100 life story interview questions
for a parent or grandparent

🎙️

Record the conversation

Ask permission to record on your phone. Their voice telling the story is worth more than any notes you take.

🎯

Ask one question at a time

Don't fire through a list. Ask one question, listen fully, follow the tangents — the best stories live in the digressions.

🤐

Be comfortable with silence

Let pauses sit. Older people sometimes take a moment to find a memory. Silence is not awkward — it's where the stories come from.

🔄

Come back over multiple sessions

You don't need to cover everything at once. Short sessions of 30–45 minutes work better than marathon interviews.

📸

Bring old photos

Photos are powerful memory triggers. Show them an old photo and ask what was happening at the time.

✍️

Write down the answers afterwards

Even if you recorded, write key stories in your own words while they're fresh. Then you have both.