Dang, I Forgot To Ask Grandma: How to collect and share family stories, an online class

  • November 9, 2025 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
  • Central Standard Time

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Description

Whether your family is biological or chosen, every family has stories. Those stories help us know who we are, why things happen, and offer a glimpse into the past and the shape of the future. THis workshop will explore how to collect family stories from living relatives. We'll use oral history, listening, and other techniques to encourage story sharing, and then talk about how those stories can be preserved for others and shared. This is a highly participatory worksop, so expect to practice, laugh, and ask questions.

We will:

  • Discuss how, when, and why to interview family members
  • Practice interview skills
  • Explore the ethical issues that may arise
  • Go through a step-by-step process to capture, process, and retell family stories
  • And more.

This class will be live on Zoom. If you can't make the live workshop, an edited, recorded version will be available.

Laura Packer is an award winning storyteller. She holds a degree in folklore and mythology, and has conducted numerous oral histories in families, corporations, and more.

Date & Time

Sun, Nov 9, 2025 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Laura Packer

The stories we tell matter. Whether we are telling to kids, crafting a presentation for work, preparing for a concert, or something else entirely, what we say and how we say it is important. 

Listening matters. When we listen to each other we find understanding and compassion we might otherwise have missed. 

Storyteller, coach, and author Laura Packer has 30+ years of experience helping people create and share stories, listen to each other more deeply, and leading organizations and individuals to better stories and deeper self-understanding.. She understands the transformational power of storytelling and listening, and how they help us understand ourselves, each other, and the world.

In addition to her award-winning performance and writing work, Laura is an experienced coach and educator, helping people understand themselves, their stories, and their worlds.. Her coaching and teaching work ranges from storytelling to writing to creativity to social change and more, and has been described as "transformational."

As the sole proprietor of thinkstory.com, Laura helps for- and non-profits identify, craft and hone their stories. Whether for marketing, recruitment, fund raising, leadership, or something else, every organization has stories that need to be told.

Find out more at laurapacker.com and thinkstory.com