Just got a job with park ops as a tour guide. Anyone have tips and tricks (other than knowing what I’m talking about)? Thanks in advance!
Tips?
- Thread starter michaeelaln
- Start date
When i was in the scouts our troop use to give tours of Walter Reed's birthplace with me doing most of the tours due to my background as a military historian so here are some tips that helped me.
1. Cue cards- if your not able to recite everything by memory then keep cards that you can look at between tours to keep the information in mind.
2. Be loud and clear- If your mumbling while talking or speaking to fast your audience won't be able to understand you.
3. Be short and concise- Its great that you've been given this information but deliver it in manner which keep the the intention of your audience because if you start to ramble people will lose interest.
4. Engage your audience- at a park like BGW its okay to let people look around while your doing your presentation but as you do deliver information that will peek there interest so while they're taking in their surrondings they are also paying attention to you.
5. Be respectful and polite- this will go along way towards keeping your audience investd and making the tour just run smoother.
5. Relax and be yourself- Just relax if you make a mistake roll with it and correct it next time and have fun with your audience through making jokes or talking to them about them and last answer questions to the best of your knowledge.
I believe if you follow these tips you'll make an exellent tour guide and I hope I was able to answer your all your questions.
1. Cue cards- if your not able to recite everything by memory then keep cards that you can look at between tours to keep the information in mind.
2. Be loud and clear- If your mumbling while talking or speaking to fast your audience won't be able to understand you.
3. Be short and concise- Its great that you've been given this information but deliver it in manner which keep the the intention of your audience because if you start to ramble people will lose interest.
4. Engage your audience- at a park like BGW its okay to let people look around while your doing your presentation but as you do deliver information that will peek there interest so while they're taking in their surrondings they are also paying attention to you.
5. Be respectful and polite- this will go along way towards keeping your audience investd and making the tour just run smoother.
5. Relax and be yourself- Just relax if you make a mistake roll with it and correct it next time and have fun with your audience through making jokes or talking to them about them and last answer questions to the best of your knowledge.
I believe if you follow these tips you'll make an exellent tour guide and I hope I was able to answer your all your questions.
Were you ever in marching band?
If you haven't here's a great piece of advice: When walking backwards: (1) the ground will always be there, (2) walk on your toes, (3) don't lift your feet very high. When being a tour guide being able to do this is a necessity. You will have people try to talk to you as you are walking to the next place, so being able to talk and walk while facing the group means they'll be able to hear you and you'll be more engaging.
If you haven't here's a great piece of advice: When walking backwards: (1) the ground will always be there, (2) walk on your toes, (3) don't lift your feet very high. When being a tour guide being able to do this is a necessity. You will have people try to talk to you as you are walking to the next place, so being able to talk and walk while facing the group means they'll be able to hear you and you'll be more engaging.
First off, congratulations!
This might not be for every audience, but I personally love random trivia. I even like to know the small things like what brand of theatrical lights the park uses. This is probably boring for most people, though. With an audience of people like myself and some others on this site, you might sprinkle an interesting fact like how many lumens (a measurement of light) are used in The Globe Theatre (a lot- and the info is public) if you notice that you have technical Theatre buffs in the group.
It's a tough balancing act, but fans love it when tour guides can tune into their frequencies. It makes the tour feel more personalized. I hope this helps, and maybe I will see you on a tour someday!
This might not be for every audience, but I personally love random trivia. I even like to know the small things like what brand of theatrical lights the park uses. This is probably boring for most people, though. With an audience of people like myself and some others on this site, you might sprinkle an interesting fact like how many lumens (a measurement of light) are used in The Globe Theatre (a lot- and the info is public) if you notice that you have technical Theatre buffs in the group.
It's a tough balancing act, but fans love it when tour guides can tune into their frequencies. It makes the tour feel more personalized. I hope this helps, and maybe I will see you on a tour someday!
Thanks! I’m definitely one of those people that loves the seemingly small details, like you mentioned. I’m also a theatre tech so that will definitely help!
Do yo know which tours you will be giving?
One of our biggest gripes about the BGW tours is when the tour guides don't seem to know the history of the attractions and the park, beyond the current marketing materials. If you can give us some targets, I'm sure this group can fill you in on lots of (sometimes forgotten) background.
One of our biggest gripes about the BGW tours is when the tour guides don't seem to know the history of the attractions and the park, beyond the current marketing materials. If you can give us some targets, I'm sure this group can fill you in on lots of (sometimes forgotten) background.
Coaster Insider and Howl O Scream behind the scenes I believe. I was director of operations at a haunted house in Yorktown for 6 years so I know everything about the inner workings of haunts. And thanks to this site I probably know more history of the park than most cast members.
I love the coaster tour, and I am curious about the HOS tour.
Those definitely sound like topics we can help with. Although, if you have already read a lot, you might already know more than you need.
For HOS, I imagine the history of each location (the previous houses, etc) might be interesting.
Real fun fact for the coasters would be great, too. And I don't mean stats.
Those definitely sound like topics we can help with. Although, if you have already read a lot, you might already know more than you need.
For HOS, I imagine the history of each location (the previous houses, etc) might be interesting.
Real fun fact for the coasters would be great, too. And I don't mean stats.
I’m not crazy about plain stats. I feel like they only make sense or interest few people, while the history of previous attractions and such is what people are actually interested in.
Like, how many Fabios have broken their face open-per coaster?!
Just remember, if you engage with them, and ask questions about her the guys who work on Nessie in the maintainace bay love to talk about her. The two times I took the tour, they got excited when asked technical questions. They told us cool things like Nessie has a personality. She gets cranky if she has not been run in awhile.