5 Things You must know about Interviewing Relatives to Trace Your Family Tree

Interviewing family members is one of the best ways to research your family tree and trace your family history.Here are a few tips to prepare for a family interview:

1. Prepare a list of questions that you want to ask. Preparing a list of questions ahead of time will give you a better feel of what you’re going to get out of the interview. 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. Some of the best information comes from memories that your interviewee dredges up mid-conversation rather than in response to a question.

2. Bring a tape or video recorder to the interview. This saves your having to frantically scribble notes and lets you relax, develop or display your interest and really get a flavor of what the interviewee is saying. It’s always a good idea to ask if recording your interviewee is okay. 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. Your children, their children, and generations to come can view these when they get older.

3. Help them recall events with pictures and documents. Photos and other pieces of information can sometimes help a person jog their memory of a particular story or event. Sometimes the conversation will hit a wall, and it’s a perfect time to bring another visual aid out. 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. Be respectful to the person you interview If you notice your interviewee is trying to withhold information on a particular event, don’t push the issue. It’s possible that they aren’t in the right frame of mind to talk about the past, or they have to stop and think about the particular moment. You can always arrange another interview at a later date or ask the same questions to other members of the family.Causing an ill feeling is not the point to this project.

5. Show some gratitude. Thank your relatives for their time and patience after the interviews. And if they’re interested in your family history research, keep them up to date with your discoveries. The best way to keep everyone informed is to create your family tree online. A great website for building your family tree and tracing your family history for free is Mundia.com. You will be able to collaborate with other family members about your family tree and any information someone remembers can be added later. They can also upload photos, add documents, or even give a little input to help further some of the stories.

So if you ever though history was as boring as can be, when you trace your family history you might change your mind.