Be a Better Guide Podcast - Tourism Training, Hospitality and Travel Business Success

Be a Better Guide Podcast - Tourism Training, Hospitality and Travel Business Success

By Kelsey Tonner: Award-winning Tour Guide Trainer, Tourism Consultant and Travel Business CoachSociety & CultureBusinessPlaces & TravelManagement
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Be a Better Guide Podcast - Tourism Training, Hospitality and Travel Business Success episodes

  • Episode 6 – Tips on How to Lead a Tour Outdoors! (i.e. Guiding Outside)
    As a Tour Guide, I’ve spent a lot of my time leading tours outdoors.
    In many ways, it was one of the perks to lead a tour outdoors, but as you may know, it presents many unique challenges.
    After years of guiding in the elements, I’ve got some best practices I want to share with you. Want a little teaser on how to lead a tour outdoors? Of course you do!
    Have you ever thought about where to put the sun when speaking to your group? Do you wear sunglasses all of the time as a tour leader? Do you know all of the places you can find shade and shelter along your route? What do you do if it the wind is howling?
    There are a lot of things to consider, and honestly, managing these small details is what sets apart the truly excellent tour guides.
    Let’s take a look!
    Kelsey T
    Finished Listening?
    What is your best advice for leading a tour outside? Any best practices for guiding outdoors you can share? Let the whole community know in the comments!


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  • Episode 5 – How to tell great stories on tour Story telling advice for guides!
    If you are interested in ‘How to tell great stories on tour?’ – then you are on the right track!
    Stories are the way that humans have communicated for hundreds and thousands of years. Effective speakers use stories to connect with their audiences and deliver their messages in powerful ways. Business schools around the world use ‘case studies’ and stories as teaching tools and to help students tease out lessons out of real life situations.
    There is no question, that as tour guides, we should hone and develop our storytelling skills. While many think that you need some ‘natural ability’ or that some people are just born great story tellers – join me in believing that ANYONE can become an incredible storyteller. By following the tips outlined the episode, practicing and studying the great storytellers in your life – you will be able to captivate audiences and keep people hanging off your every word!
    Not only will this make you a more interesting and effective guide, it will help you in a multitude of ways outside of your career.
    Let’s dive in and a special thanks to Lynn Neils from Chicago for the inspiration!
    -Kelsey T
    Finished Listening?
    Let me know in the comments below your best story telling tips! How do you tell great stories on tour?
     


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  • Episode 4 – How to be a funny tour guide and How to give a funny tour Tour Guide Training
    Today’s Tour Guide Training? How to be a funny tour guide and how to give a funny tour.
    Being funny is one of those traits that many incredible tour guides seem to share. You don’t have to be funny to be a great guide, but a well placed joke or a good hearted jab can really make your tour a lot more fun.

     
    People love laughing, being surprised and hearing about absurd people and places. A great tour is ultimately a form of entertainment and it is worth it to figure out how you can incorporate humour into your experience.

    Luckily, there are lots of ways to be funny, but unluckily, there is nothing less funny than someone trying too hard to tell jokes.

    My strategy today is as follows:

    1) Check out this episode for some tips on writing jokes and creating humour on your tour.

    2) On youtube I’ve found a tremendously funny English tour guide named Beefeater Bill. His tour lasts just under an hour, but is a great example of a tour guide being hilarious.

     
    Hopefully, you find these episodes helpful and they will at least provide you with a little inspiration for being funny on tour!

     

    To connect with ‘Beefeater’ Bill Callaghan you can use the links below for his website and twitter account!
    http://www.beefeaterbill.com
    https://twitter.com/intent/user?screen_name=BillyBeefeater
    -Kelsey T


    Click below to share today’s QnA tweetable:
    Being funny is mostly telling the truth about things -Bernard Sahlins via @beabetterguide



    Finished Listening?

    In the comments, let me know how you are funny on tour? What have you found is the best way to write jokes and what did you think about Beefeater Bill’s tour?


     
    PDF Resource – How to Be a Funny Tour Guide
     



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  • Episode 3 – How to Be a Better People Person – Tips for Tour Guides
    The question of how to be a better people person is one that every tour guide should ask themselves regularly.
    So how to be a better people person? I would make the case that great social skills are one of the top characteristics that set incredible guides apart from ok guides. Even if you have an encyclopedic knowledge and are a powerful public speaker, you will still struggle as a tour leader if you cannot confidently interact with your guests.
    To help you with this quest, I’ve created a free PDF resource entitled “How to Be a Better People Person – 5 Essential Books for Tour Guides” 
    These 5 books above all others, helped me to hone my people skills with the advice of these authors and trainers. Now, I must admit the titles of these books are pretty dumb – and perhaps not the type of book you would pick up just for personal pleasure. (One of the books is titled ‘Power-schmoozing’ for example…shudder)
    But don’t let these titles keep you from checking out these books. Inside of each one are techniques, tips and strategies for you to take your social skills to the next level.
    In addition, I’ve got six tips for you in this episode on how to be a better people person.
    We’ll look at how a great guide will put his guests at ease and reassure them that they are in great hands. We’ll talk about listening attentively during conversations and monitoring the emotional states of the people in your group. Does a customer seem disengaged? Flustered? Especially excited? A great guide will use their social intelligence to engage with their guests and draw them into the experience.
    Don’t forget to grab your free PDF right here and I hope you take the time to check out a few of these books. They helped me a lot in my early career as a guide!
    Finished Listening?
    Let me know in the comments how you developed your people skills? Any techniques or advice to share?
    PDF Resource – How to Be a Better People Person – Tips for Tour Guides
     


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  • Episode 2 – How to be a Powerful Speaker Lessons from Historys Finest Speeches – Tour Leader Tips
    Today we are going to talk about some the things we can learn from history’s greatest speakers.
    I regularly get asked the question How to become a Powerful Speaker? by guides and tour leaders in the Be a Better Guide Community. Therefore, in this episode, we’ve turned to some of our greatest historical orators and a book by James C. Humes for some advice.
    To help inspire you even further, I’ve put together a free resource: “10 Incredible Speeches, by 10 Incredible Speakers” It is a hand-picked group of 10 youtube videos you can watch online for free!
    Instead of choosing exclusively political speeches, I’ve included some of the most powerful speeches I’ve seen in the last 5 years. Take a look, enjoy the videos, but most all, watch how the speakers use the techniques we’ve mentioned.
    A big part of the inspiration for this episode came from a wonderful book called,‘Speak Like Churchill – Stand Like Lincoln’ by the author James C. Humes.
    I really enjoyed the read and thought there were some extremely important techniques shared about how to captivate and inspire an audience. You can learn more about the book or order it online using this link right here. 
    Humes offers over 21 techniques used by some of the greatest speakers of all time. But, just to give you a little taste, in this episode I offer 5 of the tips that I think are incredibly relevant for tour leaders.
    Guides are regularly in front of audiences and are expected to entertain, educate and inspire their guests. We have such an opportunity to take our public speaking to the next level, simply by carefully observing other talented orators.
    Good luck and enjoy!
    Kelsey T
    Finished Listening?
    In the comments, share a link to one of your favourite speakers. What makes their speech stand out to you? I’m REALLY excited to receive clips of some of your favourite speeches and thanks for sharing with the whole community!
    PDF Resource – How to be a Powerful Speaker Lessons from Historys Finest Speeches – Tour Leader Tips
     


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  • Episode 1 – What To Do with your Hands while Speaking Effective Hand Gestures for Tour Guides


    If you ever look at video footage of some of the world’s most successful speakers, you’ll notice that they all have one thing in common: They use LOTS of hand gestures.
    An fantastic study done by the Science of People reviewed thousands of hours of the most and least popular TED talks. The least popular speakers on TED used an average of 272 hand gestures over their 18 minute talk, while the most popular TED speakers used an average of 465 hand gestures—that’s almost double!
    Other studies consistently show that if presenters use hand gestures, their audiences will remember up to twice as much information versus doing the same presentation without gestures. But this connection between memory and movement can also help you as the presenter.
    Based on these results and the outcomes of earlier findings, Dr. Elena Nicoladis and her research colleagues at the University of Alberta believe there is a connection between language, memory access and gesturing. Nicoladis found “the very fact of moving your hands helps you recall parts of the story – the gestures help you access memory and language…”
    So if we appreciate that our hand gestures are actually an integral part of our tour – for both us and our audience – we should take some time to consider which movements are the most effective for speakers.
    Have you ever wondered if there are hand gestures that you should avoid while speaking? There certainly are! That’s why we created a bonus PDF resource called, ‘Talking with Your Hands – 7 Common Mistakes to Avoid’. Grab your free copy by clicking below and take a look at some of the gestures that may be holding you back.
    What to do with your hands while speaking?
    In this video, we’ll look at four types of effective hand gestures to put in your toolbox. There is a good chance that you are already using ‘the give’, ‘the mime’, ‘the show’ and ‘the chop’ – but we’ll look at how effectively speaking with our hands is all about choosing the right gesture for the right moment.
    We’ll also find your base posture, which is the position that you should gesture to, and from, when making hand movements. This will keep your motion natural looking and give you an idea of where to put your arms when not actively gesturing. I’ll also show you exactly where 90% of your hand movements should be to avoid distracting or confusing your audience.
    Enjoy the video, grab that PDF and start leveraging the power of effective hand gestures on your tours. Know someone who might appreciate these tips? Share this video and get them in on the action!
    -Kelsey Tonner
    Founder, Be a Better Guide
    Finished Watching?
    In the comments, share any advice you have on gesturing more effectively while speaking. Any best practices you can share with the community? We’d love to hear from you!
     
    PDF Resource – Talking with You...
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About Be a Better Guide Podcast - Tourism Training, Hospitality and Travel Business Success

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Kelsey Tonner is an experienced, global tour guide and founder of the Be a Better Guide Project, a movement that brings together tour guides and tour operators from around the world to learn from one…