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A story capturer’s guide

A story capturer’s guide.

Chapter 1: What is Walk The Earth?

Chapter 2: What do you need to be a storycapturer?

Chapter 3: What makes a good story?

Chapter 4: How to use the equipment

Chapter 5: How to structure your conversations

Chapter 6: How to ask the right kinds of questions

Chapter 7: Other interviewing techniques.

Chapter 8: What to expect when visiting a care home.

Chapter 9: Tips of reassurance.

Walk The Earth...

Chapter 10: What to do if things go wrong

Chapter 11: Legal bits and bobs

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Chapter 1: What is Walk The Earth?

Walk the Earth is an intergenerational project, where carers andvolunteers learn how to be story-capturers to capture people’sperspectives on life, at the end of their life using sound and audio. With the intention of then matching people’s perspectives (the great bits and the bits we wished we had done differently) with other generationsdealing with similar situations.

The project will culminate in an online space and also in a physicalexhibition in 2012.

We aim to capture 100 stories over the next 2 months, that will result in an exhibition and awebsite that will create a sound library of shared wisdom.

Walk The Earth...

Chapter 2: What do you need to be a storycapturer?

We are looking for quite a special kind of person to be a story capturer. You need to have a curious mind and be a natural inquisitor as you will be exploring people’s memories. You will also need to be aligned with our ethos that people carry endless amounts of information and wisdom that is of high value within society.

Chapter 3: What makes a good story?

We think the great �ilms are the ones with the hooks and the feelings and the context.

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Built-in microphone

Microphone jack

Earphone jack

Hold switch

STOP buttonUSB terminalPLAY button

REWIND button

FOLDER/INDEX button

Battery cover

Display (LCD) panel

Record/Play indicator light

REC (record) button

+ buttonFAST FORWARD button

- button

DISPLAY/MENU buttonERASE button

Chapter 4: How to use the equipment

The Olympus VN-1100PC is a simple to use voice recorder.

Walk The Earth...

Identi�ication of parts

To switch the recorder “on” press down the hold key positioned on the side of the device. (The date and time will be displayed on the LCD screen.)

Recording mode

How to record a conversation

The recorder can record conversations in the following modes XHQ(extra high quality), HQ (high quality), LP (long play), SP (standard play).

To set the recorder to the appropriate level, press down the DISP/MENU button and use the arrow keys to select the appropriate setting.

The setting you have selected will now be displayed on the LCD screen.

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Audio �iles can be stored in either folder A, B or C.

To select a folder, switch the FOLDER/INDEX button “on”.

To change the folder, again select the FOLDER/INDEX button. The circled letter on the LCD dial will change.

To record a conversation press the record button (REC). A red light will appear and start to �lash below the LCD panel.

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To pause a recording press the REC button. The word ‘PAUSE’ will now �lash on the LCD screen.

To �inish a recording press the STOP button. The red light will now stop �lashing. (The counter showing the number of recordings will now change to show the recording has been stored succesfully.

Walk The Earth...

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How to playback a recording (using your digital voice recorder)

Select the PLAY button and use the <> arrow keys to select a recording.

The volume level can be adjusted by selecting the up and down arrow keys.

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How to erase a conversation

To ERASE a conversation display the recording to be deleted on the LCD screen.

Press the ERASE key.

The number of the recording will �lash on the screen and the words YES and NO will be displayed.

To delete a recording move the <> arrows to highlight the word YES.

Now press the ERASE key again to delete the selected �ile.

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Chapter 5: How to structure your conversations

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Start by introducing yourself to the person, and sharing the project with them. Make sure that they understand clearly what we are doing.

Start by having a conversation with the resident in a relaxed andinformal way - with no expectation of getting anywhere, just enough for you to get a good understanding of their life.

You might start with questions such as: Can you tell me a bit about yourself?

Once you have a good understanding of the general context and view of someone’s life, you should then introduce the recorder and ask: ‘Is it ok if I press record on the machine now as I want to make sure Icapture the answer to the next few questions I have through audio?’

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Press record and ask Big Question 1:‘What one memory or moment is for you one of the most memorable, a time in your life where you feel happy, and giving it your all...?’

After they answer for example. ‘Giving birth to my �irst child’ Ask; what was it about that experience that was most important for you, and why is it important to you now?’

Then ask Big Question 2:‘If you look throughout your life right now, and imagine what one thing you wished you had done slightly differently? Or given more time, what would you still like to do or explore?’

After they answer for example. ‘I wish I had allowed myself to fall in love sooner.’ Ask; what did you learn from that experience that was most important for you, and why is it important to you now?’

Complete the conversation with saying thank you to the person for sharing their stories, and leave them a card to follow up in a month or so where they will be able to access the stories again in the future.

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Chapter 6: How to ask the right kinds of questions

An open-ended question, which cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or “no”, or with a speci�ic piece of information, and which give the personanswering the question scope to give the information that seems to them to be appropriate. Open-ended questions are sometimes phrased as a statement which requires a response.

Examples of open-ended questions:

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Tell me about your relationship with your supervisor.

How do you see your future?

Tell me about the children in this photograph.

What is the purpose of government?

Why did you choose that answer? (wikipedia)

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Asking Open Questions:

The best thing to do, is follow the trail that they take you on and ask open questions on the areas they focus on.For example, ‘I became head of the football team and I toured the whole of the UK for 5 years as the best striker in our football club. I loved it.’

Ask things like...

Then what happened?

How did it feel to be part of the football team?

How did you get involved in it?

What did you learn from being in it?

What was your experience of being in the team?

What was it like to be part of a team?

What do you mean when you say you loved it?

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Chapter 7: Other interviewing techniques.

Preparing Yourself

Walk The Earth...

Write down your questions beforehand.

Make sure that your recorder batteries are fully charged.

Bring everything you need, don’t forget a pen for the consent forms!

Work on your �low, try to keep the conversation moving.

Be persistant, yet patient; don’t worry if you have to repeat a question.

Don’t worry about awkward silences, remember to give theparticipant plenty of time and space to fully answer the questions.

After you have done the interview, you will need to ask yourparticipant to sign the consent form.

Mirror the body language of your participant to help them feelcomfortable.

When you turn the audio equipment on, make sure you state your name, the name of your story teller, the date and where you are.

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Preparing Your Environment

Don’t be afraid to move to a quieter area of the room for best sound. Also try and get your participant to sit alone so you can spend quality time with each person. Ensure the staff in the room are aware you are recording so they can be aware of avoiding interrupting you. Make sure you introduce yourself to all staff present.

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Chapter 8: What to expect when visiting a care home.

Remember that the care facility is home to the older adults and you should respect their privacy and living space as much as possible. When you’re entering a room, even if the door is open, knock �irst.

Don’t be in a hurry. Most residents have time on their hands and your visit will probably seem short no matter how long you stay.

Don’t feel obligated to solve the personal problems of a resident. Justbeing there to listen and empathize is important.

At the end of each conversation, before you move on to visit with the next person, thank the resident for spending time with you. You can shake their hand or offer to give them a hug. If a person doesn’t want you to leave, try to get them involved in another activity, take them to be with a group of people, turn on the television, or place something in their hands like a small memento that they can hold on to.

Keep promises. Don’t promise to return if you aren’t able to come back. Never say anything unless you mean it.

Think a moment about what the quality of your life would be if no one ever touched you except to bathe or toilet you. Touching tells us that we are accepted, human and desirable. Once in the room, make some form of physical contact unless it is absolutely inappropriate.

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Most nursing homes have speci�ied visiting hours. Usually you may visit anytime during a 10-12 hour period. A few homes have no limits onvisiting. You must use good judgment and try not to visit when you may interfere with treatments or rest.

Nursing homes provide support services including medical care,rehabilitation, food, shelter, companionship, recreation, and socialactivities. These support services help residents function at their highest possible level. This is a positive philosophy.

Try to look beyond physical appearances. Think of each of these residents as interesting individuals who have experienced much in life. Each person has a unique personality that is not dependent upon physical appearance.

You may be bothered by those who appear to be confused or disoriented. These people often can be reached simply by gently holding their hands and looking into their eyes. It may take time, but it may work.

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Chapter 9: Tips of reassurance

There will be some people that will be so excited about the project, and others that will not want to join in at all, don’t worry about this. Just go with who wants to be involved.

Some older people will be nervous about what your conversation is for. They will also be nervous of signing anything. So be very honest with people and say, ‘it’s just a project that is about capturing stories about people’s lives and then sharing that with other generations’.

When you start the conversation, you might like to say, if someone seems especially uneasy, ‘if at any point you don’t feel comfortable about what we are talking about then please just let me know’.

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Chapter 10: What to do if things go wrong

‘I feel like they are hiding any conversation about their husband and I don’t know why.’

It is really important to be aware of peoples trigger points, some people might be happy to tell you most things about their lives, but there may be, for whatever reason certain areas, that you can see might have trigger points for people. It’s really important that you are aware of this, and do not force anything that is not natural for the person to want to tell you about.

‘Someone has told me something that I think I should tell someone else about.’

In very rare circumstances you may encounter a situation where someone tells you something that you feel is cause for concern. When this happens, the �irst point of contact is Alice Osborne and you should call her as soon as you feel is appropriate. Her mobile is always on, and is alwaysavailable. Talk with her about the nature of your conversation and she will advise on what the appropriate next course of action is.

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‘It seems impossible to �ind any positive memories in this person’s life.’

Some of the older people will be a little bit negative on life, as with all of us, some will �ind lots and lots of things to moan about, and very little to see positive in. You could say to the older person ‘I see that this is bringing up a lot of negative memories for you, are you ok to keep exploring them, or we can �inish our chat?’

Don’t worry about being with people, that will seemingly have had a ‘rough deal’ in life. Have the time and space to be with people in their seemingly ‘negative’ experiences as you are with their happy ones.

‘I got to the care home and no-one seems to be expecting me.’

Sometimes this could happen, as staff ’s shifts change so regularly then it is very easy for someone on the shift not to be expecting you. Just explain that you are a story capturer from Walk the Earth, and you will beinterviewing some of the residents. Explain that you had pre arranged the visit, and you just need a bit of supervision in an area of the home.’

Alice’s mobile number is 07788798210This is the quickest way to be in contact with her, should you �ind yourself in a situation that feels uncomfortable.

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Walk The Earth...

Chapter 11: Legal bits and bobs

As a volunteer, you will go into care homes on an irregular basis, and only for up to an hour; because of this, we do not need to have crb checks.

At the training though, we will have the opportunity to meet you and if it seems that we think the project isn’t for you and if you decide you are not the right person to be a story capturer, then that is �ine.

For your own protection, as a volunteer, you will never be alone with a resident, and always under the supervision of a member of staff.

Consent forms need to be signed by everyone in order to say that they have spoken with you out of their own choice, and they are aware that your conversation will be captured on a website, on the internet, and in an exhibition.

Get a contact number or address for everyone you speak to so that we can be in touch with them when we invite them to the exhibition launch.

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