Storycorps is coming to town!

Sometimes I am lucky enough to catch the StoryCorps segment on NPR (National Public Radio) as I drive to work on Friday mornings. If you are not familiar with the StoryCorps project, the mission of the project is to:



I often find myself in tears, either of joy or sadness, by these thoughtful stories of individual struggles and insights as shared by the people who experience them. After listening to one of these stories, I can't help but wonder what sort of story I would share if I were in that recording booth. I heard recently that the StoryCorps booth is coming to a nearby town. I don't plan on going to the booth, but I was excited all the same because I can count on more Friday morning radio stories.

You don't need a StoryCorps booth to record the stories of your loved ones. Grab a tape recorder or download an app onto your phone and just do it.

Here are a few suggestions from the maven :

• Ask open-ended questions to to get your storyteller to open up. In general, avoid questions that solicit only a yes or no answer. 
• If you want to interject, limit your input to questions concerning details and feelings about their experience(s). 
• If you want your guest to talk about a particular experience or period in time, do some research of your own first so that you can more easily ask follow-up questions. 
• Don't interrupt your storyteller with your own stories, save those for a recording of your own. This is your guest's time to open up and share.