On air, Kfm 94.5
A lie detector examiner on Kfm Mornings
Kfm Mornings did not interview a lie detector examiner about the job. They put their own presenters in the chair and had one run the test on air, with the instrument recording and the questions going out live. Here are all four clips the station published, and underneath them, what actually happens when the same examination is run for an employer, an attorney or a family rather than for radio.
Half a million Views and counting across the four Kfm clips
All four, in full
The clips Kfm published
Published by Kfm 94.5 and played here from the station's own posts. Press one and it loads from Facebook. Nothing loads until you do.
The whole breakfast team, on the instrument
The station's own words for it: putting the Kfm Mornings team to the ultimate test, with a professional lie detector examiner in the room. This is the clip that travelled furthest.
Sibs takes his turn in the chair
Who is telling the truth, and who is simply good at lying. One presenter at a time, which is how a real examination runs as well: one person, one set of questions, one chart.
The questions nobody wants asked on air
Tough questions and high stakes, as the station framed it. Worth watching for what the presenters do in the seconds before they answer, which is the part an examiner is trained to read.
The trailer the station ran first
Forty two seconds, built around trust and what it takes to earn it, run with Coronation SA. This is the one that went out before the tests were recorded.
Behind the segment
Why a radio station phones a polygraph examiner
Because the equipment does something a conversation cannot. A presenter can say anything into a microphone and the audience has to take it on trust. Put the same person on the instrument and the three channels record what the body did while the answer was given, which is a different kind of evidence entirely.
That is the whole reason the segment works on air, and it is the same reason an employer with a stock loss, an attorney preparing for an arbitration or a family in a private matter calls us. The instrument is identical. What changes is the preparation around it, and that is most of the job.
If the clips brought you here, the honest next step is the page on how an examination is run, which sets out the consultation, the charts and the report in order. The published price list carries every figure, and the questions people ask before booking cover the ones that come up on the phone.
Nobody is asked a question they have not seen
Every question is worked through with the person in the consultation before the instrument is connected. Surprise questions do not make better evidence, they make worse charts.
A real examination is not a two minute clip
A standard matter runs about an hour from consultation to the last chart. A relationship or misconduct matter runs longer, because the briefing is longer.
It ends in a written report
Not a verdict announced on air. A document you can put in front of a chairperson, an attorney or an employee, with the charts behind it.
The same examiner, held to the same code
The examiner Kfm had in the studio works to the code of ethics of the American Polygraph Association, on a radio segment and on a workplace matter alike.
Worth being straight about
What a polygraph test on the radio is, and is not
The segment is entertainment and the station never pretended otherwise. A matter that ends in a disciplinary hearing is a different piece of work, and anybody booking off the back of these clips deserves to know where the line sits.
On the radio
Built for a two minute segment
- Questions chosen because they make good listening
- A studio full of colleagues, which is the opposite of the quiet a chart wants
- The result is read out, laughed at and the show moves on
- Nothing turns on it, and nobody loses a job over it
On a real matter
Built to stand up afterwards
- A consultation first, with every question agreed before the instrument goes on
- One room, one person, no audience and no interruptions
- Charts recorded on three channels and scored, not eyeballed
- A written report that goes to whoever commissioned the work and to nobody else
After the show
What people ask after hearing the segment
The questions that come in after a broadcast are different from the ones that come in from an employer. These are the ones the Kfm clips tend to raise.
Was that a real polygraph test, or was it done for the show?
Real instrument, real sensors, real charts. What was built for the show is the format around it: the question list was chosen to make a segment, the room was full of colleagues, and the result was read out on air. The recording is genuine. The setting is not the setting a disputed matter gets.
Does a polygraph work the same way in a workplace matter?
The instrument does. The process around it is longer and quieter. There is a consultation before anything is connected, the questions are agreed with the person being tested, the examination runs with nobody else in the room, and it ends in a written report rather than in a verdict announced to an audience.
Can the examiner come to us, or do we come to you?
Either. The examiner travels to premises anywhere in South Africa, or the examination is done in the room at the Centurion office. Travel is quoted as a line on the written quote rather than added afterwards, and the price list sets out how it is worked out.
Can you do something like this for our event or our own recording?
Phone the office and ask. A segment like the Kfm one is arranged rather than booked off a price list, because what it involves depends entirely on what is being recorded and who is being tested. The contact page has the number and the office hours.
Who is allowed to see the result of a real examination?
Whoever commissioned the work, and nobody else. A private matter is booked with you and reported back to you. That is the opposite of a radio segment, where the whole point was that the audience heard it, and everybody in the studio had agreed to that in advance.
Beyond the segment
The rest of what the office handles
A polygraph examination is one of four things the practice does, and a matter rarely arrives neatly as one of them. Most start with a phone call about something that does not add up.
The same examiner, your matter
Book the examiner Kfm put in the studio
A written quote takes about thirty seconds and commits you to nothing. The examiner travels to you, anywhere in South Africa, or you come to the office in Centurion.