Category: Family history

Digital Story Telling: What, How, Listen

Be warned, if your goal is to research how to podcast your short story then typing "digital story telling" in the task bar is going to be somewhat disheartening as its use as a either a marketing tool or a classroom activity takes the lead in search engine results. Advertising, television and gaming are so well established in our 21st century digital age that it's not surprising that the media of choice for digital story telling is overwhelmingly visual. However, with today's baby boomers and their offspring taking up the fastest growing hobby of genealogy (not to mention the impetus derived from the publication of Alex Hayley's "Roots" in the 1970's) there is always room for new "players" in the form of story tellers who want to podcast their short stories.

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How A Story Teller Becomes A Podcaster

Stories are meant to be shared. Balladeers, minstrels, shamans, bards; all shared their culture & history through myths, legends & folk tales. They were the story tellers of their age. In the 21st century they are the equivalent of today's "Google" search engine . If you are have worked through, writing your podcast & making your podcasts your next step as story teller is to find an audience. One way to draw your audience in, is to make a podcast teaser!

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Storytelling Podcasts

When I wrote about the future of my storytelling I did not expect that the process would begin so soon. It all started with my habit of making lists! The list I made (doodled really) of what was required to make a podcast was surprisingly short. Although a little out of my comfort zone my family history research had given me the confidence to use the internet to search for answers. Through the necessity of starting a blog I would describe myself as a "non-geeky" geek in that my knowledge of technology is restricted to a "need to know" basis. If I was going to record my family history in a story format then my "need to know" led me to researching the world of podcasting.

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Writing Your Family History & Interviewing Tips

Albert Einstein's quote sounds a lot better than "Rubbish In, Rubbish Out" but the basic premise is the same. As the family historian it is important to record and preserve family memories. It is also important that future generations have access to the whole gamut of stories from the perspective of all those who have memories to share.

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Be The Story Teller In Your Family

Before the advent of the printing press oral story telling was the only option for the budding narrator/bard/raconteur or, as we say in Australia...."spinner of yarns" However, long before story telling became entertainment it held a powerful place in our evolution. Gilgamesh, the Sumerian epic was recorded on clay tablets in cuneiform script 1,500 years before Homer. Now, I have not read either of these epics but, even without this scholarly exercise, I know that story telling began long before Gilgamesh. Wherever people have lived together there have been stories told.

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Story Teller: Listen To Me!

My last post, Be The Story Teller In Your Family, identified the benefits of telling a story in the presence of your audience. I made a promise to myself (and my readers) that I would take one of my written stories and try to breathe life into it via the medium of audio. I hasten to remind my readers that I did not specify a time frame! In the interim I have been trawling and listening to story tellers from around the world. Motivation was my goal and, of course searching for that one thing that made these story tellers so captivating. In fact there is no one thing in respect to their technique. What they did share was apparent as soon as they lent towards the microphone. They loved telling stories.

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Finding Hidden Stories In Military Records

Anyone engaged in writing family histories will understand the challenges in uncovering supporting documents. But, the bigger challenge we face, as amateur family historians, is finding the hidden stories behind those "facts". I can now declare that finding hidden stories in military records is a whole new ball game! During WW1 my Great Uncle Arthur Ilson moved around, a lot! Different battalions, different countries & various hospitals. I know all this because somehow, in all the chaos and mayhem that surrounded him, someone kept hand written records that have been saved for me to read 100 years later!

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From Military Records To Heritage Scrapbooking

Military historians poor over the records to dissect, analyze and speculate about the places, arsenal and movement of the "troops". When a family historians pours over the same military records they will take on another dimension altogether. The "troops" include your Great-Uncle. The location becomes a place your visit and put your hand on the bark of an old tree. The speculations include the sister who receives payment every month for the efforts of her baby brother. The same military records will become the scaffolding for a story that has been hidden for over 100 years.

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A Meaningful Coincidence

As family historians we can all agree that coincidences happen. Where we may disagree is whether they are meaningful coincidences or meaningless coincidences. Which you choose will depend on whether you believe in cosmic forces, outside the world of pragmatism, or not. If you are firmly in the "random" camp you can admit it's odd and move on with out any further engagement. But,what if you don't move on?

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Genealogy Podcasts

Some of you may set an alarm to remind you to get up from your computer, stretch your back and re focus your eyes. But then again you may be like me and only resurface when your bladder, partner, kids or hunger demand attention. I have found podcasts to be the perfect alternative to alarms that go off just when you're on a roll. It also has the added advantage that my research/blog is still making progress while I have my feet up and a cup of coffee in hand!

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