Oral Histories

i was the interviewee in the 9/11 Oral History interview.  I learned that when the recording began I became slightly nervous. Since we had a few minutes to give our oral histories I felt compelled to say the first thing in my head. I'm not if saying the first thing that come to your mind is the best idea. When I conduct my interview I will be patient and allow my interviewees to take their time and to respond. I also learned that I may not give too much eye contact during my interviews in order to allow responses to flow without staring and possibly interrupting my interviewees thought.

I also learned that emotions can strongly influence responses. 9/11 is an emotional subject, and I had hoped to tell my story without emotion, but I became very emotional. I learned to not to create emotional questions.