SPOKEN STORIES | BUILT-IN VIDEO, AUDIO AND WRITTEN STORY CAPTURE

The stories your community has been waiting to tell

Spoken Stories makes it easy for anyone in your community to contribute their memories, experiences and knowledge (via video, audio or written format), from any device, from anywhere in the world.

No equipment. No scheduling. No technical knowledge required.

Book a demo
Contact us
Your prompt
"What does this community mean to you, and what do you hope it will mean to the people who come after?"
🎥 Video
🎙️ Audio
✍️ Written
Recent submissions
🎥
Robert Hartley · Founding member Video · 8:24
🎙️
Margaret Hollis · 40-year volunteer Audio · 6:18
✍️
James Alderton · Community historian Written · 847 words
All submissions auto-transcribed and catalogued

HOW IT WORKS

Simple to capture, powerful to share

Three steps from invitation to archive. No equipment, no scheduling, no technical knowledge required at any stage.

01 · Invite your community

Share a link. That is all it takes.

Share a link via email, SMS, QR code at an event, or embedded on your website. Contributors click the link, choose their format and record in their own time, from anywhere in the world.

📧 Email invitation with recording link
📱 SMS link for community members
📷 QR code at events and exhibitions
🌐 Embedded on your website or portal
02 · They record their story

Guided prompts make it easy to get started.

Contributors choose video, audio or written format and record in their own words. Every submission is automatically transcribed, tagged and saved to your archive the moment it is submitted.

Your prompt
"What is your strongest memory of this community and what do you hope it will look like in 50 years?"
Recording · 2:14
Auto-transcription
"I remember the summer fete in 1987, when the whole village turned out..."
03 · You decide what happens next

Review, approve and publish or archive for later.

Every submission is reviewed before anything goes live. Approve for publication, store privately for a future campaign, or archive permanently as part of your history.

🌐
Publish to community portal
Visible to your chosen audience immediately
📦
Store for future use
Hold privately for campaigns or events
🏛️
Archive permanently
Preserved as part of your history

What Spoken Stories makes possible

USE CASES

🎙️

Oral history projects

Capture the voices of your community before they are lost. Spoken Stories makes it simple to collect testimony from anyone in your community via a simple link, from anywhere in the world, at any time.

📦

Anniversary collections

An anniversary is the single best moment to capture stories. Invite contributions from across your community, publish the best to your anniversary portal and seal a selection in a digital time capsule to be opened at your next milestone.

💰

Fundraising, impact and legacy

A single authentic story from a beneficiary or long-serving volunteer is more powerful than any written appeal. Build a library of impact narratives your team can draw from across every campaign, grant application and donor communication.

🎬

Recruitment and testimonials

The most compelling thing you can share with a prospective volunteer, employee or supporter is the authentic voice of someone already involved. Spoken Stories makes it easy to collect video and audio testimonials from across your organisation.

🏛️

Museum and heritage exhibitions

Layer real voices into your displays. Collect stories connected to specific objects, photographs or periods, or embed QR codes within exhibitions to invite visitor contributions and reflections in real time.

📣

Marketing and storytelling

Authentic stories are your most powerful marketing asset. Use Spoken Stories to capture content for social media, campaigns, publications and events, building a library of real voices your whole team can draw from across every channel.

These are just some of the ways organisations use Spoken Stories. If your community has a story worth telling, we can help you capture it. Book a demo or get in touch to discuss your project.

Capture community stories, memories and oral histories, from anywhere

The most valuable content your organisation will ever have is already out there, in the memories, experiences and voices of your community. Spoken Stories gives you the simplest possible way to collect it.

WHY IT WORKS

🔗
Anyone can contribute
No equipment, no scheduling, no technical knowledge needed. A link is all it takes for anyone in your community to share their story, from anywhere in the world.
🗂️
Every format, one place
Video, audio or written. All automatically transcribed, tagged and stored in the same archive, searchable and ready to use from the moment they arrive.
📝
Permissions built in
Consent forms, participation agreements and release permissions are captured digitally within the system, ensuring you stay compliant and protect your community at every step.
🔒
You stay in control
Nothing goes live without your approval. Full moderation, redaction and permission controls mean your team decides exactly what is published, to whom and when.
🏛️
Stories that last forever
Every submission is permanently archived alongside related content. Never lost, always searchable and connected to the people and moments in your community history.
♻️
One story, many uses
A single recording can power a fundraising appeal, an exhibition, a social post and a grant application. Capture once, use everywhere, across every campaign.

Beverly 400+

Beverly, Massachusetts is celebrating 400 years of history in 2026. Originally settled in 1626 on land of the Naumkeag and Pawtucket bands of the Massachusett Tribal Nation, Beverly is now a city of more than 40,000 people and Beverly 400+ is inviting every one of them to contribute their story.

Using Spoken Stories, Beverly 400+ launched "What's Your Story, Bev?" — an open call for anyone with a connection to Beverly to record a video, audio or written memory about the people, places and experiences that shaped them. Stories are collected through to Homecoming Week 2026 and permanently archived with Historic Beverly.

The result is a living, growing record of 400 years of community life, told not by historians, but by the people who lived it..

CUSTOMER STORY

How they use it
🎯
Standalone project
Spoken Stories used as a standalone service for a single milestone project, not the full YourArchive platform
🌐
Open to the whole city
Anyone with a connection to Beverly can contribute — video, audio or written, from anywhere in the world
📅
Time-limited collection
Stories collected through to Homecoming Week 2026 as part of the quadricentennial celebrations
🏛️
Permanently preserved
All stories permanently archived with Historic Beverly at the end of the project

Spoken Stories is available as a standalone service for projects like this. Get in touch to discuss your project.

COMMON QUESTIONS

Frequently asked questions

Spoken Stories is YourArchive's built-in video, audio and written capture tool. It lets you invite anyone in your community to contribute their memories, experiences and knowledge via a simple link, with no equipment, no scheduling and no technical knowledge required.
No. Contributors record using their own device, whether a smartphone, tablet or laptop. No additional equipment, software or account is needed.
Yes. You can create open-ended or specific prompts depending on your project, and set different prompts for different audiences. Guided prompts significantly improve the quality and consistency of contributions.
Yes. Every submission is reviewed by your team before anything goes live. You can approve, hold or redact submissions and set visibility levels to match your privacy requirements. Nothing is published without your approval.
Every contributor can complete a digital consent and participation agreement as part of the submission process, covering how their story can be used, shared and archived. This also addresses copyright, ensuring your organisation has clear permission to use each contribution across your archive, portal and campaigns, while giving contributors the ability to place restrictions on their own material if they wish.
Yes. Every audio and video submission is automatically transcribed the moment it is submitted. Transcriptions are fully searchable within YourArchive, making it easy to find specific stories, quotes or themes across your entire collection.
Yes. Spoken Stories is available as a standalone service for oral history projects, community consultations and heritage collections. Get in touch to discuss your project requirements and we will tailor a solution to fit your needs.
Stories can be published to your community portal, shared to social media, embedded in exhibitions, used in fundraising appeals, included in grant applications and archived permanently as part of your history. A single recording can serve many purposes across many campaigns.
Yes. You can publish approved stories to a branded community portal where contributors and the wider public can explore submissions, discover related stories and add their own. This turns Spoken Stories from a one-way collection tool into a genuine community experience. Access can be set to fully public, members only or invitation only depending on your project.
Contributors can record video, audio or submit a written memory. All three formats are automatically transcribed, tagged and stored in the same archive. You can offer all three formats or restrict to specific formats depending on your project.
Yes. Every submission is permanently archived within YourArchive or downloaded to preserve in your own systems. This is particularly useful at the end of a project, where all contributions can be exported and handed over to a permanent archive.
Yes. YourArchive is fully GDPR compliant. All data is stored on UK-based cloud infrastructure with industry-standard security protocols. You control exactly who can see each submission and can redact sensitive content without altering the original file.
Spoken Stories is included as part of the YourArchive platform and is also available as a standalone service. Get in touch for a quote tailored to your project and organisation.

GET STARTED

Ready to hear what your community has to say?

Whether you want to run a single oral history project, capture stories for an anniversary or build an ongoing community memory collection, we would love to show you how Spoken Stories works.

Book a demo
Contact us

RESOURCES

Guidance & thinking

View all articles →
Latest News
Community Anniversaries: Creative Ways to Collect, Share and Preserve Local History
Community Anniversaries: Creative Ways to Collect, Share and Preserve Local History

Community anniversaries are powerful moments to reconnect people with place, surface overlooked stories, and preserve shared history. But the most meaningful celebrations go beyond one-off events. This article explores creative, practical ways libraries, archives, museums, and historical societies can use anniversaries to collect stories, engage communities, and build lasting digital resources that continue to grow long after the milestone year has passed.

5 Easy Ways to Capture Oral Histories in Your Community
5 Easy Ways to Capture Oral Histories in Your Community

Oral histories preserve the voices, memories and lived experiences that shape your community. This guide shares five simple ways museums, libraries, and local heritage groups can record oral and video stories using YourArchive (no specialist equipment needed). Preserve the past, capture the present, and inspire the future by documenting and sharing the voices of your community.

Preserving Local History: How Digital Archives Strengthen Communities
Preserving Local History: How Digital Archives Strengthen Communities

Every community has a story, but too often, those stories fade as photos, memories, and conversations disappear into social media timelines or over time. This article explores how YourArchive turns fleeting online moments into permanent, living records of local heritage. From facial recognition that links generations of photographs to community storytelling that preserves context and connection, discover how digital archives can bring people together and strengthen the identity of the places we call home.