Fifteen Tips for
Oral History Interviews

  1. One narrator and one interviewer is the right ratio for a good interview.

  2. The point of the interview is to get your narrator to tell their story. Keep your introduction and remarks brief. Make sure you introduce yourself and your narrator when you first start recording.

  3. Your first question should be to ask the narrator for their permission to record the interview and to use their information for your project. Make sure that they say yes to this right at the beginning of the interview. If possible, get a signed permission form as well.

  4. An hour is the right length for an interview. At the start of the interview, you can thank them for agreeing to this hour long interview as a way to remind you both of the timeframe.

  5. Be prepared. Before the interview, do some research on your topic and your narrator. Have your list of questions ready prior to the interview. Pretest your technology and have a plan in mind for where you and the narrator will sit to maximize their voice and presence. Have the honorarium/ gift with you to thank them at the end.

  6. Ask leading questions. Start your questions with ‘why’, ‘how’, ‘where’. Avoid questions that can be answered just ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

  7. Ask one question at a time.

  8. Keep your questions concise and brief so the narrator can recall what you asked.

  9. Start with easy questions like the narrator’s youth and background.

  10. Be comfortable with a little silence. Silence gives your narrator a chance to think and to add more information. Prompt them with “Can you think of anything else?”

  11. Don’t interrupt. If you think of another question while your narrator is talking, jot it down on your notepad so you remember to ask it later.

  12. If your narrator does go off topic, pull them back. “Before we move on, I’d like to find out...”

  13. Try to establish at every important point in the story where the narrator was or what her role was in the story. Was your narrator at the scene of the story or is what they are telling you something they have heard from others?

  14. Don’t switch the recorder off and on. Make sure you’re in a place where there’s no background noise and both speakers can be heard clearly (you can test it beforehand).

  15. Follow up after the interview by giving the narrator a copy on a USB key. Make sure you follow up so they know how you have used the information in the interview.