She played a number of tapes containing original oral histories as examples. She gave some guidelines to follow such as preparing a list of topics in advance. It might help to outline a person's life beforehand, to sketch a framework so you can see the information you are missing and form questions you need to ask.
She gave tips like having a quiet place to tape, to know your equipment, to ask open-ended questions, to get correct spelling of names. One suggestion was to videotape a person looking through a family album and identifying people and explaining location and dates. Another was to have an interested third party, like a grandchild ask questions.
You need to have concern for sensitive subjects, to allow them to go at their own pace. Remember that you are there to guide the process.
In the end you should feel very good to know that you have preserved a very important piece of history.
Reported by Chris Visconti