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Interviewing tips for talking to relatives

Home » Genealogy » Sources for Genealogy Research - Family » Interviewing tips for talking to relatives
Posted by Your Guide on July 6, 2006 9:45 PM

The best way to talk to family members about family history is in an informal setting. If you set up a meeting to visit with a family member, keep it comfortable for them. Begin with simple questions that will bring back fond memories. Some possible starter questions are:

What did your family usually have for dinner when you were a child?
What sort of birthday traditions did your family celebrate?
What is your favorite summer time memory?
What is your favorite snowy day memory?

These questions may or may not lead to more intimate tales, but they will most surely bring up information about everyday life from long ago. As the tales unwind, you may be able to ask questions about different relatives and their families. An important tip to remember at this point is that your role should be as a listener and recorder of information.

Another casual way to start a family history conversation is to bring out a few pictures and ask, "Who are these people? Do you know them?" If they do, they may have some information they are willing to share. If they don't know the people in the picture, you can always move along to another picture. Having too many pictures for them to look at, however, can silence the tales as people just sit and reminisce. Keep your picture sessions short and then allow conversation to follow the thoughts the pictures arouse. Again, your role is to question and to listen. Take short, accurate notes so that you are participating in the conversation, not just recording what others say.

If conversation begins to wane, interject a question about holiday traditions, chores, what their home was like, or school memories. If you can set up an inconspicuous camera or tape recorder, it can help you eliminate the need for extensive note taking while creating a video history at the same time. But be aware that many people clam up when a video recorder is turned on, so be discreet. You can always write a letter or make a phone call to confirm details in your notes later, so don't worry about writing down everything.



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