Put the phone between you.
Choose a quiet, comfortable room. Ask permission to record. Say the person’s full name and the date.
SPEND TIME · ASK QUESTIONS · PRESERVE THE VOICE
Their voice is part
of the inheritance.
One day, somebody in your family will be grateful that you pressed Record.
THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY
Don’t wait until
the voice is gone.
When someone dies, we often discover that we remember their voice—but can no longer hear it. We know pieces of their life, but nobody asked them to connect those pieces. We inherit photographs without names, recipes without measurements, and stories with nobody left to correct us.
This is not an obituary project. It is an invitation to sit with parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, veterans, neighbors, and longtime family friends while everybody is still here.
PICK ONE · LET IT WANDER
Questions that open more than one door.
You do not need all eleven. One good question may fill the afternoon.- 01What was your neighborhood like when you were a child?
- 02What did Saturday morning sound like in your house?
- 03What was your first job—and what did that first paycheck teach you?
- 04Who taught you how to handle money?
- 05How did you meet the person you loved?
- 06What family story does everybody tell incorrectly?
- 07What were you afraid of when you were young?
- 08What decision changed your life?
- 09Which people and places can you identify in our old photographs?
- 10What do you understand now that took years to learn?
- 11What do you want the youngest person in this family to know?
KEEP IT EASY
You already own enough equipment.
Ask one question.
Do not rush to fill the silence. Listen. Then ask, “What happened next?”
Have a conversation.
Laugh. Eat. Let them repeat themselves. Follow the detours and ask about the names on old photographs.
Protect what you captured.
Keep the original. Save it in two places. Write down names and locations. Give copies to the family.
THE MOST IMPORTANT INSTRUCTION
Don’t conduct an interview.
Have a conversation.
AFTER YOU RECORD
Make it findable.
- Name the file clearlyFull Name · Subject · Recording Date
- Keep the untouched originalEditing can come later. The original cannot be recreated.
- Store it twiceOne local copy and one separate backup.
- Add a short noteWho was present, where you were, and the people mentioned.
- Share itAn archive nobody else can find is one accident away from disappearing.
THE NEXT RIGHT STEP