SHARING STORIES – Effective Interpretation at Museums and Historic Sites in Eight Sessions

Are you a prospective staff or volunteer interpreter, guide, or docent with passion but lacking experience and training? Or a site or organization with eager staff who could use a ready-made, plug-and-play training scheme? This course proposes to engage prospective or current docents, guides, and interpreters with tested and successful curriculum for success. 

Sessions	Time
Intro to Interpretation	1hr
Meeting Visitor Needs and Creating Fulfilling Experiences	1hr
Effective Research for Interpreters	1hr
The Interpreter’s Toolbox Pt 1: Demonstrations, Conversations, and Presentations	1hr
The Interpreter’s Toolbox Pt 2: Giving Great Guided Tours	1hr
Including Indigenous Content	1hr
Dealing with Difficult History	1hr
Dealing with Difficult History Pt 2	1hr

Intro to Interpretation

Heritage Interpretation, the practice of guides, greeters, and docents is a complex field with much to know, but every journey begins with a single step. This one hour introduction to interpretation will introduce attendees to the use of intangibles to reveal the greater meaning behind objects and artifacts, storytelling in interpretation, and how to turn a topic into an effective theme. 

Meeting Visitor Needs

Who are they and why are they there? Any interpretation that doesn’t address your visitors as persons with complex motivations will be sterile. John Falk’s visitor motivation scheme is still the industry standard for creating fulfilling experiences tailored to your visitor. We’ll also introduce the LEAD model of customer recovery to help you practice your skills for when visitor needs are not being met. 

Effective Research for Interpreters

Interpreters are a trusted source, and we must strive to be worthy of that trust. This webinar will take participants through a range of research practices and resources, including primary, secondary, and tertiary sources as well as the importance of creative experiential research. Participants will participate in two activities and be given a research plan outline at the conclusion.  

Interpreter’s Toolbox Pt 1: Demonstrations, Conversations, Presentations

To a tour guide, everyone looks like an audience with time to kill. But the spectrum of interpretive activities is so large, it behooves you to consider the utility and challenges of each before you decide which to use and how. Demonstrations, discussions, and participatory activities all have their uses. This session uses “Donnie Don’t” examples and break-out groups to evaluate the pitfalls of tours, demos, conversations, and even powerpoint webinars just like this one. 

Interpreter’s Toolbox Pt 2: Giving Great Guided Tours

Not only can heritage interpretation techniques improve your tours, but we can also help you avoid some of the most common tour pitfalls. This one hour introduction to tours will highlight themes, visitors, and the best tips to make your tours rock! 

Including Indigenous Content

Tom (who is Métis) has been lucky enough to work extensively with First Nations, Métis, and Maori communities, including with Elders. A modern museum must by necessity engage with Indigenous communities, and interpreters can benefit from understanding how to start interacting with Indigenous source material and content in a respectful, humble way. We have worksheets, videos, and practical experience to share in getting your site ready to share stories respectfully and avoid appropriation. 

Dealing with Difficult History Pt 1

No one can tell you how to change a visitor’s mind, or how to engage on a difficult topic with ease and come out on the other side without repercussions. If they did, politicians and family gatherings would be knocking down the door. But there are some guidelines to follow and some tips and tactics that will equip your interpreters for success in the field of difficult topics. Eugenics, colonialism, racism – if history isn’t upsetting, then you’re probably not reading enough of it. Museums can and should challenge visitors to face these facts, and interpreters are the frontline of this discussion. 

Dealing with Difficult History Pt 2 & Wrap-up

We’ll finish the previous topic and then look at pulling everything together. This includes a broad look at the heritage landscape how to continue your journey of better sharing stories at museums, heritage sites, and cultural centres.

Trainer

Tom Long is a Métis heritage professional who specializes in museum interpretation and creative ways to engage the public. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Canadian History from the University of Alberta, and Certificates in Heritage Interpreter Training and Museum Studies from the National Association of Interpretation (NAI) and Alberta Museums Association, respectively. Further training from MuseumHack, MuseumStudy, and the Disney Institute combines with practical experience in a career that has spanned from interpreter to museum manager. A passionate storyteller, he loves to prove that history is far from boring.

Tom is a Certified Interpretive Trainer and has been preparing new guides, docents, and interpreters to engage the public for over twenty years. He is authorized to teach the NAI curriculum, but has also developed a number of his own sessions. Since 2020, he has offered freelance training to Fort Langley National Historic Site, the Kauri Museum, the Richmond Olympic Experience, Britannia Shipyards National Historic Site, and more.

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Please contact us using the form below to inquire about this series of webinars and pricing between $1000 and $3000.