Genealogy is a tough subject to get others interested in. Even the name starts to get people to go to sleep. Yet when you talk to people on a more human level about how their heritage and family matter, most will agree. The reality is that people care about how they ended up where they are and they want to know more about what their ancestors did to get them there. I recently attempted the mammoth task of getting my family interested in genealogy, here is how I did it.
Rule 1: Don’t mention genealogy
It is not as simple as sitting down at dinner and taking out your A3 whiteboard and a laser pointer to illustrate the family tree. This is the best way to lose your family’s interest already and if there are teenagers in your family, they have likely already left the room. Instead, just mention various members of your family throughout a day or week. Do your research beforehand and then mention them in conversation when it seems natural. If your son is interested in theater mention a great aunt who was a famous actress (if your family has one, don’t make stuff up, not yet anyway). If your daughter is interested in sports, mention a great grandmother who played. This will tickle the interest of your family and slowly they will start to ask questions. Now you have them right where you want them.
Rule 2: Sell but don’t oversell
Studies have shown that if you try to push too much on teenagers they naturally push back, even if it is something they love. This is why so many children are great at sports but then leave them behind as a teen and may never return. Try not to force their interests too much but make them easily accessible instead. The same is true for genealogy. Be readily available with information but don’t try and force-feed them either. Try and drop some stories into the natural flow of conversations and see if they land. If your family is interested, tell more, if not, move on.
Rule 3: Challenge them
If you do all the work and present a family tree at the end, it won’t mean much to them. At best they will humor you for an hour and pretend that they care. However, if you capture their interest and then challenge them to find out more information, they will be forever encapsulated by their family tree. As an example, if they are starting to show an interest in their ancestors, give each member of your family the task of looking up one family member that interests them. Then a couple of weeks later get each one to share what they have learned. The one who found out the most could get a prize.
Rule 4: Create something lasting
Don’t let the interest die then and there. Take the information that has been learned and find a way to preserve it. That could be a one-page family tree that is framed and put up on the wall, it could be a book that is kept in a safe place. It could even be something more creative like a blanket that is knitted with a square that represents each person (yes I stole that idea from The Simpsons).
Genealogy is something that most people are naturally interested in, it just sounds a little boring. Approach your family in the right way and you will have them interested in genealogy for life. There are always some great movies about family history that you could watch one night to get the ball rolling.
