Everybody has a story, and everybody’s story matters.
What’s yours?
Welcome to Conversation Kitchen
Personalized Audio Memoirs
Conversation Kitchen is a personalized audio memoir service designed to let you record the conversation of your lifetime — either on your own with an expert conversationalist or as an expertly guided discussion between you and someone else. For example, a friend, teammate, spouse, parent, child, or other relative.
Whether you’re 24 or 104, we offer you the opportunity to talk about what matters to you — the moments, milestones, and even the mishaps that have shaped who you are and what you mean to others.
Conversations can be recorded in-person at the Conversation Kitchen studio in Washington DC, on-location in a quiet space such as a library, home office, or your kitchen table, or remotely.
Conversation Kitchen Personalized Audio Memoirs are created by Founder Anna K. Nelson — an expert in the art of conversation and a trained radio journalist and oral historian, who has professionally interviewed hundreds of people across the globe over the past three decades.
What is Conversation Kitchen?
Who is this experience designed for?
Everyone! (Because everybody has a story, and everybody’s story matters.)
Conversation Kitchen is fantastic as a gift to celebrate a wedding, milestone anniversary or birthday, or other important occasion such as a graduation, reunion, or retirement. It’s also a wonderful way to celebrate your friendship with someone.
It’s perfect for anyone who’s interested in preserving their family history or sharing their genealogy through storytelling.
And, it’s a great gift to offer yourself! Do you have a book inside you that’s just waiting to be written? Recording a conversation about your life is a great way to access your own narrative, and recall events or people that may have faded into the recesses of your mind.
We’ll tailor our questions to enable you to get the most out of the experience.
Why audio and not video?
Our philosophy at Conversation Kitchen is that audio lends itself best to meaningful conversation. We love video but we know from long experience that people tend to be a little self-conscious and distracted when they’re on-camera.
With audio, it’s easier to forget about the microphone and relax into the discussion. We also know that hearing someone’s voice, especially after they’re gone, is a rare and special gift because it allows you to close your eyes and imagine them right there with you as you listen.
How does it work?
First, we’ll send you a quick, fun questionnaire so we can get a sense of who you are and what you want to talk about. (If you’re gifting this experience to someone else, we’ll send them the questionnaire.)
After that, we’ll schedule the recording session. Oral histories generally last two hours minimum. The length of yours is up to you!
Next, here comes the Conversation! This will be based on a series of thoughtful and intelligent questions that have been personalized just for you. (If there’s any ground in particular that you want to cover, please let us know.)
Once the recording is done, you’ll receive a copy and a transcript.
Conversation Kitchen Offerings
Menu of Options
All conversations contain a generous helping of laughter, empathy, spontaneity, and curiosity!
In-studio
Option 1: In-person at the Conversation Kitchen Studio in NW DC
Facilitated one-on-one conversation: 1 narrator (you) talking to a trained conversationalist.
Option 2: Facilitated partner conversation: 2 narrators (you and someone else) talking to each other and the trained conversationalist, who will guide the discussion and interview both of you.
On-location
Options 1 or 2 as listed above but at a location of your choice. (We’ll bring our recording equipment to you!)
(Travel within the DC metro region is included.)
Remote
Options 1 or 2 as listed above but done remotely. (Reliable, high-speed internet connection required for all participants.)
Various recording and post-production packages (including add-ons) are available. Click the GET STARTED button at the top of the site to let us know you’re interested!
Anna is a world class communicator and professional storyteller. She is a member of the DC Oral History Collaborative and was awarded a grant by Humanities DC in 2023 to carry out a project called “And, Scene… an Oral History of Improv in DC.” She also spearheaded a major initiative in 2015 between StoryCorps (the world’s largest Oral History group) and the Red Cross.
In addition, she is a writer and works as the Marketing and Development Manager for a DC-based nonprofit theater. Anna sees herself as an innovator, instigator, and illuminator, who believes deeply in the power of humanity and the human voice.
She got the idea for starting a Personalized Audio Memoir service after hiring a longtime friend, who was working for public radio, to record her parents talking about their life stories as a gift for their 50th wedding anniversary.
Enabling people to discover the joy of self-expression by sharing their stories is her life’s work.
About Anna
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