INSTRUCTOR CERTIFICATION RESTRICTIONS AND CONDITIONS  

 

How long will my certification to train Verbal Judo last?

    Three years from the day of graduation and you are given a letter of certification.  At this point if your organization wants to continue with the program and you as the instructor a re-certification class is required.

Is there a restriction on how many manuals I can produce?

    If you are part of a law enforcement agency our particular department agreement is to train everyone in your department then by all means produce enough for everyone in the class to have a working copy.  If they should happen to lose their original then make a second copy for them.  You should not be producing copies for anyone outside your department or multiple copies for any one individual unless they have a very good reason for needing the extra copies.  Sometimes these multiple copies end up in the wrong hands.

What if my agreement states I will not make copies of the manual?

    Then all manuals will be purchased from the Verbal Judo Institute at the agreed upon rate of exchange.  We will ship them directly to your agency at the address provided by you.  Please allow yourself enough time prior to the class you plan to train so we can get the manuals to you in time.  We suggest 30 days but can do it in as little as 10 days.  Short notice means a greater cost to you for shipping and handling.

Who am I allowed to train under my agreement?

    We have tried to be flexible in our agreements but we must draw a line.  You are authorize to train the people in your agency and only by specific amendment to the contract can you train outside your department or agency, even for free.  Any request to offer training must be submitted in writing for approval by Dr. Thompson and a letter or email of confirmation by us will be required prior you conducting the training.

What if the Chief wants to loan me out to another department since I am already certified to teach Verbal Judo?

    Have him or her submit a letter for approval.  The main reason for our agreement with you is to take the pressure off of you to conduct training that is outside the scope of your agreement and unauthorized by that contract.  Requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis.  

Am I supposed to mention to my students that this material is copyrighted?.

    In fact, yes.  Although there will be a page in the front of the manual you use for your students it is still advisable to mention the material is copyrighted as a matter of courtesy to us.  We are not saying they must treat this material like a government secret.  If they have a neighbor or friend with problems and the Verbal Judo can help them, they can by all means show them how the principles and tactics work.  We are talking about people who have sat in the class taught by you and then going out and trying to teach in an organized and structured class style environment.  Think for a second that a large portion of the basic material is found in the books, as well as the DVD and the Audio set.  We are just trying to reduce the piracy, whether purposeful or accidental, not keep Verbal Judo as a trade secret.

Can I make any changes to the manual or can I create a PowerPoint presentation or other materials to help me teach, like videos?

    The manual is trademarked and copyrighted and cannot be changed without authorization.  The same goes for the audio, video and the PowerPoint Presentation.  We will authorize changes as necessary for your specific needs.  For example.  If the PowerPoint presentation which is designed for the full class of two-days means you need to skip a lot of the slides in front of your class because you only teach the one-day version, then by all means, we can delete the slides you are not using.  According to the lawyers you are to run the presentation directly from the disc and not even load it onto the computer hard drive.  We are not saying you should irritate students by making them feel they are not getting the whole course, even if they aren't.  We will be happy to ship you an abbreviated slide presentation and you should keep the full version your agency or department purchased in case you should want to train the full program someday.

    There are also times when some parts of the material are not appropriate for the audience you are working with under your agreement and adaptation of the material is a necessity.  We will authorize manual changes but must maintain a copy of your working manual on our shelves for liability reasons.  Just email us with what you need or want to do and let the "DOC" make a decision.  If you plan to change the content prepare to justify your reasons, and remember he is pretty sharp so have a good ones.  Often people have tried to make the product better in their way of thinking and actually watered down the material and ended up with less than positive results.  The program works very well as it is now.  We have pretty much proved that after 20 years in the field.

Can I use any part of the Verbal Judo program in other courses I teach for my department?.

    Not without specific permission, in writing.  If approved by Doc Thompson, the bottom of any page of the Verbal Judo manual used in other courses must be clearly marked as the copyrighted property of Dr. Thompson and must clearly display our toll free number and web site information.  One of the biggest problems we had was people harmlessly using parts of the program to beef up other courses.  They did not reference us or that the material was copyrighted and protected by law and audiences simply took it and used it in their own stuff until parts of the program looked like common domain information.  No good !!!

Can I sell VJ products in my classroom to the students I train under my agreement?

    Sure.  We will even provide them for you upon request at a discount from the retail costs listed on the website.  You should consider passing them onto you audience at the same discount.  If you department or agency finds you making a profit on the products via you paid by the department salary you could find you self with big problems.  No good!!!

What if I have a question not covered by the answers on this page?

    Email us, we will get you an answer

 

PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO ALSO READ THE IMPORTANT NOTE TO OUR CUSTOMERS, OUR POTENTIAL AND FUTURE CUSTOMERS, AND TO ALL OF YOU THAT HAVE BEEN LOYAL TO US OVER THE PAST TWENTY YEARS.

WE ASK YOU TO PLEASE HELP US.

SUMMARY

We have received numerous complaints from across North America of people teaching or attempting to teach the Verbal Judo program contents.  Apparently most do not do it very well and many have hired trainers in good failth thinking they were affiliated with the Institute.  When they did not receive the quality of presentation they expected they contacted us only to find these trainers were illegally using our name and copyrighted information.  Since we do not wish to spend all of our time in court we ask you to hire only those you see on this web site listed as certified instructors.  All others who are certified to train are restricted to teach only within their respective organizations and never outside for profit or not.  

By these actions they harm us all financially and do even greater harm to the reputation of the Verbal Judo Institute.  This becomes of even greater importance as we become more mainstream and grow.

 

MESSAGE TO OUR EXISTING AND PROSPECTIVE CLIENTS

For the past few years we have been the victims of copyright piracy.  Whether purposeful or accidental it has wrought serious consequences for us as a company and our clients, who have spend money thinking the training they were receiving was sanctioned by the Institute and Dr. Thompson.  The number of complaints and problems from people illegally teaching or watering down the information by adding sections of Verbal Judo tactics and strategies to other programs to enhance their own work has become epidemic.  In this case, imitation has not been a form of flattery.  Clients have received poor quality or incomplete training from these pirates, whose goal was to fill their pockets from our reputation or ironically from well-intentioned people that have come into contact with the training in a live presentation or from our product base, actually trying to help others live better.  Clients who have experienced unauthorized training have complained bitterly and demanded we take action.  It has taken too much of our resources in time and money to shut these people down patiently and to do so without involving the courts.

The Verbal Judo program has been an overwhelming success in terms of reducing conflict, saving lives, and changing lives for the better – exactly the objectives Dr. Thompson intended when he first placed words on paper with his first book, Words as a Force Option.  The fervor from the book was enough to generate interest in conducting training classes and so he founded the Verbal Judo Institute. 

When classroom style instruction began it was with the same intent and conviction that helped the Institute grow to sixteen core training people on four continents, the creation of a larger product line including an Audio series, two additional books and a DVD Review of the course as it is taught to audiences all over the world.  We have also tried to meet the demand for the training by certifying and licensing instructors to conduct training for their own organizations under very specific agreements, bringing us again to the current problem.

We tread a fine line and dilemma with our desire to help as many people as we can plus maintain the integrity of both the training and reputation of the Institute.  As we do little if any advertising, our reputation is how we remain in business and ensure the financial security of our core staff, people who have devoted so much of their life to our mission.  Although most of the organizations have been duped or simply did not know they were in violation of copyright infringement there has also been on occasions where some have knowingly hired people illegally train Verbal Judo so to save a few dollars in their training or travel budget.  Most and have been disappointed with the results, or worse, can now say they have satisfied a training requirement with the best training available to reduce potential hot issues.  This has caused us to received calls to defend the quality of our work when things went badly for these organizations on a later date.  This must stop. 

In our case, you do get what you pay for and we do this as our living and not a hobby, and for this reason you receive the best training possible.  Further, we have never turned down a client who requested Verbal Judo purely for reasons of limited financial means, often trying to accommodate people whenever and wherever possible by helping them hook up with other organizations to share costs if necessary.  

We have come to the point that we must move beyond the simple “cease and desist” letters and the occasional lawful action toward these pirates.  With the integrity of the material and the well-earned reputation of the Institute at stake we will now take a hard line position and anyone caught teaching unlawfully or outside the exact scope of their agreement will be prosecuted.  All agreements must now be documented and approved on Institute letterhead, signed by Dr. Thompson as the President and Founder, Lee Fjelstad, as the Vice President, or Michael Manley as the Director. 

We have no wish to spend time in court or spend more money on lawyers than we already do in the creating of these contracts and agreements, but enough is enough and the time to take serious action has come.  In fairness and with the original intent clearly in the forefront of our thinking we will offer below a set of practical guidelines that will keep us all out of harms way.  The rule of the future will be, when in doubt, email or write before teaching to ensure what you want or have been asked to do will properly, ethically, and legally fit the scope of your agreement.  

We are sorry it has come to this and sincerely hope and trust we will always have your confidence and your support in this most difficult decision.  We will continue to provide the best training in the industry and strive to help all of you within our ability to do so.

We would also be unappreciative if we failed to thank all of you with instructor certifications that have lawfully and responsibly upheld your agreements.  You do us proud.

W. Lee Fjelstad, Vice President of the Verbal Judo Institute,

On the behalf of Dr. George J. Thompson, President and Founder, Michael Manley, and all the members of the Institute, our thanks for your compliance and your understanding.