Where can my PC learn...

[Colarmel]

RE: Intimidation: Working as unarmed security or a bouncer can do this well. I had a coworker working security in an area where a large part of security was telling the homeless they weren't allowed to sleep there. A homeless man pulled a knife on him. His response: "Put that $*#* away." The homeless man complied, and ran away.

Another method, depending on your GM, would be watching movies or TV with good "tough guy" characters. There's a scene in Justified where the protagonist racks the slide of his handgun, catches the ejected cartridge, drops it on a prone bad-guy he's intent on intimidating and says, "Next one's coming faster."

His explanation when he's later expected to explain why the bad guy has a bullet with his finger prints is that he saw a gangster telling the story on Johnny Carson, and thought it sounded cool.

It's also possible though, for that kind of training to have some conditional penalties for real tough guys, similar to overconfidence: it's likely that the scary guy in the movies will do something stupid that renders him silly to real bad guys.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Colarmel

It's also possible though, for that kind of training to have some conditional penalties for real tough guys, similar to overconfidence: it's likely that the scary guy in the movies will do something stupid that renders him silly to real bad guys.

That may be why we have specious intimidation.

[Culture20]

If your game takes place in a state where owning lockpicks is legal without a locksmithing license, then there will likely be lockpicking clubs where you can learn the skills and probably also buy picks. The clubs will be frequented by locksmiths, electronic security folk, and occasionally law enforcement.

[Crystalline_Entity]

Fast-talk I agree with Icelander et al, some sort of salesman training here, possibly advertising (though maybe that's Propaganda?).

Intimidation: Being a bouncer in a club? I imagine quite a few potential fights just don't happen because the bouncer looks intimidating.

Lockpicking This is difficult, here in the U.K. I believe it's illegal to carry lockpicks outside your own home unless your profession requires it. I imagine most First World places are similar.

Traps (Alarms): An installer of electronic alarms probably, knowledge of how to disarm them probably comes alongside knowledge of how to set them up.

[The Colonel]

How about prison?
It's frequently a place with a highly Darwinian training environment for Fast Talk and Intimidation and probably a good place to meet people who know other criminal skills.
You might argue that the fact they are in prison implies they can't be that good - but it may not be that skill that failed them. Or even the result of their own mistakes.

Failing that, law enforcement and intelligence have been known to teach all of these skills. As a poster noted already.

As, as another poster has noted, does YouTube (or at least people claim to do so on YouTube - one of my colleagues taught himself to pick locks to at least an entry level standard on dull night shifts by watching YouTube videos).

Also, there used to be a number of small presses out there - mainly in the US due to that First Amendment thing they have over there - that turned out manuals on all sorts of stuff. Not sure how many of them are still going - getting their product over here in the UK these days would probably be more trouble than it is worth.

[Ulzgoroth]

It's pretty easy to learn to pick locks at the most basic level. I mean, I'm pretty sure I got all the necessary theory out of a passage in "Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman". No doubt youtube videos can do better than that. And it's trivial to practice safely at home once you acquire the tools, since locks are something you can just buy. (The fictional tradition of using a paperclip does work for sufficiently chunky locks, but they don't fit well in most modern keyholes.)

[Anthony]

All of these skills can be learned by self-teaching, I assumed the question was where you could find a teacher.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Anthony

All of these skills can be learned by self-teaching, I assumed the question was where you could find a teacher.

As some above noted, learning Fast Talk or Intimidation by self-teaching could be dangerous.

But on that note, certain college undergraduate communities can and will teach lockpicking. It's probably not practical for a PC to seek those out in order to learn from them, though.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

As some above noted, learning Fast Talk or Intimidation by self-teaching could be dangerous.

Self-teaching include observing and emulating other people. Fast-talk is probably a skill that is usually self-taught.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Self-teaching include observing and emulating other people. Fast-talk is probably a skill that is usually self-taught.

Okay, but at that point you're talking about self-teaching that still requires finding a teacher. They just don't actually have to be cooperating beyond not stopping you from observing them.