Over the last few weeks, I’ve had the privilege of being asked to videotape two memorial services. I’m honored that people would entrust to me an event that by its nature is full of emotion, and it got me to thinking about the power of “life story” videos.

Every person or family has a story to tell and there’s no better time like the present to tell it. Tomorrow isn’t promised to any of us and I would encourage anyone who wants to tell his or her story to “just do it.” This could be a session as short as an hour, or could be a multi-session heritage documentary, but if you have a story to be told, please allow us to help you bring it to life!

One question might be: “I wouldn’t know where to start….” Here is a list of thought starters that might help.

• What was the happiest moment of your life? The saddest?
• Who was the most important person in your life? Can you tell me about him or her?
• Who has been the biggest influence on your life? What lessons did that person teach you?
• Who has been the kindest to you in your life?
• What are the most important lessons you’ve learned in life?
• Are there any words of wisdom you’d like to pass along?
• What are you proudest of in your life?
• When in life have you felt most alone?
• 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 something that you’ve always wanted to know but never asked?

These are just a few questions to get going…from here, the conversation could go anywhere. And one of the cool things is that the interview style used is designed to get the subject comfortable with the camera, because they’re not looking at it! This is a casual style and when done properly, the interviewee can actually lose awareness that the camera is there. Yes, there will probably be lights and a microphone setup, but it’s usually the camera that makes a subject nervous.

Arguably, one of the best life stories I’ve ever read is Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie, which was adapted into a motion picture with the same name. “Morrie” was played by the incomparable Jack Lemmon, and was a riveting story about one of Mitch’s college professors. Morrie had a profound impact on Mitch’s life and when the time comes to tell your story, we’d love to help you tell it with the same degree of dignity and respect as Mitch did for Morrie!