From the Hometown Heritage newspaper archive. The original submitted prose is retained; subheadings were added during archival restoration.
If you’ve decided to take on an oral history project for the first time, you’re probably already obsessing over what questions to ask. After all, your questions must be brilliant. And those NPR folks set such a high standard day after day!
This is also where the journey ends for many folks, who never can quite come up with the perfect set of questions. Truth is, there is no perfect set of questions for any situation. The best answers in an interview often arise from questions neither you nor your interviewee were anticipating.
Some aspects of preserving our heritage are like recipes. Oral histories are more like a dance. We all have personal motivations that color our perspectives, sometimes without realizing it. Preparation is the key to creating an interview atmosphere where both questions and answers flow naturally.
Finding a focus
An oral project is easier to manage if it is based on a topic rather than a person. Life histories can be valuable but are by definition open ended. When your goal is to capture a specific time and place, you increase your chances of creating a satisfying research product.
A focused topic also makes the research process easier so that you can go to the web and the local library without fear of being overwhelmed by information. Pick a few resources and build a one-page timeline based on the most relevant facts you find. This isn’t the end of your research, but it is enough to show the person you are interviewing that you care about the topic and recognize the importance of their role in it.
Preparing with the narrator
In her book, “Recording Oral History,” Valerie Raliegh Yow says that a preliminary interview is an effective way to build rapport with your informant and ensure success of your recording session. Before the day you record, schedule a time to drop in and visit with your informant at their home. Chat briefly about your goals for the project and how it will be recorded. This gives him or her time to get comfortable with the idea and gives you the opportunity to survey a quiet, comfortable place for recording.
The preliminary interview is also an opportunity to get some basic demographic information that will help validate your research and inspire your mind new information to start formulating questions. In the excellent web guide “Step-by-Step Guide to Oral History,” Judith Moyer lists necessities for putting together a backgrounder. These include basic information like the interviewee’s full name, contact information and birth date/place. But you might also request this information regarding their parents, siblings, spouses, and children. Moyer also suggests drafting a timeline for work and professional affiliations.
If it makes you feel more confident, make your timeline and demographic backgrounder into a list of questions to keep with you during the interview. If you’ve established a clear goal for your project, done your research and built rapport before the interview, you probably won’t use it. I’ll have more links and resources to help jump start your interview process at http://www.hometownheritage.org (http://www.hometownheritage.org). Just remember, the greater skill lies in setting the right tone and just listening.
What Remains
The advice to prepare before interviewing still stands, but contemporary oral history practice makes the preparation more expansive. The Oral History Association recommends explaining the purpose and possible future uses of the recording, agreeing on permissions and expectations, preparing open-ended questions, and identifying how the recording and its documentation will be preserved. An interview should remain a collaboration in which the narrator can shape what is important to tell. Oral History Association: Best Practices.
Updated October 2026
Supporting Documents & SourcesView related reporting & supporting materials
| Related article | First Steps for Planning Oral History Projects |
|---|---|
| Related article | Devices for Recording Oral History and Research Interviews |
Article Catalog CardView the manuscript record, provenance & surviving materials
| Artifact | Hometown Heritage newspaper column — original submitted manuscript |
|---|---|
| Institution | Natchitoches Times, Natchitoches, Louisiana |
| Period | 2010-09-16 |
| Role | Jeffery Guin, columnist and author |
| Platforms | Newspaper; original sent email; Voices of the Past archival recovery |
| Collections | Oral history; interview preparation |
| Experiment | Community-facing interpretation and practical cultural-heritage reporting |
| Evidence / engagement | Email submission dated 2010-09-16; regular Thursday publication schedule, print copy not yet checked. |
| What survives | Original submitted email manuscript and message metadata |
| What changed | Period references and historical terminology have been preserved rather than silently updated |
| Trajectory | Newspaper reporting → surviving email → restored Voices archival record |
| Status | Recovered manuscript; draft; print comparison pending |
Critical Questions + Add to the Record
Application here: Good interviews depend on thoughtful questions and careful listening; equipment cannot replace the relationship with the narrator.
Know something that adds context, documentation, correction, or firsthand knowledge to this record? Keep this page open and copy its URL into the contribution form.
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