I’m excited to present a guest post by Tami Koenig, aka Your Story Coach. Today she gives us tips on starting an oral history tradition during your next family gathering. 

Start an Oral History Tradition during Holidays

Traditions have to start somewhere. Maybe it’s time to start your own family tradition of “listening.” Why not set aside an hour or two every Thanksgiving, Christmas or Memorial Day—whenever your whole family gathers together—to record the stories of your senior family members?

I remember my own grandparents sitting in my parents’ living room as we all relaxed after a huge celebratory dinner. It was a warm scene with family in high spirits—with my grandparents at the center of it all—and the stories would naturally start to flow.

Sometimes our older family members get lost in the bustle of holidays. Instead, take this chance to validate their lives and experiences.

Here are a few tips to get your own oral history tradition started:

Plan ahead.

Let Grandpa or Aunt Betty know your plans ahead of time. You may even prepare a few questions or topics you’d like them to focus on. And don’t be afraid to ask them what they’d like to talk about. Chances are, they’ve just been waiting for someone to ask them about their lives and they’ve got stories they’d love to share.

Tell the whole family your plan.

It’s good to prepare younger kids ahead of time. Let them know there will be a story time and that you’ll want them to listen quietly. Remind them that this is Grandpa’s time to talk. Better yet, ask them what kind of questions they’d like to ask their older family members. Let all family members know you’ll be setting aside an hour or so to listen to a few senior stories.

Oral history traditions can be sparked from photo books.

Gather photos or heirlooms.

It’s always good to have “story sparks” on hand. A photo or family heirloom could be the key to bringing out long-forgotten memories. Collect anything that might trigger memories: newspaper clippings, letters, songs, or items handed down from earlier generations.

Prepare your equipment.

You’ll want to capture these precious stories and preserve this oral history tradition, so make sure your recording equipment is fully charged and working properly. You can set your video camera on a tripod to capture the whole scene or focus directly on the storyteller. Or you may choose to have different family members record in several ways: one person recording audio on an iPhone, another shooting video, while another records the occasion with snapshots.

Keep it short.

Older people can tire quickly and recalling memories can be emotionally exhausting for some people. Keep the storytelling session to an hour or two at most. Make sure they are sitting comfortably and don’t have to compete with a lot of other noise.

Give thanks.

After the session, take time to thank the storytellers for sharing their stories. Once the cameras and recorders are off, take a moment to celebrate this new family tradition.

No pencils required: Tami Koenig gives tips on starting an oral history tradition.

Tami Koenig is Your Story Coach. Her website offers resources, tools and tips to help you preserve memories and share stories. She believes writing stories from your life should be fun and easy.  Like me, she also believes that families would rather have some stories from you, even if they’re not perfect, rather than having no stories at all.

If you’re looking for story inspiration, Tami writes weekly blog posts and monthly writing exercises called “Story Sparks” on her website at www.yourstorycoach.com.  You can also follow Your Story Coach on Twitter @YourStoryCoach, on Facebook and on Pinterest.