Interview Relatives to Trace Your Family History

If you want some really good and juicy information when you trace your family history, you have to interview your relatives.Here are five things to consider when preparing your family interview:

1. Prepare a list of questions that you want to ask. If you know what you want to get out of the interview ahead of time, everything will run much smoother. Write down a list of questions that you’d like to ask during the interview. The goal here is to make sure you’re flexible and allow your relative to lead the conversation. Allowing them to remember the past on their own will be more beneficial than just asking questions.

2. Bring a tape or video recorder to the interview. If you bring something to keep track of the event, it’s much easier than trying to scribble notes throughout the entire interview. Just make sure you ask for permission first. If they agree that video recording would be better, I recommend taking this route. That way you create a fuller record of the interview because you can see the expressions on the interviewees’ face as he or she talks. It gives the existing generations and the ones yet to come a glimpse of the past.

3. Use visual aids to help them recall events. If you can match the photos, documents or newspaper clippings up with your questions, it will allow the interviewee to jog their mind of this particular moment in time. If there’s a lull in the conversation, producing a photo album is an excellent way to reestablish the flow. Thanks to the fact that copying photos is a lot easier than it once was, you can take copies of your old photos using a scanner, print off as many copies as your need and keep the originals safe at home.

4. Respect the feelings of the individual you interview Even though you may want to get all the information now, don’t push the issue if a relative isn’t forthcoming about certain information or they are becoming tired. Sometimes people find that they are not in the right frame of mind to talk about the past, or they may want to stop and consider before revealing certain pieces of information. If you notice this happening, just ask for an interview on another date or ask a different family member.You don’t want to cause any ill feeling.

5. Show some gratitude. Be courteous and thank them for having you. If they enjoy your discoveries, let them know you will keep them informed of your family history research. Most will say yes, and the easiest way to keep everyone informed is by learning to create your family tree online. My recommendation is to set up a free account on Mundia.com. This gives you the opportunity to keep in touch with your family members and invite them to help you branch out your family tree. They can also upload photos, add documents, or even give a little input to help further some of the stories.

It’s likely that all this time spent on tracing your family history could change your mind about history being a boring subject!