How to record your grandparents’ life stories (with 20 interview questions)
Updated November 2, 2026 · 7 min read
Why record now
Most families have stories that are written nowhere: how your parents met, where the family name comes from, who the people in the old photo are, what the house they grew up in looked like. They live in the memory of the people who lived them, and once those people are gone you can no longer ask.
The good news is that you need no equipment, no experience and not much time. One half-hour conversation with a phone recording is already worth more than every big plan that gets postponed to next year.
How to prepare a good conversation
- Choose a calm time and place, preferably their home, not the middle of a noisy family meal.
- Tell them why you are doing it and what will happen with what is recorded, and ask permission to record.
- Plan short sessions, half an hour to an hour, with one subject at a time. Several small sessions beat one long one.
- Bring old photos or an object from the house. A photo brings back memories a question cannot.
- Do not correct or argue about details. You can check later, and now what matters is that the story flows.
20 interview questions, by stage of life
You can ask everything in a row or choose one stage at a time. The questions are worded to fit a grandfather as well as a grandmother.
Childhood
- Where were you born, and what did the house you grew up in look like?
- What do you remember most from childhood: a game, a smell or a taste?
- What did an ordinary day look like: what did you eat, and what did you do after school?
- Who were your parents, and what do you remember most about them?
Youth
- What was school like, and which teacher do you remember?
- Who was your best friend, and what did you do together?
- What did you dream of becoming when you were young?
- What decision, made young, changed your path?
Love and family
- How did you and your partner meet?
- What was the wedding like?
- What do you remember from the day your first child was born?
- Which family tradition is important to you to continue?
Work and life
- What was your first job, and what did you learn from it?
- What are you most proud of?
- What was the hardest moment, and how did you get through it?
- Which place in the world did you love to be in most?
Values and advice
- What have you learned about life that you would like your grandchildren to know?
- What advice would you give yourself at twenty?
- What do you wish for the family?
- Is there a story you never told and want to tell now?
How to listen and ask follow-ups
The best question is usually the follow-up. After every answer you can ask:
- And what happened next?
- How did you feel then?
- Who else was there?
- Can you describe what it looked like?
- What was it called back then?
And if there is silence, wait. Sometimes what is said after a few seconds is the most important part.
How to keep what was said
Record audio with your phone, jot down notes, and photograph the pictures that were shown. What matters is to keep everything in one place and to give each file a clear name, such as the person and the subject. A recording with no name in a folder of thousands of files never finds its way to the grandchildren.
In 1family.Home life stories every person in the tree has a guided interview: one question at a time on a full screen, with 43 starter questions in categories such as childhood, love and wedding, work and values, plus your own questions. You can answer in writing, with a photo or a voice recording, and it saves automatically. From all the answers you can print a personal book for each person and a book for the whole family.
What to do with the stories afterwards
- Attach them to the person’s card in the family tree, so the story sits next to the photo and the dates
- Print a personal book for a birthday or a holiday, a book for the whole family, or save it as a PDF
- On birthdays and memorial days the notification mentions how many stories were saved about that person, and tapping it opens their stories
- Continue with lighter talks using the question games for the whole family
If you do not have a tree yet, start with the guide how to build a family tree together.
Frequently asked questions
- How long does an interview take?
- Half an hour to an hour in one sitting, on one subject. Several short sessions beat one long one.
- What if a grandparent does not like to talk about the past?
- Do not push. Start from a photo, a recipe or an object from the house and ask about it. The stories come later, and any question can be skipped.
- Do I need to ask permission to record?
- Yes, always. Explain why you are recording, what will happen with the recording and who will be able to hear it, and start only after the person agrees.
- How do I record the stories of someone who lives far away?
- In a phone or video call, which you can record with permission. Afterwards write what was said in the person’s card.
- Where do I keep the recordings and answers?
- In one place the family controls. In 1family.Home the answers, photos and recordings are kept in the person’s card in the family’s private storage, and only people with permission can see them.
In one sentence
You need no equipment: one question, careful listening and a record button. What is kept now will last for generations.
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