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If someone wanted to do this on their own, what advice would you give?
A friend and I are writing a book about this very thing since the answer is rather lengthy.
But if somebody wants to do this for themselves, I would say just follow the steps I use.. The Association of Personal Historians can provide you with a list of interview questions as well as other good information.
I highly recommend that people do it in chronological order. It’s much easier for people young and old, but especially old, to remember things if they’re thinking chronologically.
And then there are helpful hints regarding equipment. Always bring a back up battery, always make sure the camera is working, always have enough tape make sure you don’t run out of time or room.
What are the pros and cons to doing it yourself versus hiring someone like you to do it?
The best analogy I can give is viewing your own home movies versus having a professional come in and videotape a wedding. Or, writing your own book versus having an experienced author come in and write your book.
One of the challenges of somebody doing it for themselves is that they’ve never done it before. They could get through it but the first time you attempt to do anything creative, it’s not as good as it could be. There are many things you would do differently the next time.
The other point to consider is, never having done it before, it will be much more time consuming for you to figure out.
And, I’ve already mentioned that people often feel more comfortable opening up to a stranger than to a member of their family.
But, certainly, anyone could do it. It’s just a matter of whether you have the time and inclination to do it, like many other buying decision.
What have we not asked that is important for people to know about undertaking a project like this?
One of the questions that is asked of me is “When should I get this done?”
I tell them the following true story: On May 16th of 1997 my grandfather died. If you were to tell me at his funeral within in two months my dad would be dead, I would have said you were nuts. My dad was 62 years old and on July 15th of 1997, less than two months later, my dad was gone. He went in for routine bypass surgery and didn’t make it out.
I guess the moral to that story is, just get it done.
Not so much for the negative of if they die because we’re all going to die. But, many of my family tell me I’m most like my great grandfather. I never knew the man. He died when I was two. I can only imagine what it would be like to see the 4 hour video of him telling his life story cause there’s so much I don’t know. So much I don’t know that he knew about his past from his ancestors. It’s lost to me forever.
So, that’s what I would say - just get it done even if you do it yourself, even if you know it’s not going to be as professional as you would like.
Just get it done. One way some of my clients do it if hiring a professional is a financial stretch is to split it among siblings. That helps spread the cost around so it becomes quite affordable.
Who makes the decision to do this most often?
Interesting question…at first I thought my clients would be the interviewees. But that isn’t the case…as I mentioned the older generation is so humble, and they don’t think their stories are special. So it’s more often the children who decide to do it.
Middle aged women really ‘get it’. Because women are often more in touch with their hearts, they understand the value of capturing the stories for children and grandchildren.
It’s a selfless thing really. It’s not a gift for themselves; it’s a gift for grandkids and perhaps great grandkids they will never know.
The most important thing is the selflessness of the act. Mike O'Krent, founder of LifeStories Alive, LLC , specializes in making personal history videos for families that value their heritage. They create family heirlooms in video – digitally mastered records of life stories with personal accounts, photos and mementos of family history. Mike can be contacted at
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