| Interviewing is an important skill for the life | | | | What did your parents tell you about their lives? |
| storywriter, no matter what the size of your | | | | Tell me what you remember about the place |
| family memory project. You will want to do | | | | where you grew up? |
| plenty of it as you build the research you need to | | | | Take me on an imaginary walk around your home |
| write your family stories. How will you begin? | | | | when you were a child. |
| 1. Establish Trust with Simple Questions | | | | Describe your family gatherings. |
| You want to establish trust and empathy with | | | | Tell me about religious observances in your family. |
| your interview subject, so small talk at the | | | | Who was your biggest influence? Who did you |
| beginning of an interview is not necessarily a | | | | admire and why? |
| waste of time. You may want to ask a few | | | | Who made you laugh? Who made you feel |
| simple questions, such as date and place of birth, | | | | important and why? |
| and chat about those answers to put your | | | | 3. Listen Attentively |
| subject at ease. | | | | The aim is to get momentum going, to establish a |
| 2. Follow Up with Open-Ended Questions | | | | natural rhythm in conversation. Once you've |
| The important thing to remember with | | | | started the interview rolling, except for an |
| interviewing is to ask questions which are as | | | | occasional question to keep it rolling or steer it in |
| open-ended as possible - questions which require | | | | the right direction, the most efficient thing you |
| much more than a simple 'yes' or 'no' answer, but | | | | can do is listen attentively. |
| which encourage the person to begin telling a | | | | 4. Add Unique Questions to Wrap Up |
| story. For example, instead of asking "Where did | | | | The very best questions are the ones you make |
| you live when you were a teenager?" - try | | | | up as you go along, which are specific to the |
| re-phrasing the question as "Take me on a walk | | | | individual you are interviewing. These will be |
| around the house you lived in when you were | | | | determined by the person's responses to those |
| fifteen." You will find that you get an array of | | | | basic questions you ask. Make a note as you are |
| extra detail instead of a sparse response. | | | | interviewing and return to these at the earliest |
| Once we have asked the simple questions, I | | | | possible opportunity or ask them in a wrap-up |
| move into questions like these: | | | | interview. |