The Art Engager

Over the past year, I’ve attended some fantastic interactive online sessions and I’ve led hundreds of my own.⁠

I’ve also attended some pretty dull one-way presentations and long lectures.

No matter what type of session you are leading - be it a virtual tour, an online art discussion, an online class or course - you need to keep your session interactive to stop participants from tuning out. 

You need to find a variety of ways to engage people throughout the session.

Online experiences that emphasise personalisation, active learning, interaction and engagement will be here to stay.

If you haven't levelled up your skills yet, it's time you took some action

When it’s done right, online sessions are JUST as (and in some cases MORE) rewarding and engaging online. ⁠

But how do you make it interactive and keep everyone fully engaged? Here are my 13 ways to get you started...

LINKS

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

Recorded Masterclass: Zoom Confidence for Educators - https://thinkingmuseum.com/product/zoom-confidence-for-educators/

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

Episode 10 - 10 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Asking Questions https://player.captivate.fm/episode/be7953c3-9b54-4de4-9ed2-e793caef6851

Episode 15 How to Use Artworks to Improve your Questioning Skills - https://player.captivate.fm/episode/8868cace-a070-4eef-806b-c12324b15246

Today I’m doing a deep dive on the most famous and well-known thinking routine of them all - See Think Wonder. 

I’m going to share with you how you can use this thinking routine in your art discussions and why it’s one of the best routines for getting started with Visible Thinking in the Museum - my method for engaging and connecting with audiences, art and ideas. 

It’s actually the first thinking routine that I teach when I do a training with teams of educators or guides in a museum and the first routine that I teach on my popular VTMO course. 

STW is a GREAT thinking routine to use when you are new to Visible Thinking and a really good one to use at the beginning of a guided tour or museum programme. 

But what is it, how can you use it and, importantly, what's so special about it? All will be revealed today in episode 16!

Links

Support the show

The Ultimate Thinking Routine List

Visible Thinking in the Museum Online (VTMO) Course

How can you improve your questioning skills without resorting to reading long lists of tips and techniques and do's and don'ts?

What can you use to help you create, sort and evaluate better questions?

The simple answer is: ART.

I’ve been using artworks for years to help me to brainstorm, sort, re-word and improve my questions.

Artworks (and objects) provide an engaging and focused way to work on your questioning skills.

I’m not an ‘expert questioner’ by any means and have found that this is a skill that I have had to consistently work at to improve. But by using artworks, I really enjoy the process too. 

In today’s episode I’m going to share with you some practical ways you can use art as a tool to become a better questioner! 

NOTES

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

Wikiart.org - https://www.wikiart.org/

How to Ask Brilliant Questions Masterclass https://thinkingmuseum.com/product/how-to-ask-brilliant-questions-that-get-results/

Today I’m sharing 5 simple slow looking ideas for the summer. 

In our fast-paced society, we scan, we skim and we scroll. We have forgotten what it’s like to really look at something.

Slow looking is a wonderful alternative to life in the fast lane.

The 5 activities I'll be sharing in this episode are simple, effective ways to slow down, improve your observational skills and focus and notice more details around you. 

You can use these slow looking activities throughout the summer - either on your own or with friends and family and children.

All of the activities are designed to help you develop your ability to see - and in doing so, spark creativity, curiosity and improve focus.

By the end of this episode you’ll have a range of great ideas to keep yourself and others engaged in slow looking in a range of different environments (outside and inside), some involve art and some do not.

All are designed to help improve your observation skills and help you to slow down and relax.

Which activity are you going to try? I’d love to hear how you get on with any of this activities, Please share your thoughts, photos, sketches and or notes via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter using the hashtag #summerslowlooking

LINKS

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

Thinking Museum website https://thinkingmuseum.com

Today I’m talking all about how to use the ‘Unveiling Stories’ thinking routine to investigate multiple layers of meaning with a photograph.

This is part of a new series of episodes on the podcast where I share a thinking routine with you and all the insights for how you might be able to use it with an artwork or object with groups - either in-person or online.

Unveiling Stories was our ‘thinking routine of the month’ for June in my Membership Programme. Every month we have a specialist thinking routine online class that gives us the opportunity to discover a new thinking routine or to dig a bit deeper into one we already know. 

Discover in this episode:

• What is ‘Unveiling Stories’ thinking routine?
• 5 Steps of Unveiling Stories
• About ‘Unveiling Stories’
• How we structured the discussion using 'Cross-Border Love' - a photograph by Roland Schmid
• My key takeaways and tips for using this thinking routine

LINKS

Support the show

Roland Schmid, ‘Cross-Border Love’ (25 April, 2020 )Courtesy of World Press Photo https://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo/2021/41420/1/Roland-Schmid

The Thinking Museum Membership

ULTIMATE THINKING ROUTINES LIST

Many of us are experts in our field - possibly art historians, historians or archaeologists - and want to share that incredible knowledge with the groups we lead in our programmes.

But knowing what information to share, how to share it and when to share it is often tricky – especially on interactive, discussion-based programmes. And what happens when you add too much information? And how much is too much?

Sharing information that is engaging and memorable (without overloading your participants) is a great skill to master.

In this week's episode I'm sharing some thoughts on information delivery and 6 best practices for how to share your knowledge AND keep your audience engaged and curious (as opposed to bored and frustrated).

Make your knowledge work for you. Learn how to use information as a tool to create curiosity and engagement in episode 12!

LINKS

Support the show

Mini-Course From Monologue to dialogue: How to Share Information to Engage and delight your Audience available in my membership programme

Patterson Williams, Object‐Oriented Learning in Art Museums

Nina Simon, Museum 2.0, 2010, Making Museum Tours Participatory

Perspective-taking is about seeing a situation or understanding a concept from an alternative view point, such as that of someone else. It is a skill that needs to be encouraged - particularly in children. 

Your brain has to work quite hard to get good at perspective-taking. And in the opposite direction of what it is hard-wired to do - which is to place YOU at the centre of everything. 

Engaging in perspective-taking means moving away from this starting point in order to understand others. 

THE GOOD NEWS is that like most things, it gets easier with practice and our perspective-taking skills do improve.  In today's episode I'm going to introduce you to 4 thinking routines that are specifically designed to foster this disposition. You can  use these thinking routines with artworks to create discussions that consider multiple solutions to a problem and look at situations or people from multiple perspectives. 

Links

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

Ellen Galinsky ‘Mind in the Making’

So, this week in honour of our 10th episode I’m talking about 10 common traps to avoid when asking questions! 

LINKS

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

Welcome back to the Art Engager podcast! Today I’m talking about building rapport and creating a great group dynamic in the 'new now'. 

Creating a great group dynamic is even MORE important now after the last year or so. We will need to take extra care to create social comfort and psychological safety, we will also need to build trust and social interaction. 

In this episode I'm talking about :

• what group dynamics are
• the different types of groups you might come across
• the roles people play in groups
• the size of groups
• how to use space

I'll end by talking about how to still create a great group dynamic even when you’re wearing a face mask, so stay tuned for that at the end of this episode. 

So, the big questions for today’s episode are:

• how we are going to lead engaging in-person group experiences around art and objects going forwards?
• how might we make our audience, our participants feel socially comfortable – what will group dynamics look like now? 
• And how CAN we create a great group dynamic with awareness and sensitivity for how people feel right now. 

Throughout this episode think about how some of the ideas might work for you or how they could be adapted to your organisation or environment.

There is unfortunately not a one-size-fits-all approach to this, but I'm hoping some of these suggestions might help you to think about how you can lead engaging, enjoyable and safe group experiences going forwards. 

LINKS

This is part of a new series of episodes on the podcast where I share a thinking routine with you and all the insights for how you might be able to use it with an artwork or object with groups - either in-person or online. 

See Think Me We was our ‘thinking routine of the month’ recently in the Visible Thinking Membership. Every month we have a specialist thinking routine online class that gives us the opportunity to discover a new thinking routine or to dig a bit deeper into one we already know. 

Here’s how we used See Think Me We thinking routine to discuss Kerry James Marshall's ‘SOB, SOB’ (2003).

LINKS

Kerry James Marshall, ‘SOB, SOB’ (2003) https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/sob-sob-7874

Andrew Wyeth, ‘Christina's World’, (1948) https://www.moma.org/collection/works/78455

Amy E Herman, 'Visual Intelligence: Sharpen Your Perception, Change Your Life'

Visible Thinking Membership

ULTIMATE THINKING ROUTINES LIST