First Dates, First Kisses, and Other LifeStory Questions Covering the Early Teen Years
One of my favorite periods of time to cover during a LifeStory interview is the early teen years. I use empathy as much as possible when formulating the questions I will ask that cover this exciting, hormone-surging period of people's lives. By that, I mean that I ask myself, "What were the things that I was thinking during those years of my life? What was going on with my friends and family during my early teen years?" After answering this, I then ask myself, "If someone were interviewing me, what questions should they ask me to really uncover the happenings and thoughts of my teen years?" By formulating questions this way, you will come across to the people you interview as having two of the most important traits of a good interviewer: sincere interest and genuine curiosity**. You cannot cover the early teen years without asking about first dates and first kisses. While many of us have a smile on our faces as we anticipate an answer, be careful. The experience for your interviewee might not have been a positive one (but in most cases it was). I usually approach the subject by asking, "It is usually during the early teen years that people start dating. Please tell us, when was your first date and who was the lucky person?"
Their answer will naturally lead to the follow-up questions of, "Where did you go?", "Why did you go there?" and "Was that where you got your first kiss?" As you can imagine, the answers can be all over the place, but mostly invoke smiles, reflection, and the interviewee leaving the present place of the interview and wondering in their minds back to that time and place. You'll be able to see this if you pay close attention to their eyes and facial expression. This is exactly what you want. If that is where they go in their mind, then the answers to the follow-up questions will be knee-jerk and totally honest.
A good sample of this is in the following clip from a LifeStory I conducted in Wimberley, TX this year. This charming lady from Waco, TX told the most wonderful stories. While I encourage you as an interviewer to hold back your audible responses during the interview (whether happy or sad), I couldn't hold my laughter back as she told her story of how a boy, quite literally, stole a kiss from her http://vimeo.com/31403390.
Practice asking those questions about first dates and first kisses with friends in conversation. But be prepared for a lot of fun responses!
** Having "sincere interest and genuine curiosity" is an important mindset and feeling in any form of communication. I learned and practiced this skill from a great trainer, Joe Zente of Z-three in Austin, Texas http://www.zthree.com/. If you are interested in learning more about it, give Joe a call. He helped make me a better communicator and a better business person.