Are you curious as to how to use props and visual aids on your tour?
Would you like to have your tour stand out from the pack? Is there some way to have people walk away from your tour eager to recommend it to others?
Of course there is! We here at Be a Better Guide spend every day thinking about how to best provide tour guide training, inspiration and collect insights so that your tour will grow into something worth talking about.
This week I take a look at techniques from some of the best wine tours I have ever been on.
I share which ones were the most memorable for me, why that was, and how you can put it into practice on your next tour. I’ll give you a hint – engaging all of the senses is one guaranteed way to make it stand out from the pack.
Watch the video above to get all of the juicy details and take action today!
-Kelsey T
Finished Watching?
In the comments below, share your favourite prop, object or visual aid and how using it has impacted your tour! What is the most creative way that you have seen other tour guides engage their audience?
Share this link if you know someone looking for inspiration and subscribe after the video to join the community!
Transcript:
Hi, everyone. Welcome to Tour Guide TV. I’m Kelsea and here we go world-class training for world-class guys with Zulu shields.
Today, we’re going to talk about the use props on your tour. There’s honestly no better way to keep people engaged than by having a few visual aids or objects that you can hand around. Remember, the most powerful way to tell stories is by showing, not telling.
Let’s look at some of the best wine tours that I’ve ever been on and through these examples, maybe you can find a way to take your tour to the next level, to get memorable and remarkable.
One of the most important elements of great wine is the soil in which it grows. Now, to hit this home, I’ve seen wine tour guides hand around pieces of shell or clay, or fossils to really make this clear to their guests.
So now, when they’re talking about the land, the guests really have the opportunity to hold that soil in their hand, and it makes for a much richer experience because they can smell it and look at it.
Did you know that the wine growers in Northern France will sometimes use ice to freeze their grapes to protect them from even colder temperatures? Now, you can try and picture that looks like.
Do you know what’s even better? I’ll show you a picture. Isn’t that crazy? Use photos and handouts as a way to drive curiosity and also to save time on description. Remember, show, don’t tell.
Now, using a map on a tour isn’t a groundbreaking idea. But I once had a tour guide who used a three-dimensional map and a flashlight to demonstrate the importance of southern-facing slopes in Burgundy, France.
So by using a flashlight as a sun, he could simulate its movement across the sky and the whole group could see on his three-dimensional map how those southern-facing slopes were almost never in the shadow.
This was such a cool, very simple thing that he can do. It was often a highlight of the tour for guests.
If you ask people what they are favorite wine tour is, it’s probably the drinking the wine part. And part of the reason for this is that they’re invited to use their nose and their taste buds, and it’s a very sensual rich experience.
So, in your tour, is there any way that you could hand out some food or a small tasting of something, or a local speciality that fits within your theme? So, therefore, quick examples to get you thinking about how you can beef up your own tour.
But remember, if you’re going to have this type of experience, it needs to be able to be shared by everyone. It’s of little use if you have a binder with a small picture in it that half the group can see, or the same thing goes for an object that you want to pass around.
If you have one and it needs to go through the hands of 50-odd people, there’s a chance that people are going to miss out.
In the comments below, share your favorite prop or visual aid or something you do in your tour, and how it’s impacted your guests. Share this video if you know someone who needs a little inspiration and subscribe to the community.
Thanks for being here. We’ll see you next time.
