potential deception and dig deeper.
- Methods to identify and address contradictions in narratives and data.
- Strategies to navigate power dynamics and organizational behavior in group meetings.
About the Course
M&A due diligence is investigative work. Like detectives, deal professionals rely on sharp interviewing skills to uncover insights the numbers will not reveal alone. Answers come easily from some and begrudgingly from others.
This course equips participants with the skills and judgment to conduct high-impact interviews across management, competitors, customers, and vendors. Through interactive case studies and role-playing, you will learn to structure conversations, adapt strategies in real time, spot evasive answers, and extract insights that matter. The result: sharper interviews, stronger intelligence, and smarter deal decisions.
Course Curriculum
- Foundational Questions©
- Understanding the Investment Thesis
- Leveraging Decision Gates in Setting Priorities
- Three-Column Diligence Planning
- Active Listening and Playback
- Importance of How Questions are Phrased
- What & How Why Questions
- Proxy Questions and Repeated Questions
- Avoiding Leading the Witness Questions
- Setting the Agenda
- Structuring & Sequencing Topics
- Time Management
- Broad vs. Narrow Approaches
- Solo-led vs. Co-led Sessions
- Team Roles & Responsibilities in Diligence Sessions
- Trust & Attention
- Communication Tips and Styles
- Meeting Strategies
- Measuring Receptivity and Resistance
- Tips on Handling Controversial Topics
- When to Double Down vs. Move On
- Effective Use of Silence in Diligence Sessions
- Sticking to vs. Deviating from the Agenda
- Trust, But Verify
- Leveraging Hierarchies & Status Games
- Identifying Management Archetypes—Personalities & Profiles
- Tools to Manage Different Personality Types
- Spotting Bias & Blind Spots
- Managing Expectations
- Identifying & Dealing with Deception
- Receiving Information in a Neutral Fashion
- Perspective and Point-of-View
- Synthesis & Reflection
- Squaring Contradictions in Data Sources
M&A Professions
- Commercial Due Diligence (CDD)
- Corporate Development
- Financial Due Diligence (FDD)
- Investment Banking
- Leveraged Finance
- M&A Deal Attorneys
- Private Equity

It starts with a conversation
Benefits Obtained :
- Lead interviews with confidence
- ID key risks and value creation levers faster
- Unlock incremental insights