Teach Your Children Well
The lyrics of Graham Nash come to mind as I ask my LifeStories Alive interviewees about the valuable lessons they'd like to teach their children. I disagree with Nash's last stanza, "Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry, So just look at them and sigh, and know they love you." http://tinyurl.com/878l4bl. Yes, tears will sometimes flow as we ask our children (or our parents), "Why?", but with great risk comes great reward. The answers to what we want to teach our children are so valuable, the questions should, and must, be asked. I have seen the rewards of asking...and they are priceless. The challenge, however, is not knowing how to ask those questions...questions of lessons learned that should be passed down to future generations. My best advice is to first realize the risk of not asking the questions, and , thus, not allowing the lessons to be learned. When we think of mistakes that we've made because we were never taught to avoid them, we begin to realize our multi-generational responsibility. Thinking of this puts us in the frame of mind to ask those questions.
As mentioned in previous blog posts, setting the right environment, or a safe place, for stories to be shared is very important. If possible, ask the questions where you will have minimal chances of interruption. It is horrible to have someone sharing thoughts from their hearts only to have them stopped mid-stream by an interruption. Once someone is "in the zone" of sharing words of wisdom, make it easy to stay in "the zone".
It is also essential to practice great listening skills while asking these questions. A good, long pause after you think the interviewee has finished with their thought will prevent you from missing a pearl of wisdom that usually follows a long pause of thought. Practice this in your regular, day-to-day conversation to fine-tune this skill. In every LifeStory interview I conduct, I find moments when I am glad I waited that extra second before I said something. This video clip is a perfect example http://tinyurl.com/8xhbzce . Had I interrupted his emotion by saying something, I never would have heard, "I miss my Dad". While this might not seem like a direct lesson taught to a child, his son sure learned a lot about his father from this clip!
As to what questions to ask so great lessons can be passed along, I suggest using empathy while formulating your questions to ask. For instance, if you are formulating a question regarding parenting skills, ask yourself, "What question should someone ask me if I wanted to pass along what I think a good parent should do?" This is usually a good place to start when thinking about what to ask your interviewee. It will also aid the interviewee in feeling that you posses two of the most important attributes in conversation: sincere interest and genuine curiosity.
So, with all due respect, Graham Nash, I think the lyrics should read, "Go ahead and ask them why, if they told you, all will cry, So just look at them and sigh, and know they love you."