Professor Elam

Wed Sept 289 2016

Renita Eizaldae comments on the Wednesday Sept 21, 2016 event.

The Member Appreciation Seminar- Linguistic Lie Detection: Words Never Lie but People Do was the second event with the San Antonio chapter of the IIA that I have attended as a student. The event was loaded with information. My understanding of both lie detection and the profession of internal auditing grew by leaps and bounds over the course of the day.

I learned lie detection can be broken down into two parts: gathering information and statement analysis. In regards to gathering information presenter Nejolla Korris’ statement, “We cannot define whether someone is telling the truth or not by our own logic.” has resonated with me. As an auditor I will need to remember that my definitions may not be the same definitions as the person I am interviewing. In statement analysis a key point to remember as an auditor is that “a change in language signals a change in reality”. Changes in tense, pronoun, and time should be viewed as major red flags.

The information shared by my tablemates was invaluable. This time around I had the pleasure of sitting with four HEB internal auditors and two internal auditors from VIA. HEB is currently one of my favorite companies and I was ecstatic with my stroke of luck. I spent the lunch break asking questions such as, “how did you chose internal auditing as a specialty in accounting?” and “have you identified practices within your company that could be changed to benefit the company?”. I was in the presence of CPA’s, CIA’s, CGAP’s, and a CISA; everyone was gracious and shared their reasons and experiences in both education and in the profession.

Overall the time and dollars used to attend the seminar were well spent. I picked up new skills in lie detection and learned about the internal auditing profession in a way I haven’t in class. I made sure to bring my business cards as encouraged by Dr. Elam. I couldn’t help saying “you get a card, you get a card, everybody gets a card” as I handed them out to my tablemates. I felt like Sherlock Holmes and Oprah Winfrey within the span of a few hours and I left the seminar feeling excited about my future in accounting.