Before doing your interview, select a quiet area, away from telephones, TV, radio and other distractions. Nothing should underlie the audio as you may wish to lay down an audio track to accompany the voice track. Music or sound effects would punctuate your interview. Other family members may be present if desired as they may helpful with reactions, comments and suggestions. You should not use all our suggested questions- use them as a general guide to more specific questions of your own. Also, follow up on interesting responses as they will no doubt lead to a more intimate related memory from your subject. To get more on a topic you may wish to rephrase your question. It could be a long process and you may wish to take frequent breaks, even expand the process over a few days. Do not stop recording during emotional revelations as this adds to intimacy of the moment. Even if the interviewee wants to stop recording, pretend to stop, but let the process continue as you will probably get into very rewarding results. (Remember, you can always edit later).
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