Guiding Your Visitors

Guiding Your Visitors - understanding different types of museum audiences and how to work with them.

Museum, heritage and gallery tour guides are the human face of their institution and have a significant role in the total visitor experience. To deliver the best service possible, a guide needs to be an excellent storyteller, well read in their subject and an expert in managing time and people.

Key to this is the development of a visitor-based insight- anticipating what their needs will be,  managing expectations and then trying meet them. Tours are now recognised as highly interactive experiences, rather than scripted talks in a gallery space. Understanding your audiences is key to delivering the best tour possible, and building your confidence as a tour guide.

This training is aimed at museum/heritage sector tour guides, those working at front-of-house whose role includes guiding, or those training to be tour guides. 

Facilitator: Catherine McGuinness is a science communicator, museum educator and performer specialising in biodiversity, zoology and natural history. She is a regular contributor to programmes by the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin Zoo, RTÉJr and the (former) Science Gallery and has worked with Electric Picnic, Body and Soul and the Festival of Curiosity, to successfully reach and engage new audiences.