Getting Started with Oral History

While you may craft some questions in advance, remember that flexibility is your friend, and your narrator may take your interview in some interesting directions. Using your interview outline as a road map, compose questions on the spot; this allows you to adapt your questions to the narrator’s experience and flow of the interview.

Ask open-ended questions

• Tell me about…
• Why…? Why not…? How did…?

Probe for details

• Explain…
• Describe…
• What was it like when…?
• Can you tell me more about…?
• How often did…?
• Can you share examples of…?

Avoid loaded and leading questions

Be mindful of your biases. Don’t suggest that you’ve already answered the question in your head.

Instead of: Wasn’t Jamaica Plain a great place to grow up?

Try: Tell me how you felt about the place where you grew up.

Instead of: Your family moved away because of rent hikes, right?

Try: Why did your family move away?

Instead of: I assume your family kept kosher. What was that like?

Try: Can you tell me about the role of religion in your family life?

Restate or summarize

• You said… Tell me more about that. 
• Let me say that back to you and make sure I understand. You said… Is that right?

Ask for definitions and clarifications

• Tell me what… means.
• What is…?
• I know what… is, but future researchers might not. Can you please tell me what it was and how it was used?

Follow up

• What else…? Who else…? What other reasons…?

Flip things around

• Some people say… What do you think about that?

Adapted from Baylor University Institute for Oral History, “Composing questions,” Introduction to Oral History Manual, 2012.

Consider your setting - Choose a quiet location and properly position your recording devices. Sit about 4 feet away from the narrator, with the recording device on a flat surface in the middle, angled toward the narrator.
Frame your interview - Start your recording with a brief announcement that states the date and location of the interview, names of the interviewer and narrator, and general topic of the interview.

Example: “Today is Friday, July 31, 2022, and this is the start of an interview with Jo March at her home in Concord, Massachusetts. My name is Theodore Laurence and I’ll be the interviewer. Today we’ll mainly be talking about Ms. Marsh’s recollection of her time running a school.”

Throughout the interview

• Consider using memory cues during your interview. These can be items like photographs, posters, heirlooms, scrapbooks, and newspaper clippings that could spark recollections for the narrator.

• Ask open-ended questions that require more of an answer than a simple “yes” or “no.” See the Composing Questions tab for more tips on crafting thoughtful questions.

• Ask one question at a time. Give the narrator time and space to answer. You can (and should!) ask follow-up questions to dig deeper or gain clarity.

• Start with questions that are not controversial or difficult. If you have sensitive questions, save them until you and your narrator have settled into the interview and feel comfortable.

TIP: If you are considering asking sensitive or difficult questions, review these with the narrator during the pre-interview to ensure that they feel comfortable with the direction of the interview. Respect their needs; if they do not want to discuss a topic, do not force it.

• When the narrator describes important events, ask follow-up questions to establish where they were and what they were doing at the time. This helps to make clear what is eye-witness information and what is based upon the reports of others.

• Make the recording as complete and accurate a record of the interview as you can. If you are using only an audio recorder, remember that it has no visual aspect. If the narrator makes a significant gesture, follow up with a question that allows them to describe that gesture and its meaning.

Example: The narrator says, “The fish was this big,” and holds their hands about two feet apart. The interviewer follows up: “So the fish was about two feet long?”

• If the narrator strays into subjects that are not pertinent to your project, gently guide them back to the topic with your next question. But be flexible! You may learn something of value through a story that may at first feel tangential.

• Interviewers should center the interview around narrator and their life, and avoid making it about themselves. Remember: good interviewers don’t shine; their interviews do!

It’s okay to feel awkward

• While an oral history interview can feel conversational, it’s not a typical chat; all questions are aimed at the narrator. This interview structure can take some getting used to for all involved.

TIP: Reviewing questions or topics of investigation during the pre-interview can help you and the narrator prepare.

• Periods of silence are natural; don’t let them fluster you. Give your narrator time to fully answer one question before you move on to the next. Take a breath and use the opportunity to center yourself or write some notes.

• Don’t worry if you stumble over some of your questions. You are not perfect and neither is your narrator! Some false starts here and there may even help put your narrator at ease.

Respect the narrator

• The narrator is sharing the gift of their time and their memories, so make sure they feel heard and honored. Use positive body language and give them your full attention during the interview.

• Don’t interrupt the narrator. If you think of a new and exciting question, need clarification, want to know how to spell something, etc., write it down so you remember to raise it when appropriate.

• Don’t argue with the narrator. If they make a statement that you believe to be untrue, try to gather more information and fact check later.

Wrapping up the interview

• End the interview at a reasonable time. Sharing memories can involve a great deal of emotional labor; you don’t want to fatigue your narrator or yourself. For most people, 60 to 90 minutes is plenty of time.

• Include a brief ending announcement at the end of the interview.

Example: “This is the end of the July 31, 2020 interview with Jo March. The interviewer was Theodore Laurence.”

• Make sure that the narrator has signed any necessary release forms before you part ways.

• End with gratitude. Thank your narrator for sharing their time and their memories with you.

Adapted from Baylor University Institute for Oral History, “Getting the Story,” Introduction to Oral History Manual, 2012; and Boston Research Center, Oral History Toolkit, 2020. 

• If your narrator isn’t too fatigued, ask them to verify the spellings of recurring names (people, places, etc.) of which you are uncertain. You can also reach out later, but it’s often easier to refine these details when the interview is still fresh in everyone’s memory.

• If interviewing in the narrator’s home, be sure to leave their space as it was when you arrived.

• Make sure that your narrator has signed the release form, if they haven’t done so already.

• Save the recording in more than one location.

  • Remember the concept of LOCKSS: Lots Of Copies Keep Stuff Safe. Keep multiple copies of your files on different storage media to ensure that your files are preserved.

  • Transfer the unedited, original audio recordings from the recording device to a computer hard drive as soon as possible after the interview. Check to make sure that the hard drive has sufficient memory for file storage. 

  • Consider saving another copy via a cloud-based service such as DropBox or Google Drive and/or an external hard drive. 

• Review the recording, preferably the same day. 

  • Are there glitches, redactions, moments in need of clarification?

• Send the narrator a thank-you note or email for sharing their time and memories with you.

• Label your recordings, notes, forms, and any other materials legibly and consistently; this will help you manage these materials in the long term. 

• Sometimes, sharing or hearing memories can cause feelings of discomfort or pain for narrators or interviewers participating in an oral history project. Please remember to take care of yourself throughout this process. If you or someone you know could benefit from some professional support, please consider the options in the Mental Health Resources section (under Learn More).

Adapted from Boston Research Center, Oral History Toolkit, 2020.