Interviewing for Family History Writers - 4 Important Tips

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Interviewing is an important skill for the life storywriter, no matter what the size of your family memory project. You will want to do plenty of it as you build the research you need to write your family stories. How will you begin'

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1. Establish Trust with Simple Questions

You want to establish trust and empathy with your interview subject, so small talk at the beginning of an interview is not necessarily a waste of time. You may want to ask a few simple questions, such as date and place of birth, and chat about those answers to put your subject at ease.

2. Follow Up with Open-Ended Questions

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The important thing to remember with interviewing is to ask questions which are as open-ended as possible - questions which require much more than a simple 'yes' or 'no' answer, but which encourage the person to begin telling a story. For example, instead of asking "Where did you live when you were a teenager'" - try re-phrasing the question as "Take me on a walk around the house you lived in when you were fifteen." You will find that you get an array of extra detail instead of a sparse response.

Once we have asked the simple questions, I move into questions like these:

What did your parents tell you about their lives'

Tell me what you remember about the place where you grew up'

Take me on an imaginary walk around your home when you were a child.

Describe your family gatherings.
Tell me about religious observances in your family.

Who was your biggest influence' ......

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