Enriching the Experience: An Interpretive Approach to Tour Guiding

Abstract

1. Guiding: An Interpretive Approach * The guiding environment * An interpretive approach to guiding * A tourism industry overview * Types of tours 2. The Guide * Tourist Guides - a group of skilled professionals * Where do Guides work? * The roles of a Guide 3. Your Audience * Getting to know your audience * Principles of conducting a tour * How do you find out about your audience? * Building a relationship with your audience 4. Effective Communication * The communication process * Factors affecting effective communication * Ensuring effective communication * Listening - the pathway to understanding * Working with questions 5. Presenting Tour Activities * Effective presentation techniques * Working with microphones * Managing the nervous twitch * Adding strength and colour to the voice 6. Planning and Developing Tour Activities * Tour structures and tour stages * Planning and designing the tour * Conducting the tour * Evaluating the tour * OH&S, risk management and liabilities * Tours as a learning experience * Perception layering * Creative thinking 7. Your Tour Commentary * What is a commentary? * Structure of your commentary * Building your commentary * Enriching your commentary 8. Working with Tour Groups * Engaging in conversation and remembering people's names * Ensuring customer satisfaction through high quality customer service * Managing difficult situations * Assertive behaviour in more detail * What to do when things go awry 9. Extended Tours * What are extended tours? * Being a tour manager * Working with coaches and buses * Stages of an extended tour * What could go wrong on extended tours? 10. Working with Stories * What are stories? * Why do we work with stories? * Structure of a story * Telling the story * Storyforms * Character interpretation - telling a story in character