and entertainment facilities, or even religious institutions. Go ahead, ask for an hour of the planetarium curator’s time or for a backstage tour of the Metropolitan Opera. The worst that can happen is the person will be too busy or say no.
Keeping current is essential to your success. Tourism offices, visitors’ bureaus, and chambers of commerce help you keep up to the minute about an area. Radio and TV broadcasts, magazines, and the local daily newspapers are sources of current information, but so are the “freebies” published in most towns and cities. Don’t thumb your nose just because they don’t cost anything.
What kind of information do people want? Someone will eventually ask you for anything you can think of — and much that you cannot imagine — but there are a few standard questions you need to prepare yourself for.
2.1 The area’s natural environment
People don’t need to be biologists or zoologists to want information about the area they are traveling through. Questions will likely include:
• What kind of local flora and fauna will I see?
• What about the geology? (Just how was the Grand Canyon formed?)
• What is the weather like? This is not just a conversation opener on tours. People are interested in climate, seasons, and temperature.
• Is the water safe to drink here? Water quality is becoming a concern everywhere, not just in third world nations.
2.2 Sociology
• How is the government structured and where are the centers of power? Is it a democratic system or a form of dictatorship?
• How do people earn their living and how much does it cost to live here? What kinds of jobs and industries are there? What does a house cost? How much is food and entertainment? If I lived here, could I put my kid through college? If I got sick here, what are the medical services like?
• What kinds of community services are available? These services can be anything from art festivals and recreational facilities to ATM/bank machines. Experienced tour guides know they must have information on churches, laundry and dry cleaning, libraries, liquor stores, museums, shopping malls, sports stadiums, and restaurants.
• What are the predominant religions?
2.3 The area’s history and current statistics
How many people live here? How big is the country? What happened here 100 years ago? 500 years ago? 20 years ago?
2.4 Transportation
What kinds of transportation are available? Participants on one Vancouver, BC, tour were so fascinated by small shuttle boats bobbing across False Creek that the tour guide added the 15-minute ride to her next tour’s itinerary. It was one of the highlights because it was so unique.
2.5 Taxes
Everyone loves to hate taxes. Otherwise calm, mild-mannered people have been known to take on the characteristics of an angry war god when faced with a 15 percent tax bill on their souvenirs. Be sure to warn your group about the local taxes when entering a new country. There are three common forms of taxes:
(a) Local sales tax is usually set by province, state, or municipality.
(b) Value-added tax (VAT) is common in European countries.
(c) Goods and services tax (GST) is less common but similar to VAT. GST is added to all services including laundry, rentals, and postage.
The good news is that foreigners can often receive refunds for the tax they pay by applying at customs when leaving the country, state, or province.
3. It’s All A Matter of Communication
You have done your research. You have pored over all the printed material you could find. You have interviewed locals, experts, and every member of the visitor’s bureau. You have confirmed that all your facts are current and accurate. You’re ready!
Or are you?
No matter how much information you have prepared, you must be able to deliver it in a way that sparks people’s interest and keeps them clamoring for more. Successful tour guides and tour directors are skilled communicators who project an infectious enthusiasm through their commentary.
3.1 Keeping their attention
Here are some tips from experienced guides to help you prepare sparkling commentary that will keep everyone listening eagerly.
(a) A four-hour lecture read directly from notes is boring to both you and the tour members. Be as dramatic as your comfort level and professionalism allow. Build suspense and excitement. Deliver your commentary with different inflections and gestures, and vary the pace, being sure to use and explain any colorful or unusual local jargon such as “the briny,” a British term for the sea.
(b) Stay on topic, but be aware of each group’s individual interests. One first-time guide was amazed to discover his group was more interested in golf and souvenir shopping than anything he had to say about the Grand Canyon.
(c) Encourage questions, then paraphrase and repeat them back to the entire group before you answer. This allows everyone to understand what you are answering. It also acknowledges the merit of the question, and makes the person who asked it feel they are a valued member of the group. Questions can spark new areas for you to research, which will benefit all future tours. If one person is curious about the way an earthquake-proof building is constructed, you can be sure others are too.
(d) Personal anecdotes add spice. Personal opinions can be annoying or even insulting.
(e) We use many empty qualifiers and sweeping generalizations in day-to-day speech. Best, worst, a lot of, nice, fantastic, or pretty are all phrases to avoid. They add fluff but no substance and are often inaccurate. A comment such as “A lot of pretty nice flowers are in this fantastic botanical garden” will curl most anyone’s hair whether they are interested in flowers or not.
(f) We have five senses, so draw on all of them. Is it hot or cold? How does the freshly cut hay smell, or the roast duck from the market? Is it so silent you can hear the leaves rustle or are jackhammers pounding behind you? Is the fabric spun by local weavers silky smooth or coarse and abrasive?
3.2 Can everyone hear me?
Microphones and on-board communication systems make delivering commentary much easier and less physically exhausting than it once was. However, they have their quirks like any other machinery. Here is how to work with, not against, your communication equipment.
(a) Test the system before your tour members arrive. The driver will probably know when there is a problem, but you should run a quick check all the same. (It never hurts...)
(b) We have all heard it — the piercing shriek when someone turns the volume on an amplifier too high and creates audio feedback. It certainly gets everyone’s attention, but it is attention you would be better off without. Adjust the volume and balance ahead of time so you know where the feedback areas are and so people in one part of the bus are not fishing out their earplugs while others are straining to hear what you are saying.
(c) Cordless systems run on batteries. Make sure the battery is charged and always carry a spare.
(d) If you are not fortunate enough to have a cordless microphone, be aware of where the cord is. Anything that dangles in the aisles will eventually get tripped over — most likely by you.
(e) Video equipment may need to be focused or repositioned so everyone can see.
3.3 The strange case of the missing voice
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