The Life Story Coach – Details, episodes & analysis

Karin Jones believes sex and intimacy are a big part of our lives, and she challenges personal historians to gently explore this topic with their storytelling clients.

Karin's controversial article appeared in New York Times' "Modern Love" column. "What Sleeping About Married Men Taught Me About Infidelity"

Find Karin Jones' bimonthly column, "Savvy Love," at the Erotic Review Magazine, or on her Savvy Love blog at https://www.savvy-love.com/blog.

Follow Karin on Twitter: @mskarinjones

Curious about Esther Perel? Read about her fascinating story.

Gloria's website: https://www.real-to-reel.org/

Gloria's Equipment List

This is part 2 of our interview with Mike O'Krent (listen to part 1 here). In this episode, you'll hear Mike talk about

• public speaking and how it can grow the public's awareness of our services. (Hint: Check out Toastmasters for improving your speaking skill and spreading the word about your services)
• the power of seeking out influential people and connectors in your community
• how to ask for referrals and virtual introductions (via email)
• how being humble can hurt—read Mike's article, "Being Humble is Nothing to Brag About"
• listening with your whole body (check out this TED Talk with Evelyn Glennie)
• speaking at family business programs

It wasn't easy, but Mike made his dream come true: After sending out over 60 pitches, he landed a spot on the TEDx stage in Wilmington. One of the key factors was enlisting the help of Taylor Conroy of The Idea Collective, a company that helps people "land the talk, do the talk, spread the talk."

Mike O'Krent was volunteering for an organization in Austin when he learned about Survivors of the Shoah, a foundation created by Steven Spielberg to interview and record the stories of Holocaust survivors. His training in L.A. set him up for successful interviews with survivors in Texas. In an article by Rich Polt (a previous guest on this podcast), Mike says, “These conversations are not going to be easy, nor should they be. In some cases, you’ll be asking loved ones to recall events and memories that have long been dormant. That’s OK. Don’t shy away from asking the hard questions.”

Mike's work with the Shoah Foundation helped him discover his passion for interviewing people and helping them save their story. Today, he runs LifeStories Alive, LLC, a video company that documents the stories of individuals, non-profits, and businesses.

Maureen Taylor talks about helping people solve the mysteries of their unidentified photos, a skill we as life story professionals can use to help our clients. 

Maureen Taylor's early career as a curator exposed her to lots of photos. But it wasn't until she opened shop as a photo historian that she discovered just how many unidentified photos people have.

Frequent questions she hears:

• Who is in the photo?
• What is happening in the photo?
• Where was the photo taken?

Rachel Rifkin, a fellow personal historian, posted photos of herself alongside images of her relatives. Donning similar clothing and mimicking the subject in the old photos, she bore a strong resemblance to her relatives—including a bearded man from yesteryear.

Change perspective to see the unseen in photos. That's where the big reveals come in.

Not everyone can see faces; not everyone can see details.

Some people suffer from "face-blindness," the inability to differentiate the faces they see. Go here and scroll down to find the quiz, "Are you a super-recognizer?"

Visit Maureen's website

View Maureen's photo detective courses

When he first started Acknowledge Media, Rich spent hours teaching himself Adobe Premiere Pro. But while he sees the need to have the skills that are foundational to the projects he creates, he recognizes that his team of videographers (including Jordan Freeman), editors, archival producers, and media directors are better suited to the technical side of things, while he handles the rest of it: new business development, sales, marketing, HR, and, of course, the most important task of all—conducting the interviews. Backed by a solid (and growing) team, Rich makes sure that all the projects are up to his standards, with each undergoing a final pass by him before being delivered to the client.

Rich's offerings have grown over the years, and now include three distinct packages:

• a 3-4 hour narrative, including all footage shot
• a showcase, including the above 3-4 hours plus a 5-6 minute highlight reel
• a feature, including both products above, plus a highly edited documentary film with music score, b-roll footage, archival assets, and more.

When he began, Rich and his videographer used two DSLR cameras and lav mics on all. Today, they've switched to two high-end video cameras and a boom mic for the storytellers.

My biggest surprise? When Rich said that a beginner can get great results with two iPhone cameras. It won't be the same quality as what he produces, but it's the listening and questioning skills you bring to the interview that will define your core value, not the high-tech gadgetry. (Hint: Two cameras, no matter what kind you use, will give you far greater results than just one.)

Rich also spoke frankly about his prices: where he started, what he charges now, how those prices will likely rise in the future. The important thing is to make your prices reflect the quality of your work. And then, of course, identify the market willing to pay for that exceptional quality.

You can find part one of our interview here.

Rich Polt left a lucrative career as owner of a public relations firm to pursue his passion—helping people record their legacy stories on film. And he did it all without knowing a thing about movie-making.

It started with a personal project called Talking GOOD, where Rich interviewed change-makers with the power to inspire others. The epiphany came when Rich went off-script to ask his interviewee a highly personal question, something he didn't normally do. The man cried, and so did Rich. That was all Rich needed to understand the power of sharing stories.

Acknowledge Media brings the same high production values of documentary filmmaking to the world of legacy preservation. Listen as we discuss:

• how Rich gave himself a year of working for free to build up his portfolio
• some of the mistakes he made as a novice interviewer (hint: get comfortable with your inteviewee's emotions!)
• the benefits of having regular meetings with his mentor, Mike O'Krent of LifeStories Alive (and soon-to-be guest on this podcast)
• the three phases of any legacy video project

Because Rich had so much great stuff to share, we're breaking this podcast into two parts. In this episode, we get into the specifics of phase one of his projects. Rich gives a breakdown of the 2-3 hour session he spends with the interviewees before the cameras make their appearance. He uses this conversation to create a detailed roadmap for the recorded interview.

A few tips:

• In order to keep the storyteller from launching into an anecdote during this first conversation, Rich asks them to name the stories that come to mind with a headline. He includes it in his notes, a reminder or tag to include that topic in his recorded interview.
• As part of phase one, he sends the storyteller's adult children a questionnaire, which includes the following questions:
  • What are the stories you want to hear?
  • What are the red flag topics that may be difficult for your parents to talk about?
  • What are the things you've always wanted to ask but never have?

Rich then creates a spreadsheet with questions, pouring in the answers to those he already knows, examining the whole to find the narrative shape that will guide him during the recorded interview.

Stay tuned for part two of our conversation, where Rich discusses the recording and editing processes.

We continue our conversation with Christine Norton about her Writing Partners, business licensees who operate independently, but who get all the support they need to grow a thriving life story business.

Listen as Christine gives a run-down of some of the many, many support systems she provides for her licensees.

Christine Norton is passionate about telling people's stories. And she knew others were, too. But not everyone is comfortable with creating a business from the ground up, and that's where her Forget-Me-Not Life Stories writing partner program comes in.

In exchange for a business license fee, her writing partners get everything they need to get their own memoir-writing service companies up and running. Listen as we discuss this and much more, including:

• the high-end, hand-bound book design, created especially for Forget-Me-Not Life Stories, that allows clients to later add more pages to their books
• the value of celebrating photos and memorabilia in highly designed life story books
• her mentoring and coaching program, offered to clients who need some help as they write their own life story
• how the success of her business licensees equates to her own success
• what her licensees get as an official Forget-Me-Not Life Stories writing partner

Because Christine had so much great stuff to talk about—and I don't want anyone missing any of it—I split our conversation in two. Check back next week to hear part two of the interview.

Dr. Janet Bieschke has turned her retirement into a double career: She serves the hospice community as both life story gatherer and life coach. In her work with the dying, she makes room for a "sigh of relief"—the chance to share not only stories, but also regrets, forgiveness, and "I love yous."

Janet's website: https://drjanetb.com/