A family story worth hearing again: how to record and keep it

Begin with one story

A family story can begin with a small object: a photograph of a crowded kitchen, a recipe card or a ticket saved in a drawer. Pulenaz asks a family member if they would like to talk about a photograph and agree on a time. She explains that she wants to keep their voice, asks before recording, and agrees to stop or leave a passage private if they prefer.

Hannah Byrne’s Smithsonian video Oral History at Home: Five Easy Steps is a short introduction to getting started. For more detail, the Smithsonian’s oral history guide covers preparation, permission, recording and saving the interview.

References: Smithsonian Institution · Smithsonian Institution Archives

Make a sound check before the story

In their video walkthrough, Kelsey Brannan of Premiere Gal helps Pulenaz put a phone on a table between the two seats, close enough to hear both voices without asking anyone to lean across it. They turn off a nearby fan, record a short conversation, then play it back through headphones. A cup rattles against the table, so they move it and repeat the check. Both voices are clear enough to follow before the interview begins.

The Smithsonian Institution Archives recommends checking for background noise and testing the recorder to hear both voices before the interview. Its guide also recommends open questions and letting the person speak without interruption.

References: Smithsonian Institution Archives

Pulenaz starts with “What do you remember about this room?” and follows the answer with “What happened next?” When a detail takes the conversation away from the photograph, she lets it. She nods while listening instead of speaking over the answer, and leaves a pause for the person to think.

Keep two memories, not a forced agreement

Later, a second family member remembers the same gathering in a different room. Pulenaz records that account separately, with permission, and asks what each person remembers seeing from where they stood. One recalls the table by a window; the other remembers it near a doorway. She writes down both descriptions and leaves the location unresolved rather than editing either voice into a single certain version.

A follow-up can be gentle: “What else do you remember about that day?” or “Is there a photograph that might help us place it?” The point of keeping the two recordings is that a listener can hear each person tell the story, including the details that matter to them.

Turn recordings into something you can find

On the computer, Pulenaz copies the original recordings into a folder called Family stories and names each file with the date, speaker’s chosen label and subject. She plays each copied file from beginning to end, then saves another copy on a separate drive. She asks the speakers which portions may be shared and records those preferences in a note beside the files.

She makes a one-page index: the first recording, “Kitchen photograph,” has the description of the table near the beginning and the story of preparing food later; the second has the doorway memory. Beside each entry she adds its filename and approximate listening point. Opening the index months later leads her to the full voices, not just a detached transcript or an unlabeled clip.

Pulenaz uses the computer to record a short introduction in her own voice, describing the photograph and when the conversations took place. With the speakers’ permission, she pairs the photograph and a short excerpt from each recording in a simple story file. She saves it beside the originals, closes it and opens it again to hear the introduction and both voices. The original interviews remain intact for anyone who wants the longer account.

The Smithsonian guide likewise recommends identifying files and making copies. Its sample naming pattern includes the interviewee, date and recording number, so a future listener can tell files apart.

References: Smithsonian Institution Archives

For a small next step, choose one photograph and invite someone to describe it. A ten-minute conversation with a clear name and a second copy is already something you can return to.

Sources and attribution

1. Smithsonian Institution

   Oral History at Home — Five Easy StepsPublished May 8, 2020 · Recorded Oct 30, 2026

2. Smithsonian Institution Archives

   How to Do Oral HistoryPublication date not listed · Recorded Oct 30, 2026