Great Questions
What was the happiest moment of your life?
What are you most proud of?
What are the most important lessons you've learned in life?
What is your earliest memory?
How would you like to be remembered?
Welcome to StoryCorps’ section devoted to great questions. You can use our Question Generator tool (below) to create a list of questions for your interview. You can also print out and use our great questions list.
The process takes about 15 minutes. Before you begin using the Question Generator, make sure you have either a valid email address or access to a printer on the computer you’re working on now, because you’ll have to print out the list when you’re done or have us email the list to you.
What is the name of the person you will be interviewing?
What is the full name of the person you will be remembering?
By what name did you and your partner refer to him or her?
Think about two or three key stories you'd like to capture in your interview. Don't worry about preserving facts, such as names and dates; you can get those details down on paper later. Instead, use the session to capture stories and memories. In our experience, questions about feelings and emotions spark great conversations.
You should start your interview with an ID question: "Can you tell me your name, age, the date, and where we are?"
There are also a few questions that we've found are always great to include in interviews. Please check any that you would like to add to your list. You will be given the opportunity to add questions of your own at the end.
Great Questions
Who was the most important person in your life? Can you tell me about him or her?
What was the happiest moment of your life? The saddest?
Who has been the biggest influence on your life? What lessons did they teach you?
Who has been the kindest to you in your life?
What are the most important lessons you've learned in life?
What is your earliest memory?
What is your favorite memory of me?
If you could hold on to one memory from your life for eternity, what would that be?
If this was to be our very last conversation, what words of wisdom would you want to pass on to me? (or more simply: Are there any words of wisdom you'd like to pass along to me? )
Have you had any experiences or moments in your life that you might consider sacred?
What are you proudest of in your life?
When in life have you felt most alone?
What are your hopes and dreams for what the future holds for me? For my children?
How has your life been different than what you'd imagined?
How would you like to be remembered?
Do you have any regrets?
What does your future hold?
Is there anything that you've never told me but want to tell me now?
Is there something about me that you've always wanted to know but have never asked?
Which best describes your relationship to the person you are interviewing? (This will help us suggest additional questions.)
Grandparent
Parent
Spouse/Partner
Sibling
Friend
Older Community Member
Great questions for Grandparents
Where did you grow up?
What was your childhood like?
Who were your favorite relatives?
Do you remember any of the stories they used to tell you?
How did you and grandma/grandpa meet?
When did you know that she/he was the one?
What was my mom/dad like growing up?
What is your favorite memory of my mom/dad?
Do you remember any songs that you used to sing to her/him? Can you sing them now?
Was she/he well-behaved?
What is the worst thing she/he ever did?
What were your parents like?
What were your grandparents like?
How far back can you trace our family tree?
What have you learned in life?
Do you have any regrets?
How would you like to be remembered?
Are you proud of me?
What's it like getting old?
Great questions for Parents
Do remember what was going through your head when you first saw me?
How did you choose my name?
What was I like as a baby? As a young child?
Do you remember any of the songs you used to sing to me? Can you sing them now?
What were my siblings like?
What is your favorite memory of each of my siblings?
What were the hardest moments you had when I was growing up?
If you could do everything again, would you raise me differently?
What advice would you give me about raising my own kids?
What are your dreams for me?
How did you meet mom/dad?
What is your favorite memory of mom/dad?
What were your parents like?
What were your grandparents like?
How far back can you trace our family tree?
Are you proud of me?
Great questions for Spouse/Partners
How did we meet?
Do remember what was going through your head when you first saw me?
What was your first impression of me?
What was the happiest moment for you in our relationship?
What has been the most difficult time for us?
What is your first memory of our child?
What is your happiest memory as a family?
What are the lessons have you learned from our relationship?
What are some of the lessons you have learned from raising our children?
What do you think makes for a successful relationship?
What are your dreams for us?
What do you love most about me?
Are there ways you wish I would change?
What are your thoughts/feelings about what our lives will be like when one of us dies?
Great questions for Siblings
What is your first memory of me?
What is your least favorite memory of me?
How would you describe our relationship?
Is there something that you've always wanted to tell me but haven't?
Is there something that you've always wanted to ask me but haven't?
Great questions for Friends
What is your first memory of me?
Was there a time when you didn't like me?
What makes us such good friends?
How would you describe me? How would you describe yourself?
Where will we be in 10 years? 20 years?
Do you think we'll ever lose touch with each other?
Is there anything that you've always wanted to tell me but haven't?
Great questions for Older Community Members
How long have you lived in _____?
How has it changed over those years?
What was it like when you grew up here/first moved here?
What do you miss most about the way it used to be?
Who are some of the great characters from here?
Do you remember any great stories or legends about our town?
More topics to choose from (select any that apply):
Raising Children
Working
Religion
Love and Relationships
School
Growing Up
Marriage
Serious Illness
Family Heritage
War
Great questions about Raising Children
When did you first find out that you'd be a parent? How did you feel?
Can you describe the moment when you saw your child for the first time?
How has being a parent changed you?
What are your dreams for your children?
Do you remember when your last child left home for good?
Do you have any favorite stories about your kids?
Great questions about Working
What do you do for a living?
Tell me about how you got into your line of work.
Do you like your job?
What did you think you were going to be when you grew up?
What did you want to be when you grew up?
What lessons has your work life taught you?
If you could do anything now, what would you do? Why?
Do you plan on retiring? If so, when? How do you feel about it?
Do you have any favorite stories from your work life?
What do you do for a living?
Great questions about Religion
Can you tell me about your religious beliefs/spiritual beliefs?
What is your religion?
Have you experienced any miracles?
What was the most profound spiritual moment of your life?
Do you believe in the afterlife? What do you think it will be like?
When you meet God, what do you want to say to Him?
Great questions about Love and Relationships
Do you have a love of your life?
When did you first fall in love?
Can you tell me about your first kiss?
What was your first serious relationship?
Do you believe in love at first sight?
Do you ever think about previous lovers?
What lessons have you learned from your relationships?
Great questions about School
Did you enjoy school?
What kind of student were you?
What would you do for fun?
How would your classmates remember you?
Are you still friends with anyone from that time in your life?
What are your best memories of grade school/high school/college/graduate school? Worst memories?
Was there a teacher or teachers who had a particularly strong influence of your life? Tell me about them.
Do you have any favorite stories from school?
Great questions about Growing Up
When and where were you born?
Where did you grow up?
What was it like?
Who were your parents?
What were your parents like?
How was your relationship with your parents?
Did you get into trouble? What was the worst thing you did?
Do you have any siblings? What were they like growing up?
What did you look like?
How would you describe yourself as a child? Were you happy?
What is your best memory of childhood? Worst?
Did you have a nickname? How did you get it?
Who were your best friends? What were they like?
How would you describe a perfect day when you were young?
What did you think your life would be like when you were older?
Do you have any favorite stories from your childhood?
Great questions about Marriage
How did you meet your husband/wife?
How did you know he/she was "the one"?
How did you propose?
What were the best times? The most difficult times?
Did you ever think of getting divorced?
Did you ever get divorced? Can you tell me about it?
What advice do you have for young couples?
Do you have any favorite stories from your marriage or about your husband/wife?
Great questions about Serious Illness
Do you think about dying?
Can you tell me about your illness?
Are you scared?
How do you imagine your death?
Do you believe in an after-life?
Do you regret anything?
Do you look at your life differently now than before you were diagnosed?
Do you have any last wishes?
If you were to give advice to me or my children, or even children to come in our family, what would it be?
What have you learned from life? The most important things?
Has this illness changed you? What have you learned?
How do you want to be remembered?
Great questions about Family Heritage
What is your ethnic background?
Where is your mom's family from? Where is your dad's family from?
Have you ever been there? What was that experience like?
What traditions have been passed down in your family?
Who were your favorite relatives?
Do you remember any of the stories they used to tell you?
What are the classic family stories? Jokes? Songs?
Great questions about War
Were you in the military?
Did you go to war? What was it like?
How did war change you?
During your service, can you recall times when you were afraid?
What are your strongest memories from your time in the military?
What lessons did you learn from this time in your life?
Great questions for remembering a loved one:
What was your relationship to #NAME#?
Tell me about #NAME#
What is your first memory of #NAME#?
What is your best memory of #NAME#?
What is your most vivid memory of #NAME#?
What did #NAME# mean to you?
Are you comfortable/can you talk about #NAME#'s death? How did #NAME# die?
What has been the hardest thing about losing #NAME#?
What would you ask #NAME# if #NAME# were here today?
What do you miss most about #NAME#?
How do you think #NAME# would want to be remembered?
Can you talk about the biggest obstacles #NAME# overcame in life?
Was there anything you disagreed about, fought over, or experienced some conflict around?
What about #NAME# makes you smile?
What was your relationship like?
What did #NAME# look like?
Did you have any favorite jokes #NAME# used to tell?
Do you have any stories you want to share about #NAME#?
What were #NAME#'s hopes and dreams for the future?
Is there something about #NAME# that you think no one else knows?
How are you different now than you were before you lost #NAME#?
What is the image of #NAME# that persists?
Do you have any traditions to honor #NAME#?
What has helped you the most in your grief?
What are the hardest times?
If you could talk to #NAME# right now, what would you want to say?
Would you like to add some questions of your own?
Turn the tables: Sometimes at the end of interviews we’ve found that it’s great to turn the tables and give you a chance to tell the person you’re interviewing what they've meant to you. If you’d like to be reminded to talk about this at the end of your interview, check the box here »
Review Your Questions
Thank you for creating a question list for the National Day of Listening. Your questions are below:
The questions you have selected are below. You may rearrage the questions by clicking and dragging, or delete them by clicking the "X" in the corner of the box.
Please print this question list and bring it with you to your interview. For your privacy, we do not store question lists and will not have a copy when you arrive at the StoryBooth.
ID Question: "Can you tell me your name, age, the date, and where we are?"
Would you like to add any more questions?
