Preparing for your Audio Portrait Interview for Project #2

Preparation for Interviewing:

• Know what you hope to get and develop questions to draw out what you need.
• Write down questions (but don’t look at them while the person is talking to you)
• Start with less challenging questions
• Try and get a beginning, middle and end
• Personal experience, the story of what happened, is often more resonant than opinions (though they can be important too)

More tips for Preparing Questions:

• Be prepared - know your subject
• Ask questions that require a good answer: No yes/no questions
• Open, not Leading, Questions.

Example of Great Questions (from StoryCorps):
https://storycorps.org/great-questions/

Great Questions for Anyone (not an exhaustive list):

• Who has been the most important person in your life? Can you tell me about him or her?
• What was the happiest moment of your life? The saddest?
• Who has been the biggest influence on your life? What lessons did that person teach you?
• Who has been the kindest to you in your life?
• What are the most important lessons you’ve learned in life?
• What is your earliest memory?
• What is your favorite memory of me?
• Are there any funny stories your family tells about you that come to mind?
• Are there any funny stories or memories or characters from your life that you want to tell me about?
• What are you proudest of?
• When in life have you felt most alone?
• If you could hold on to one memory from your life forever, what would that be?
• How has your life been different than what you’d imagined?
• How would you like to be remembered?
• Do you have any regrets?
• What does your future hold?
• What are your hopes for what the future holds for me? For my children?
• If this was to be our very last conversation, is there anything you’d want to say to me
• For your great great grandchildren listening to this years from now: is there any wisdom you’d want to pass on to them? What would you want them to know?
• Is there anything that you’ve never told me but want to tell me now?
• Is there something about me that you’ve always wanted to know but have never asked?