Mastering Rapport in High-Stakes Conversations
Training law enforcement and business professionals achieve successful outcomes in investigations, negotiations, sales, and leadership.
Meet Ninette Toosbuy
Ninette Toosbuy spent 25 years with the Los Angeles Police Department mastering one of the most difficult communication skills in the world: building rapport with hostile individuals during high-stakes criminal investigations.
Her insight is simple.
If you can build rapport in that environment, you can build rapport with anyone.
Through SBI Academy, Ninette trains law enforcement professionals in science-based interviewing while also teaching leaders, sales professionals, and business organizations how to apply the same rapport-building frameworks to negotiations, sales, leadership communication, and team dynamics.
Who This Training Is For
Law Enforcement Training
The Introduction to Science-Based Interviewing course will empower officers and investigators with the skills necessary to:
Conduct more effective interviews that elicit accurate and reliable information.
Build rapport and trust with individuals from diverse backgrounds.
Employ evidence-based techniques to enhance interview outcomes.
Contribute to the overall success of their agency's mission.
Business & Corporate Training
Rapport is the foundation of success in nearly all leadership, negotiations, sales, and workplace communications.
Organizations and individuals succeed when they know how to establish genuine rapport which leads to trust, reduces resistance, builds consensus and leads to cooperation.
The SBI Rapport Framework brings forensic-grade communication strategies to the corporate boardroom. It teaches business and sales professionals how to master rapport using communication strategies developed through years of experience conducting and leading high-stakes interrogations with some of America’s most hardened and hostile criminals.
Rapport Is the Key to Every Successful Conversation
Rapport is the single most important element in all human relationships—whether personal or professional.
Without rapport relationships break down, negotiations stall, sales don’t close, and teams struggle to work together.
Yet rapport is often misunderstood.
Genuine rapport goes far beyond simply being liked. It is a disciplined approach in interpersonal relating that builds trust, legitimacy, and cooperation.
Ninette’s career was built on mastering rapport in some of the most challenging communication environments imaginable.
Her training teaches professionals how to build rapport intentionally using proven forensic-grade communication strategies.
The SBI Rapport Framework
Ninette teaches rapport building through two proprietary communication frameworks used in SBI Academy training:
The ORBIT Model by Lawrence and Emily Ellison and the H.E.A.R. Principles.
These models help professionals understand interpersonal dynamics, reduce resistance in difficult conversations, and guide discussions toward trust and cooperation.
Participants learn how to recognize communication patterns, adapt their approach in real time, and build meaningful rapport even in high-stakes situations.
These frameworks are taught in Ninette’s workshops, executive training programs, and speaking engagements.
Trusted by Law Enforcement Professionals
For years, the SBI Academy has trained investigators and law enforcement professionals science-based interviewing techniques. Today these same principles of rapport building are being applied to leadership communication, negotiations, sales, and professional relationships.
Ninette Toosbuy is proud and honored to have trained law enforcement personnel from the following agencies:
