Directory of Members

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  • Laura Hedgecock

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  • Laura Hedgecock
  • Laura@LauraHedgecock.com
  • Farmington Hills

  • MI
  • 48335

  • United States
  • (248) 615-0745
  • 8:30 AM – 8:30 PM

  • (GMT -5:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada), Bogota, Lima
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  • (If you click on the PDF icon and nothing happens, the member has not yet uploaded a file.)
  • yes
  • http://TreasureChestofMemories.com
  • https://TreasureChestofMemories.com/blog
  • Laura Hedgecock is an author, speaker, freelance writer and GeneaBlogger passionate about helping others tell stories which connect loved ones with their family and ancestry.

    Her book, MEMORIES OF ME: A COMPLETE GUIDE TO TELLING AND SHARING THE STORIES OF YOUR LIFE, guides and empowers memory collectors with down-to-earth, practical advice and creative ideas. Her website, TreasureChestofMemories.com, provides pragmatic advice on preserving and sharing memories and family stories.

    Laura serves as President of the 3400+ member GeneaBloggers organization and is a member of NGS, Genealogical Speakers Guild, Toastmasters, and Detroit Working Writers. She authored BLOGGING FOR FAMILY HISTORY, which provides a road map for launching a blog and making it successful.

    She has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, and Chicago Tribune.

    Read family history blog articles here.

    Connect with Laura:

  • Toastmaster's Competent Communicator, Advanced Communicator Bronze

    • Storytelling
    • Sharing memories, family, and ancestor stories
    • Website-building and blogging platforms
    • Website design
    • Storytelling techniques for Family History
    • Social Media
  • Storytelling Topics

    Enriching Family Narratives with Context

    Are you looking to make your stories more compelling? Also known as Better Writing through Research, this talk delves into finding rich context that makes both personal and genealogical stories more intellectually and emotionally impactful, while leaving a more accurate understanding of history.

    Storytelling and How to NOT Reframe the Past

    Learn when revision increases accuracy and how writers can avoid unintentional reframing of historical events. This covers why truth and accuracy matter in storytelling, particularly in family storytelling; how accurate stories are compelling; and strategies to keep us as accurate as we can be.

    Beyond Dry Facts: Telling the Stories of Your Ancestors

    Have you researched your ancestors but don’t know how to transition from researcher to writer? Learn how to convert researched facts into compelling ancestor stories that can engage imaginations and connect hearts.

    Bring Your Family Tree to Life with your Own and Family Stories

    Are you interested in fleshing out the genealogical facts with your ancestors’ stories? This talk discusses breaking down the obstacles to preserving family stories and covers practical tips for impactful genealogical storytelling.

    Choosing the Details: The Secret to Compelling Stories

    Do your stories seem to lie flat on the page instead of bringing the characters to life? Learn how to include the right—and right amount—of details in your stories to engage hearts, curiosity, and imaginations.

    Creative Storytelling Techniques Borrowed from Photography

    This TED-style talk uses Laura Hedgecock’s nature photography to illustrate beginning and intermediate storytelling technique

    How to Include Yourself in the Family (History) Portrait

    Are you like the family snap-shooter, who seldom finds themselves in the frame of family photos? Also known as Putting the Genealogist in the Frame, this talk has down-to-earth tips and strategies on adding your own memories to the family story collection.

    How to Write the Stories of Your Life

    Want to leave a legacy of your memories and stories for loved ones? This talk focuses on how to start telling and preserving the episodes of your past and offers practical tips for starting and keeping up the momentum.

    Group Reminiscence for Personal and Family Stories

    Looking for something fun and interactive? This workshop guides participants through various brainstorming prompts. Since memories beget memories, there’s time for sharing as well.

    Telling and Sharing the Stories of Your Life (Workshop or 3-part series)

    Do you have an audience that wants to delve deeper into documenting their past? Similar to How to Write the Stories of your Life above, this interactive workshop can also work as a series.

    Writing Your Family’s History (also as a 3-part series)

    Do you have countless binders and folders of research and feel overwhelmed by the prospect of compiling a family history? This talk looks at practical strategies to start documenting the facts and the stories of your ancestors.

    Why Genealogists Need to Tell Family Stories

    This TED-esque talk illustrates how family stories can connect descendants with their ancestors. In addition to inspiration, Laura Hedgecock offers some practical strategies to get started preserving family stories.

    Coming Soon: From Photo Albums and Scans to Family Stories

    If a photo is worth 1000 words, why aren’t all boxes of photos keeping their stories to themselves? This talk breaks down finding the stories behind all those photos.

     

    Storytelling + Technology Speaker Topics

     

    Practical Tools for Family History Writers

    Ready to explore software tools to help you write your stories? This session will show a range of software, smartphone apps, and websites which help writers find context, come up with and develop ideas for family and ancestor stories, and hone writing skills. Participants should have some familiarity with web browsers, word processing, and smart phone apps.

    Coming soon: Productivity Tools for Busy (Family History) Writers

    Getting bogged down with your writing projects. This talk introduces several software and apps to increase productivity.

    Coming soon: Using Scrivener to Organize and Develop Your Stories

     

    Social Media and Blogging

     

    Blogging for Family History

    Is blogging for you? Learn how blogging can help you connect with your past as you share and collaborate with others. We’ll discuss how to choose a blogging platform, generating ideas for content, promotion, and blogging versus other writing.

    How to Leverage Social Media to Accomplish your Family History Goals

    (Developed with Elizabeth O'Neal) Learn simple yet effective strategies to share your family history, bust down brick walls, find cousin-collaborators, and make new genealogical discoveries via social media. We’ll also discuss the advantages (and idiosyncrasies) offered by various social media platforms.

    Makeover Secrets for a More Beautiful and Functional Blog

    (Developed with Elizabeth O'Neal) Learn how to tweak your society website or blog to make it more professional and visitor-friendly. Maximize your site’s reach. An outdated or difficult to navigate web design could drive potential visitors away from your great content.

    • Honorarium and travel expenses
    • Projector & screen
    • Handouts are emailed prior to the lecture and printed by the hosting organization
    • Available to travel (reimbursed mileage at the IRS federal rate e; or flight, hotel & meal costs (hotel & meals use the IRS allowable per diem federal rate, available at http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/104877)
  • Beyond Dry Facts: How to Examine Records for Information that Leads to Great Stories (with Cheri Hudson Passey)

    • National Genealogical Society (NGS) 2022 Conference- Sacramento, CA
    • GenFriends, Pirates & AncestArrrrrrghs Genealogy Cruise (scheduled)

    Get Started Telling Your Own and Family Stories (Workshop)

    • RootsTech Connect 2022
    • Allen County Public Library
    • Thrive Center (KY) with Vivid-Pix

    Simple Strategies to Improve Your Web Design

    • Federal Genealogical Society (FGS) Virtual Conference

    Practical Tools for Family History Writers

    • Federal Genealogical Society (FGS) Virtual Conference
    • GenFriends, Pirates & AncestArrrrrrghs Genealogy Cruise (scheduled)

    Creative Storytelling Techniques Borrowed from Photography

    • RootsTech Connect 2021
    • Dearborn Genealogical Society (1 hour version)

    Why Genealogists Need to Tell Family Stories

    • RootsTech Connect 2021 (short version)
    • Willard Public Library, Battle Creek (1 hour version)
    • Sanilac County Genealogy Society (1 hour version)

    Storytelling and How Not to Reframe History

    • RootsTech 2020
    • Austin (TX) Genealogical Society

    Communications and Content Strategies for Societies

    • National Genealogical Society 2021 Family History Conference.

    Bringing the Ancestral Tree to Life with Personal and Family Stories

    • Virtual Genealogy Association
    • Genealogical Society of Washtenaw County (MI)

    Writing Your Family and Ancestor Stories

    • Stillaguamish Valley (WA) Genealogical Society
    • Myrtle Beach (SC) Genealogy Club
    • Cheboygan Area Public Library (scheduled)
    • GenFriends, Pirates & AncestArrrrrrghs Genealogy Cruise (scheduled)

    Start Telling the Stories of Your Life

    • Santa Barbara County (CA) Genealogy Society
    • Shelby Township Public Library
    • Northville Genealogical Society

    Choosing the Details: The Secret to Compelling Stories

    • Plano (TX) Genealogical Society Plano Texas
    • GenFriends, Pirates & AncestArrrrrrghs Genealogy Cruise (scheduled)

     

    Storytelling Techniques to Improve Your Family Narrative

    • Detroit Society for Genealogical Research

    Witness to History

    • Vivid-Pix Educational Series (Virtual)
    • Second Life Virtual Genealogical Society

    My Family Story: Memoir or Family History?

    • Vivid-Pix Educational Series (Virtual)

    From Old Photos to Family Stories

    • Vivid-Pix Educational Series (Virtual)

    How to Describe Family Members

    • Vivid-Pix Educational Series (Virtual)

    Sparking Recall to Tell Your Stories

    • Vivid-Pix Educational Series (Virtual)

    Writing about Difficult Chapters

    • Vivid-Pix Educational Series (Virtual)

     

    See all Laura’s speaker topics at https://www.treasurechestofmemories.com/speaker-topics/

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