The experience of a guided tour can vary significantly from place to place. Smaller, independent tours might be led by one guide, offering an intimate, personalised experience to visitors. Some historical sites or museums might be best explored through self-guided tours, where visitors use audio equipment to learn about the site at their own pace. But in other cases, tour guiding is best when offered by a collaborative team.
Tag-team guiding and ensemble interpretation are a great way to make a lecture feel more like a performance. The best tour guide companies provide memorable experiences, and, when done right, adding additional guides is a great way to make the practice feel more dynamic. This article will explore how to create team-guided tours, covering the importance of proper role definition, storytelling techniques and equipment requirements.
Creating clear roles between members
Being in a team of two or more requires everyone to have clear, well-defined roles. You can’t all be gunning for the same or similar roles and expect things to function smoothly.
- Make sure you have a lead storyteller to set pace and deliver the primary narrative.
- Having some subject specialists in place is great, as it allows for more in-detail analysis and helps to break up sections of the tour.
- A “sweep” at the back of the group can help to keep the tour moving properly, as well as offering answers to specific group questions throughout.
A great team tour guiding technique is using the lead storyteller to guide specialists towards answers, as it makes the process feel less rigid and more natural.
Chemistry tips
It’s vital for the team to have good, well-rehearsed chemistry that still feels natural. The last thing luxury guided tour companies need is professional tension within their tour guiding ranks.
Proper hand-offs are essential
One of the most important facets of a team tour guide experience is ensuring transitions between speakers. The lead should physically move to the back of the group, after leaving the next speaker on a transitionary sentence. This makes things feel seamless and impressively smooth.
Make sure there’s no over-talking
You don’t want one person to talk over or correct someone during the tour. If someone makes a mistake, deal with it later, rather than undermining a speaker’s authority. Maintaining the “performance” is essential.
Take on different focuses
In larger site tours, someone can manage the big ticket items while another guide focuses on the finer details. This makes for simultaneous visual experiences for the group.
Getting the right equipment
One of the most important things about good teamwork is clear communication, which is where two-way radio headphones come in handy. If two members of the team are in different places and not in earshot, having a technological system for seamless communication is essential for making decisions on the fly or simply giving regular updates.
For all your tour guiding equipment needs, visit our website today. We have a broad range of systems designed to streamline all manner of tour experiences, in all sorts of sites. We also have an extensive blog archive, full of articles just like this to be your guide through the touring profession.