The Art Engager

The traditional lecture-style guided tour is dead, long live the interactive tour!

Well, it’s not actually, it’s still alive and kicking in some quarters, but in my opinion it shouldn’t be the way we think about guided tours in the 21st Century.

Traditional lecture-style ‘walk and talk ‘ guided tours with an expert guide are still fairly common and in some places are still a standard way of ‘presenting’ an historic site, a city or a museum to the public.

Things have definitely changed in the last 10 years since I started this journey of teaching others how to transition to a more discussion-based approach, but there is still work to be done.

If you feel you talk too much on your tours or you overshare information, this podcast episode is for you. If you would like to have more interaction with your participants then today I’m sharing 10 easy ways you can implement NOW to make your tours more interactive - that means more of a two-way conversation rather than a one-way lecture.

So, here are 10 easy ways to make your guided tours more interactive.

Links

Support the Show

Episode 4 The 5 Golden Rules for Asking Brilliant Questions

Episode 10 10 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Asking Questions

Episode 15 How to Use Artworks to Improve your Questioning Skills

The TM WEEKLY Newsletter - every Friday in your Inbox!

This week’s episode is inspired by recent classes in the Visible Thinking Membership where we've been exploring the concept of using drawing and sketching for slow looking and observation. 

When people are learning how to draw, they actually learn how to observe first. And being a sketcher makes you a better observer - it’s as though you are seeing something for the first time when you’re trying to draw it. 

Today I’m talking about using drawing as an observational exercise. It’s not a test of how good your drawing skills are, it’s a test of how to use your eyes. 👀

 Using drawing as a tool for slow looking enriches and enhances what you see. 

So here are 3 thinking routines that you can use for slow looking, extended observation and drawing. 

And at the end of this episode I’ll be sharing some ways to get over drawing apprehension - that feeling of nerves when someone asks you to draw. How can you help your group to feel comfortable and enjoy drawing with you? So do stick around to the end for those ideas too!

Links

Support the Show

How to Use Slow Complexity Capture to Slow Down and Explore Objects

Ways Things Can be Complex

Simon Brooks Education

Today I’m really excited to be chatting to Louise Thompson - a museums and wellbeing consultant as well as the health and wellbeing manager at Manchester Art Gallery for the past 9 years. We’re talking how about art and objects can be used to learn wellbeing skills and improve mental health.

Louise has over 12 years experience of arts and health practice and is hugely passionate about using culture and creativity to improve people’s wellbeing.

We discuss:

• Louise’s work and some of the wonderful projects she’s worked on recently - the Becoming a Mum art therapy project during lockdown and the pioneering Mindful Museum at Manchester Art Gallery.
• how artworks can create a sense of community and how art and cultural collections can make us feel less alone and more connected.
• how attitudes to mental health have changed over the past few years and how museums, art and objects can play a role in improving wellbeing and mental health
• mindfulness and the particular type of mindfulness that informs Louise’s work - trauma-sensitive mindfulness - and how cultural institutions are brilliantly placed to teach mindfulness in a trauma-sensitive way.

Louise shares so much value in our chat - make sure you listen to the whole episode to catch it all!

Support the Show - https://buymeacoffee.com/clairebown

Masterclass -The Mindful Museum: Using Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness to Engage with Cultural Collections

https://thinkingmuseum.com/product/the-mindful-museum/

Well Mindful website https://well-mindful.com/

Louise Thompson on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/well_mindful_/

Louise Thompson on Twitter https://twitter.com/Louise_Tea_

Becoming a Mum https://manchesterartgallery.org/learn/becoming-a-mum/

Lead art psychotherapist for Becoming a Mum - Sarah Greaves

Sarah Greaves Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sarahgreavesart/

The Mindful Museum https://manchesterartgallery.org/learn/mindful-museum/

Have you ever asked a question that was greeted with nothing but silence? You look around and all you can see are blank faces.

The silence is scary because you don’t know what people are thinking. It could mean anything.

You wait a little longer and still nothing happens. Just the sound of tumbleweed rustling by….

You've just experienced a 'tumbleweed moment' - a period of dead air or silence. 

And it’s awkward and uncomfortable - not just for you but also for your participants too. 

You don't know what people are thinking and your mind races to think of something to fill the silence. 

But what if you had some steps to work though to help you get over this moment? Well, help is at hand. Today I'm sharing some practical ways to get over a tumbleweed moment.

And at the end I’ll be sharing some advice about avoiding these moments in the first place - so stick around and together we’ll make sure you never have to hear the terrifying sound of silence again! 

LINKS

Support the show! https://buymeacoffee.com/clairebown

Episode 10 - 10 common mistakes to avoid when asking questions - https://thinkingmuseum.com/2021/06/24/10-common-mistakes-to-avoid-when-asking-questions/

In the past week I’ve just started teaching my Visible Thinking in the Museum Online course (VTMO) to a group of international educators excited to start confidently leading  discussions around art and objects. 

There’s always a buzz when we get going and an enthusiasm to learn as much as you can as quickly as possible. 

But I always try to slow down participants, so that they can take it one step at a time and build up their practice (and confidence) slowly. 

So this week’s episode is for all the new VTMO-ers and for anyone who has just started out using thinking routines to engage their audiences with art. Here are my top 13 tips for getting started!

LINKS

Support the show https://buymeacoffee.com/clairebown

Today I’m really excited to be introducing our first guest chat on the podcast - Samantha Boffin.

Samantha is a voice actor, director and audio drama coach working with clients on voice technique, voiceover and communication.⁠

Your voice is one of your biggest assets when it comes to storytelling, entertaining and engaging your audience. In this episode, you will discover how to look after it, use it and make the most of it with simple, fun and actionable techniques. 

Samantha shares some wonderful tips and techniques that we can all use to make the most of our voice and use it in the best way possible.

We discuss:

• Why your voice is important
• Tips / techniques for optimising your voice before you start a session (e.g an art discussion or a guided tour or a classroom lesson for teachers!)
• How to use your voice to ENGAGE your audience
• How the voice can be a tool in your educator toolbox to keep your audience tuned in, curious and eager to participate.

Sam is very generous with her advice and shares lots of gold here – so you might need to make notes! 

Links

Find Samantha's Masterclass 'Your voice: How to Look after it, use it and engage your audience' in my membership programme

www.samanthaboffin.co.uk

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-boffin/

Instagram   https://www.instagram.com/samanthaboffin/

Taking Creative podcast https://samanthaboffin.co.uk/talkingcreative/

Today I’m talking about the 6 core elements in my popular Visible Thinking in the Museum Online (VTMO) course - elements that you should also have in your educator repertoire to connect with your audience and engage them with art and objects.

I'm sharing with you:

• How the course came about during the start of the pandemic in 2020
• How it was designed and why
• The 6 core elements of the course and why they're important to you
• What you will get out of VTMO

Next week,  I’m teaching VTMO for the final time in the Visible Thinking membership. We start on 20 September!

LINKS

Support the show https://buymeacoffee.com/clairebown

Visible Thinking in the Museum Online (VTMO) course - www.thinkingmuseum.com/vtmo

Would you love to learn how to design and lead engaging discussions around art and objects in just 4 days?

On Monday through to Thursday next week, I’ll be sharing 4 principles that are key 🔑 for creating engagement and connection when you're designing and leading art discussions. ⁠

In this BONUS podcast episode (a first for The Art Engager!) you’ll learn everything you need to know about what happens when you join the challenge, who it's for and how it will work.

Join in the 4 day Art of Engagement Challenge next week to make concrete progress on your journey to designing and leading engaging discussions around art and objects. 

So, what are you waiting for? Take some steps today and join me for the challenge on Monday - sign up today via the link below!

LINK

Join The Art of Engagement Challenge - SIGN UP HERE https://mailchi.mp/4fc80dab0b8a/artofengagement

Today I’m sharing some thoughts about how you can successfully design and lead engaging discussion-based programmes around art and objects.

I’ll be talking briefly about the difference between different types of 'talking' in museum education - conversations, discussions and dialogue - before moving into 11 tips for success in creating conversations around art and objects.

Links

Support the Show - https://buymeacoffee.com/clairebown

Sign up for The Art of Engagement Challenge - https://mailchi.mp/4fc80dab0b8a/artofengagement

Episode 18 Common Fears Around Leading Discussion-Based Programmes ( and How to Deal with Them)

https://thinkingmuseum.com/2021/09/01/common-fears-around-leading-discussion-based-programmes-and-how-to-deal-with-them/

Episode 9 - Creating a Great Group Dynamic in the 'New Now' https://thinkingmuseum.com/2021/06/16/creating-a-great-group-dynamic-in-the-new-now/

'Teaching in the Art Museum: Interpretation as Experience' - Rika Burnham and Elliot Kai-Kee

Leading tours and educational programmes that are based on discussion, inquiry and interaction can be a scary business. Both for you and for your participants.

And if you’re about to take your first steps, it might seem really daunting. However, do remember that any concerns you have are perfectly normal and you’re not alone (we’ve all been there and had to start somewhere).

Take it one step at a time and with time, practice and guidance, it will get easier (I promise!).

In this podcast episode, I’m going to summarise the most common fears and concerns about leading discussion-based programmes that I’ve heard over the last 20 years, along with suggestions for ways to overcome them.

LINKS

Support the Show - https://buymeacoffee.com/clairebown

Visible Thinking in the Museum Online (VTMO) - www.thinkingmuseum.com/vtmo

The Art Engager, Episode 12: Best Practices for Sharing Information - https://player.captivate.fm/episode/edd22a39-daa0-46f4-9444-5d6eb656164b

The Art Engager, Episode 4: The 5 Golden Rules for Asking Questions - https://player.captivate.fm/episode/8de302e0-94ce-4c79-8486-b0b92f83210d