Social Engineering is nothing new, and while most people know this they don’t fully appreciate how police and others use specific elements of the craft to get past our defenses. In this short talk, I go over two of the major techniques that police and hostage negotiators use to get results. Primarily these methods are lumped into two main groupings: Hard and Soft. I discuss how the hard method is what most people think of as the typical interrogation where pressure is slowly increased until a strong emotional reaction is obtained from the target. I talk about how the soft method includes skills normally associated with hostage negotiators and social workers, and how the two basic methods are often combined to great effect. I give examples from both policing and from cyber security, and discuss ways to protect yourself and your company from those who would use these methods against you.