Questions About Recording Your Life Story

If you're a retired Baby Boomer considering recording your life story, you probably have questions about what the experience is like, what you might talk about, how interviews are recorded, what you'll receive, and what the process costs. Here are answers to some of the questions I hear most often.

Deciding Whether to Record Your Life Story

1. Why should I record my life story?

Recording your life story gives you an opportunity to recollect and reflect on the experiences that have shaped you. It creates a permanent record of your memories, experiences, accomplishments, relationships, and observations in your own voice and words. It also preserves something that can eventually be shared with the people who matter to you.

2. Is my life interesting enough to record?

You don't need to be famous or have lived an extraordinary life to have a story worth documenting. Childhood, education, careers, relationships, parenthood, successes, disappointments, changing times, and everyday experiences all become part of a personal history. What may seem ordinary to you can become meaningful when viewed across the course of a lifetime.

3. Why are my retirement years the best time to record my life story?

Retirement often provides something that was difficult to find during the busiest years of adulthood: time to look back. As Baby Boomers, we have also lived through decades of remarkable social, cultural, technological, and economic change. This can be an especially rewarding stage of life for recollecting those experiences and considering what they have meant to us.

4. What are the benefits of looking back and reflecting on my life?

Reflection can help you recognize connections between experiences that may have seemed unrelated when they occurred. Looking back can also provide a greater appreciation of accomplishments, relationships, decisions, challenges, and turning points. An oral history is therefore more than a record of what happened. It can also become an opportunity to consider what those experiences have meant to you.

5. Do I need to tell my entire life story?

No. Your oral history can be as broad or as focused as you want it to be. You may want to document your life from childhood through retirement, concentrate on a particular period, explore your professional career, or preserve a selection of experiences and memories that are especially important to you.

What Is It Like to Work With an Oral Historian?

6. What is an oral history interview?

An oral history interview is a recorded conversation designed to document your memories and experiences in your own words. Rather than simply collecting facts and dates, I encourage you to describe what happened, what you remember, how you experienced important events, and what those experiences mean to you today.

7. How is an oral history interview different from an ordinary interview?

An ordinary interview often seeks specific information or concise answers. An oral history interview gives you more time and freedom to recollect, explain, make connections, and tell stories in your own way. My role is to listen carefully, ask thoughtful follow-up questions, and help you explore memories that deserve further attention.

8. Why should I work with a professional oral historian instead of recording myself?

You can certainly record yourself, but conducting an interview and being interviewed are very different experiences. When I conduct your oral history, you can concentrate entirely on remembering and telling your story. I listen for important themes, ask follow-up questions, recognize connections, and help guide the conversation while also taking responsibility for the recording and production process.

9. What happens during an oral history interview?

An interview is essentially a guided conversation. I introduce subjects and questions we have discussed beforehand, listen to your answers, and follow interesting memories as they emerge. We don't need to follow a rigid script. The objective is to create a comfortable conversation that allows your memories and experiences to unfold naturally.

10. What kinds of questions will you ask me?

Questions can cover childhood, family, school, friendships, career, marriage, parenthood, accomplishments, challenges, historical events, retirement, and other significant experiences. I also ask reflective questions about what you learned, what changed you, what you're proud of, and how you now understand important periods of your life.

11. Can I decide which parts of my life we talk about?

Yes. It is your life story, and you remain in control of what we discuss. Before recording, we can identify the subjects you particularly want to explore as well as anything you prefer not to discuss. During an interview, you can also redirect the conversation or decline to answer any question.

12. Can I review the questions and topics before we record?

Yes. Preparation is an important part of my oral history process. We can develop an outline of subjects, periods, people, and experiences you would like to discuss. Reviewing these topics beforehand can also stimulate memories and give you time to think about stories you may want to include.

13. How long does each interview session last?

I generally recommend interview sessions of approximately one hour. This provides enough time to explore a subject thoughtfully without making the conversation tiring. Some sessions may be shorter or longer depending on the narrator and the material we are discussing.

14. How many interview sessions will I need?

That depends on how much of your life you want to document and how deeply you want to explore it. A focused project may require only one or two sessions, while a more comprehensive life history may involve several. We can determine the appropriate scope together before and during the project.

Memory, Comfort, and Personal Control

15. What if I don't remember dates, names, or details?

An oral history interview is not a memory test. You aren't expected to remember every name, date, or detail perfectly. We are interested in what you remember and how you remember it. When factual details are important, they can often be checked later using photographs, documents, family records, or historical research.

16. Can photographs, letters, and other materials help me remember?

Yes. Photographs, home movies, letters, diaries, newspaper clippings, awards, and other personal materials can be excellent memory prompts. Looking at an old photograph, for example, may bring back details about people, places, relationships, and events that you haven't thought about for many years.

17. What if there are parts of my life I don't want to discuss?

You decide what becomes part of your oral history. There is no requirement to discuss subjects that you consider too private, painful, or simply irrelevant to the history you want to record. We can establish those boundaries before the interview, and you can change direction at any point during our conversation.

18. What if I become emotional while remembering something?

Some memories naturally carry strong emotions. If that happens, we can pause, take a break, move to another subject, or stop the interview and continue another time. There is no need to rush through an important memory. You determine how much you want to say and whether you want that material included in the finished history.

19. What if I remember something important after the interview?

That happens frequently. One memory often leads to another, and people sometimes remember additional stories after an interview has ended. We can include those subjects in another interview session or, when appropriate, add information during the editing and review process.

Recording, Editing, and Preserving Your History

20. Should I record my oral history as audio or video?

Both can work very well. Audio places complete emphasis on your voice and can create an intimate listening experience. Video also preserves your expressions, gestures, and personality. If you want to incorporate photographs, home movies, documents, and other visual materials into an autobiographical documentary, video provides additional possibilities.

21. Can we conduct my interviews online, or do we need to meet in person?

Both options may be available depending on location and circumstances. Online interviews allow me to work with retired Baby Boomers regardless of where they live and allow you to record comfortably from your own home. I can also travel for selected in-person interview projects.

22. Can I include photographs, home movies, letters, documents, awards, and newspaper clippings?

Yes. These materials can become an important part of your oral history. We can use them as memory prompts during our conversations and incorporate selected materials into an edited video history. This allows viewers to see the people, places, documents, and events you are describing as they listen to your story.

23. Can you turn my interviews and photographs into an autobiographical documentary?

Yes. A recorded video interview can become the foundation for an autobiographical documentary incorporating photographs, home movies, letters, documents, newspaper clippings, music, titles, and other visual elements. The result can present your memories in a richer visual form while keeping your own voice and recollections at the center of the story.

24. Can you provide a written transcript of my interviews?

Yes. Your recorded interviews can be transcribed so that you also have a searchable and readable written record of your oral history. A transcript can be useful for preservation, research, sharing particular passages, and locating specific stories or subjects within a longer series of interviews.

25. Can I request edits or remove something from the finished recording?

Yes. Your oral history belongs to you, and you can review the material and request appropriate edits. If you decide that a statement, story, or subject should not appear in the finished version, it can be removed during editing.

26. What exactly will I receive when my oral history is finished?

The deliverables depend on the project you choose. They can include edited audio recordings, video recordings, transcripts, and an autobiographical documentary incorporating photographs and other visual materials. We will determine what you want to create and preserve before beginning the production process.

27. Who owns my recordings?

You retain ownership of your personal oral history recordings and the personal materials you provide. My role is to help you prepare, record, edit, organize, and preserve your history. We can also discuss how you want the finished recordings stored, shared, or kept private.

28. Can I keep my oral history completely private?

Yes. You determine who has access to your oral history. It can remain entirely private, be shared only with selected people, or be made more widely available if that is what you want. Privacy and distribution decisions remain under your control.

Cost and Getting Started

29. How much do your oral history services cost?

My fee is $200 per hour for all phases of my oral history work. This includes the professional time involved in consultation, preparation, interviewing, production, editing, transcription, publication, and preservation. The total cost therefore depends on the scope and complexity of the project you choose.

30. How much does a complete oral history project typically cost?

There isn't one standard cost because oral history projects can vary considerably. A straightforward recorded interview requires much less production time than a multi-session video history incorporating photographs, home movies, documents, editing, and transcription. Before beginning, we can discuss what you want to accomplish and estimate the professional time your project is likely to require.

31. What am I paying for besides the time spent interviewing me?

The recorded interview is only one part of an oral history project. My work can also include consultation, content strategy, interview preparation, historical research, project management, audio and video production, editing, transcription, publication, and digital preservation. My $200 hourly fee applies consistently to the professional time required for these different phases of your project.

32. Do you travel to conduct interviews in person?

Yes. Although online interviews allow me to work with retired Baby Boomers throughout the country, I can travel for selected in-person oral history projects. Travel requirements, scheduling, expenses, and the scope of the project can be discussed during our initial consultation.

33. How do I get started?

The first step is simply to contact me. We can talk about why you are considering recording your life story, the experiences you would like to document, and whether you prefer audio or video. From there, we can determine an appropriate interview and production plan for the oral history you want to create.