SendMyVoice

Record a grandparent's stories in their own voice

A memoir book keeps the words, but not the voice telling them.

This template sends a parent or grandparent a few questions on one link, and SendMyVoice keeps each story as their voice and a transcript.

No app and no account to answer.

Use this template
sendmyvoice.com/r/k7f2q9

Step 1 of 5

Where did you grow up, and what was your street like?

Tap to record. Up to 2 min.

A grandmother with white hair and glasses hugging a young child
Photo: Ekaterina Shakharova on Unsplash

The questions

  1. 1

    Where did you grow up, and what was your street like?

    An easy start. A place brings the other details back.

  2. 2

    What was your first job, and what did it pay?

    Ask for the number. It's the detail the family repeats for years.

  3. 3

    How did you meet the person you married?

    Often a story the family has heard in pieces and never from start to finish.

  4. 4

    What do you know now that you wish you'd known at 25?

    Advice in their own words. It's the answer you'll play again and again.

  5. 5

    What would you like your great-grandchildren to know about you?

    Keep it for last. The earlier questions get the stories going.

On the free plan (3 questions, up to 1 minute each), use 1, 3 and 5. Pro allows answers up to 5 minutes, which suits longer stories. The questions work in any form tool too.

Example answers

ML

Maria Lopez

Answered today at 10:42

  1. 1. Where did you grow up, and what was your street like?

    2:14

    On Mill Road, in a terraced house with a coal shed out the back. Every kid on the street played football until the lamps came on, and Mrs Hale at number twelve shouted at us whenever the ball went into her roses.

  2. 2. What was your first job, and what did it pay?

    1:38

    Sweeping floors at the bakery on Saturdays. Two shillings a day and a loaf to take home, and my mother counted on that loaf more than the money.

  3. 3. How did you meet the person you married?

    3:05

    At a dance in the town hall. I couldn't dance at all, so I stood by the tea table for an hour pretending to be busy. She came over and asked if I was guarding the biscuits.

  4. 4. What do you know now that you wish you'd known at 25?

    1:12

    That most of the worrying was wasted. The things I lost sleep over sorted themselves out, and the things that mattered I never saw coming.

  5. 5. What would you like your great-grandchildren to know about you?

    0:58

    That I liked a good joke and a long walk, and that I was proud of every one of you before you were even born.

Their voice, not only the words
A memoir book keeps the words. SendMyVoice keeps the recording too, so you hear the story as it was told, with a transcript to read or print.
Easy on a phone
The link opens in the phone's browser: one question at a time and a big record button. No app, no password.
Every story kept
Each answer arrives with its question, the recording and the transcript. You can download all the recordings in one zip file.
A link for each storyteller
Send each grandparent their own private link, so every story arrives under the right name.

Questions

How do I record my grandparent's stories?

Send a few questions on one link. Each answer is recorded out loud on a phone or computer, one question at a time, and you get each story as a recording with a transcript.

Does it need a smartphone?

Any phone, tablet or computer with a browser and a microphone works. There's no app to install and no account to make.

How long can a story be?

Up to 1 minute per answer on the free plan and up to 5 minutes on Pro.

Can I turn the stories into a book?

SendMyVoice doesn't print books. You can download every transcript as a spreadsheet and every recording as audio files, then use them in any photo book or memoir.

Can I send new questions later?

Yes. Edit the form any time, or make a new one for each week, like a memoir service does.

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Keep their stories in their own voice

Free plan, no credit card. No account to answer.

Use this template