As interesting as history is, if it is conveyed as only facts, it may not be as engaging for everyone during a tour. This means, you could lose your audience’s attention and end up being just another explanation they got and forgot. If you create an active and powerful tour in which the visitors relate and understand what is being introduced, they will remember it and they will be more likely to leave you a good review afterwards.
What is storytelling?
Storytelling is a tool to make information much more interesting, engaging and dynamic. It engages the visitor from the beginning all the way to the end of the tour because it also makes the facts understandable by all. This is very practical, especially in tours where there is a big age gap between the visitors.
Storytelling offers a stimulating and passionate way to lay out history by painting a picture with words, so travelers can learn new things or confirm some details they may already know. It ignites a spark of interest in people and makes them want to know more. However, it does not mean to invent new facts, but to add context to history and explain with examples of details that the visitors may be especially curious about.
How can storytelling help tour guides?
Storytelling can help you keep your audience engaged and interested, that way, they will remember at least most of the tour by the end of it. Keep in mind, it is a way to interpret the natural and cultural heritage of the place you are presenting. This tool allows history to be molded into dynamic and understandable packages for your audience.
To create an engaging beginning and a satisfactory ending, you must not only reveal new facts to the visitors, but also add new details to their understanding of history. Get the “ah, now it makes sense!” reaction. With storytelling, your visitors will understand, love and remember the history you conveyed during the tour and you will get better and more reviews.
Tips to improve you tours with storytelling
- Create a theme or a narrative line to follow throughout the tour.
- Start with a question, punchline, statement or even part of the ending.
- This way, people will immediately be curious about what is to come next, they will want to know how it came to that ending or the answer to the question or why that punchline.
- Know your audience.
- Where are they from? How old are they? Is it their first time there? This may help you tell the story from a new point of view or add facts that they may find extra engaging because of their nationality or age.
- Relate to something people already know or understand, like using present cases to describe.
- Use props.
- For example, legends, poetry, music, or even local handcrafts.
- Link the information to something they have seen or will see on the tour.
- Do not drown them in facts.
- Use all 5 senses.
- Show them how things looked, tasted, sounded, smelled or felt back then, but always minding the visitor’s safety.
- Mind your body language when you are explaining things.
- Show professionalism, but also openness to questions.
- Be open to questions and facts they may know and want to add themselves.
- Think about it as telling a story that has a beginning, a middle and an end.
- Compare to other cultures as an illustration of how things were done back then.
- Keep it short and simple.
- Do not be afraid to show that you care or that you are passionate about what you are explaining.
TourReview will help you measure and analyze your reviews to keep on growing and improving your tours and services. TourReview allows you to see exactly what travelers loved or what aspects they believe could be refined. Therefore you can get an idea on what kind of changes to make or where to increase the work effort.
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