You’ve known them your whole life. But how well do you know their story?

10 carefully chosen questions to help uncover the stories you’ve never thought to ask about.

You know their favourite saying. You know how they take their coffee. You probably know the story they tell at every family gathering.

But do you know what they were like at 18?

What they thought their life would look like?

Or which people and moments changed the course of their life?

Sometimes the stories we'd most love to know are the ones we simply never think to ask about.

The 15-Minute Family Story Formula makes starting that conversation easy.

Spend around 15 minutes getting ready, then sit down together (or give them a call), press record and see where the conversation takes you.

Instant digital download · NZ$17

No family history experience required.

You don't need to research your family tree, buy special recording equipment or conduct a formal interview.

All you need is your phone, the guide and someone whose stories you'd like to know better.

Maybe you talk for 20 minutes. Maybe one question leads to an hour of stories.

You don't have to get through all ten.

You just have to start.

What's inside?

10 Golden Questions
Carefully designed to get beyond names, dates and “nothing much happened” into the stories you may never have heard.

Story-deepening prompts
Simple follow-up questions to keep a great story going naturally.

Your 15-minute preparation plan
Know what to do before you sit down or make the call.

Simple recording guidance
Use the phone you already have to capture their voice and stories.

Conversation starters
Easy ways to ask a parent, grandparent or loved one to share their memories.

Simple preservation tips
So what you capture doesn't disappear into the depths of your phone afterwards.

Created by a professional genealogist

I'm Marie, founder of My Ancestory.

I've spent years researching family histories, and I've learned that some of the most precious things we can preserve aren't found in a birth certificate or family tree.

They're the childhood adventures. The family characters. The jobs they hated. The people they loved. The ordinary moments they still remember decades later.

Those stories can only come from the person who lived them.

That's why I created the 15-Minute Family Story Formula — to make capturing them simple enough that you actually do it.

One conversation. One story you didn't have yesterday.

10 questions · 15 minutes to prepare · Instant digital download

Download today. Use it today. You'll thank me later.