4. Goals
By the end of the course, you will have
developed knowledge and skills in the following
areas:
• providing high quality informal customer service
• reading visitor cues and meeting visitor needs
• knowing how to answer basic and in-depth visitor
questions
• selecting appropriate techniques to provide
interpretive opportunities
5. Objectives
There are four tasks you will engage in to
complete this course:
1. gaining new knowledge by participating in
course activities
2. reflecting upon what you are learning as it
relates to your previous experiences
3. building skills by completing various learning
activities
4. applying your knowledge and skills by
describing a successful informal visitor contact.
6. What is an Informal Visitor Contact?
Examples include
Any casual
conversations: and
Why are Informal Visitor
unplanned
• Perhaps the visitor’s only opportunity to interact with
– on the trail
interaction
a parkarepresentative.
Contacts important?
– at work station
between a park
• The “visitor-centered” approach communicates
– in a parking lot
representative
respect and helps build constituency.
– at the market,
bank a visitor.
and and responsive interactions offer visitors
• Well-crafted,post
just office. they need, just when they need it.
what
PROVIDING LEGENDARY HOSPITALITY!
7. Interpretive Continuum
Orientation Information Interpretation
Common To All Within the Range:
A Moment for Excellent Customer Service.
1. Providing Reflection…
2. Anticipating Visitor Needs.
Is this a fair characterization of the kinds of
interactions you have with guests?
3. Knowing The Site You Represent.
8. Interpretive Continuum:
Orientation Contacts
Signs a guest requires
this kind of assistance:
• Where questions.
• Extended viewing of
park maps or guides.
• Acting hesitant and
looking around.
Source: http://www.eppley.org/lms/mod/resource/view.php?id=134
9. Interpretive Continuum:
Information Contacts
Signs a guest requires this
kind of assistance:
• What, When or How
questions.
• A) What kind of
• Approaching cactus is
that?
a guest
service representative/
• B) When does the Elk
Source: http://www.eppley.org/lms/mod/resource/view.php?id=134
making eyebegin?
rutting season
contact.
• C) How was the canyon
formed?
10. Interpretive Continuum:
Interpretive Contacts
Signs a guest requires
this kind of assistance:
• Why questions.
• Physical cues: leaning
forward, maintaining
eye contact, nodding.
• Asking follow-up
Source: http://www.eppley.org/lms/mod/resource/view.php?id=134 questions requiring
deep insight.
11. What’s Your Question?
At Your Tables:
– List 4 orientation
questions encountered
each day.
– List 3 information
questions encountered
each day.
– List 2 interpretive
questions you encounter
ocassionally.
14. Sense of the Interpretive Continuum
The
Self
Interpretation
Actualization
Our Thoughts?
Self-Esteem
Information
Social Connections
Safety & Security
Orientation Physical Needs
15. Interpretive Continuum:
To Interpret or Not to Interpret…
Ways to Determine Guest
Needs:
• Ask a question.
• Make a provocative
statement.
• Point out something
which inspires
Source: http://www.eppley.org/lms/mod/resource/view.php?id=134
curiosity.
16. Interpretive Continuum:
Interpret? You Decide!
Match each visitor need to the appropriate level of the
Interpretive Continuum.
1. Divide into groups
___Growth/ Interpretation
2. Choose the best level for
each scenario given
___Intermediate/ Information
to your group.
3. Could they be included in
other areas of the ___ Basic Need /Orientation
continuum?
17. Components of ALL Visitor
Contacts:
• Customer Service
• Assessing Visitor Needs
What does this look
like in practice?
• Knowing Your Site
• Appropriate Techniques
19. Guest Service Moment Activity:
Role Play:
•Let’s Pretend
• Act out a guest service
moment.
• What did you do to
provide your best
guest service?
• How can we do more?
20. Customer Service:
We are committed to
practicing integrity and
Aspects of customer service
include professional: is
Xanterra’s mission
quality, maintaining
to be the industry with
positive relationships
• Image
leader in park and clients,
our employees and
• Behaviorenvironmental
leading in
resort hospitality.
• Communication creating
stewardship, and
unforgettable memories for
our guests.
21. Our Guide in Customer Service:
Hospitality Standards
22. Customer Service:
Professional Image
Aspects of a Professional
Image:
• Personal Grooming
• Posture
• Attire
• Accessories
Source: http://www.eppley.org/lms/mod/resource/view.php?id=134
23. Customer Service:
Professional Behavior
Aspects of a Professional
Behavior:
• Courteous and Helpful
• Knowledgeable
• Objective & Patient
• Safe
24. Customer Service:
Effective Communication
Aspects of a Professional
Communication:
• Body Language Skills
• Verbal Skills
• Listening Skills
• Conflict Resolution
Skills
25. Brainstorming
• Essential Elements to
good customer
service…
• Each table come up
with 5 essential
elements
• Write them on the What are your strengths
chart and weaknesses?
How can you improve?
• Complete Best
Practice Activity Sheet
26. Customer Service Activity:
Pause for Thought…
A visitor hiker approachesoutside your office to hike. You
An avid approaches you you about places and asks,
"Where is theone of your to eat around here?" Although at
inform her of best place favorite day-hikes, after
least five others type of hiking she would like to do. A
determining the have asked you the same question today,
you smile broadly atdesk and say, "You can'tYou continue
group comes to the him during this period. beat the
Market's Deli firstaffordable pizza, sandwiches, soups the
to inform the for hiker of other hikes of interest while or
salads. Just follow the signs up to few pamphlets, wait a
group members approach, grab a Market Plaza. Have
great day!"assistance, then leave.
minute for
knowledgeable, courteous and objective
helpful, courteous and objective
√ knowledgeable, objective, but unsafe
knowledgeable and patient, but not objective
√ knowledgeable and helpful safe
impatient and unhelpful, butto one, but
discourteous to others
27. Assessing Visitor Needs
Ways in Which to Assess
Visitor Needs:
• Verbal Communication
& Speech
Characteristics.
• Body Language &
Direct Actions
28. Assessing Visitor Needs:
Verbal Communication / Speech Characteristics
Characteristics of Speech:
• Tone
• Volume
• Pace
• Silence
29. Assessing Visitor Needs:
Body Language / Direct Action
Common Body Statements:
• Crossed Arms
How might our evaluation
• Eye Contact
of guests’ expressions
• Posture
confuse or limit our
• Scratching the Chin
interactions with those we
• Excessive Blinking
serve?
• Direct Actions
Source: http://www.eppley.org/lms/mod/resource/view.php?id=134
30. Assessing Visitor Needs:
Pause for Thought…
Visitor's body language: arms open, palms up, legs
steepled legs crossed,
no eye contact, stroking
sweating,hands,repetitive
and sudden
chin or such
looking other parts at speaker, intense gaze.
motionsaway. as tapping face leaning (especially
movements, minor twitches of muscles towards
uncrossed, lookingof the toes or drumming fingers,
slouching, mouth against a
around and relaxed posture.fidgeting.
speakertheleaning and eyes) wall, yawning.
A) Friendliness
Happiness
√ B) Relaxation
A) Disinterest
Anxiety
Fear
Boredom
√ C) Anxiety
B) Anger
Thoughtfulness
Openness
√ D) Defensiveness
C) Happiness
Relaxation
Disinterest
Anxiety
√
D) Receptiveness
Excitement
Thoughtfulness
Source: http://www.eppley.org/lms/mod/resource/view.php?id=134
31. Knowing Your Site
Knowledge of Your
Site:
• Orientation information :
Lodging and cafeterias, trails,
daily activities and exhibits,
restrooms, exhibits, etc.
• Resource information:
Data about park resources and
history.
Source: http://www.eppley.org/lms/mod/resource/view.php?id=134
• Interpretive material:
Tangibles/intangible links and
use of appropriate techniques for
32. Knowing Your Site:
Have You Seen This?
Themes of Grand Canyon
National Park
What do you notice
about the identified
themes?
Source: GCNP's Div. of Interpretation and Resource Education
33. Knowing Your Site:
Gaining Knowledge
Sources for Information:
• Xanterra Interp. Courses & NPS
Training Opportunities
• GCNP Park Documents
• Park Libraries
• Park resource managers,
historians, archeologists, etc.
• Co-workers, Supervisors and other
Community Members and Agencies
• Media
34. Knowing Your Site:
Tangibles & Intangibles
Tangible: Intangible:
resources of the ideas or concepts
park having
T I that physical
physical qualities. objects at our site
represent.
M
36. Knowing Your Site Activity:
Pause for Thought…
Adaptation Mobility each/ tangible to an
Match the image/ of History Conservation
/
intangible meaning.
What intangibles would you link to
your site's resources?
37. Knowing Your Site:
Expressing the Tangible & Intangible
An interpretive Informal Visitor Medicine /
Contact often references a Shelter
central Big Idea or Theme
linking resources to their Sustenance /
overall meanings. Survival
Grand Canyon's wildness
has sustained people
materially and spiritually for Sustenance /
Survival
1000s of years.
THEME = INTANGIBLE + TANGIBLE
39. Interpretive Opportunity:
( KR + KA ) AT = IO , where
KR = Knowledge of the Resource
KA = Knowledge of the Audience
AT = Appropriate Interpretive
Technique
IO = Interpretive Opportunity
40. Knowing the Audience
Audience Characteristics:
• Age (and Stages of Life), Sex, Gender,
Race, Ethnicity, Religion, Disabilities
• Socio-Economic Background
• Area of Residence (Rural, Urban,
Suburban)
• Languages Spoken & Understood
• Group Composition (Size, Cultural
Diversity and Influences, Dynamics and
Social Interactions, Communicative
Abilities)
41. Knowing Your Audience
Role Play:
•Visitor Cues
• What appropriate
technique did the
interpreter use?
• Did you think more
knowledge of the
resource was needed?
• What were the
strengths?
• What could we do
different?
42. Final Review-Post-It!
• Pick three points that we discussed that you will
take away from this course.
• Write them on 3 post-it’s
• Stick them to our easel paper
• Why were they important?
• Let’s Discuss!
• How can we use these?
• What will you change?
43. Hope You Enjoyed The Show!
Before you go please give us your feedback, and
make sure you picked up everything around you.
Thanks for Coming!
Editor's Notes
Reveal content and read .
Reveal content and read .
Reveal content and read .
Reveal content and read .
Say : We need to determine what an informal visitor contact is as contrasted against a formal visitor contact before we get started? Elicit participant ideas, then reveal slide content and read it. Query class saying , "When and where are such contacts likely to occurs?" Receive participant ideas then reveal slide content relating to examples. Reveal slide content and read . An informal visitor contact is an unplanned interaction between a park representative and a visitor. Examples include conversations at a visitor center desk, on a trail or in a parking lot. During an informal visitor contact, the interpreter has the unique opportunity to instantly personalize the interaction and make a lasting impact on the visitor's experience. The interpreter should be able to constantly evaluate, respond to, and adjust to the visitor's needs.
Say per reveal : There are three general kinds of contacts with visitors: Orientation : assisting visitors in coming to know where things are located and when they occur. Information : providing facts or explanations of park resources. Interpretation : preparing for and offering to guest opportunities to connect with park resources.
Say : Orientation to the physical aspects of a site, if successfully achieved through able assistance from park representatives, will foment an enjoyable visit and positive memorable experience. In addition, people who feel comfortable in their new and unfamiliar surroundings are more capable of being engaged by interpretive media, leading to an improved understanding of the park and its resources. Reveal content and read per bulleted point.
Say : The experience a visitor has at a particular location is contextualized by the information about the resource they receive. Guests receiving practical, accurate and meaningful information relating to logistical and interpretive concerns are more likely than those receiving poor information to enjoy their time at a park and seek out interpretive contexts. There are signs that guest are anticipating this type of help. Reveal slide content, stating the following per reveal: What, When and How Questions : examples would include: a) What kind of cactus is that?, b) When does the Elk rutting season begin?, and, c) How was the canyon formed? Approaching a guest service representative/ making eye contact : Say : It is essential that all information you present is accurate and current. Bad information leads to a bad experience, which – in turn – leads to a poor reputation for the park and its representatives. This is doubly-bad, as the goal of a visit it to concentrate guests' focus upon the park and its resources, not the attendants and their abilities at a park.
Say: The development of significant connections between visitors and the park and its resources occurs as park of interpretive opportunities. Guests connect to the park through intellectual and emotional opportunities of linking to the park and its resources. Interpretation provided the context for this kind of linkage. Specific techniques (e.g. metaphors, Socratic Method, formal talks, etc.) to associate resources of the park with the ideas they represent. Reveal slide content, stating the following per reveal: Why questions : Questions which require insight beyond a common request for information about something. Physical cues : leaning forward, maintaining eye contact, nodding. Asking follow-up question requiring deeper insight : Additional questions which require insight beyond a common request for information about something.
Reveal content and read .
Say : The schema for the Interpretive Continuum has been developed in response to a long-standing understanding of people, their needs and their relationship to psycho-social structures. In short, we can think of a person's needs as operating in a fashion were the meeting of one type of need permits, or enables desire for, another kind of need to be met. This schema, first proposed by Abraham Maslow, states that people require basic needs to be met before they will seek satisfaction of higher-tiered needs. Thus, the order of need satisfaction are correlated with contexts enabling such needs to be met: that is to say, without appropriate context for basic needs satisfaction, higher-tiered needs will not develop. Reveal content and say the following per item: Physical Needs : First, people seek the fulfillment of the most basic of human needs: food, shelter, clothing, fulfillment of biological drives, etc. Safety & Security : Second, if the basic needs of the organism can be met, then people seek to accomplish the fulfillment of a desires relating to well-being: safety and security within the environment they find themselves. Social Connections : Third, if safety and security needs are met (after physical needs), then people seek the realization of social needs: family, intimacy, friendship, love, empathetic and sympathetic realization. Self-Esteem : A fourth tier of needs relates to confidence, achievement, as well as respect of and by others. If all others before it are met, and if a context is sufficient to potentiate the realization of such needs, then a person will seek their realization. Self Actualization : The last aspect of Maslow's hierarchy hints as the completely self-actualized, realized or fulfilled being. In general, these needs relate to one's willingness and desire to be creative, well-adapted to their surroundings, accepting and interested in others, moral and spontaneous. Reveal image and say : Overall, these needs and desires are appropriately met by responses ranging from parts of the Interpretive Continuum. For example, higher order needs (i.e. those that occur after basic needs have been met) require formal interpretation to be met, whereas lower order needs are addressed by engaging in orientation or informational interactions. The point of all of this is to draw our attention to the fact that our responses are to be appropriate to the specific guest need(s) provoking them. And, this require our attentiveness and awareness of guest needs. Also, it requires, at time, restraint: for example, we need not provide an interpretive response to a question provoked by a basic physical need (e.g. "Where's the restroom?").
Say : Informal Visitor Contacts provide an opportunity to interact with visitors across a range of needs and perspectives; and this means that not all persons who elicit a response from you desire to hear a 20 minute talk regarding the medicinal uses of the Utah Juniper by the endemic inhabitants of the Colorado Plateau. Responding in such a fashion when someone simple wants to know how to get to a bathroom would be unpleasant and non-productive. Therefore, we must consider how to interpret when interpretation is necessary, otherwise serving the needs of the average visitor as best as we can while retaining an awareness of when interpretive offerings to guest questions warrant interpretive responses. Guest will give clues as to what they are hoping to gain from an interaction with you; and, we have discussed a number of these clues already. It is important to recognize – and hold in your awareness – that the imposition of interpretation can produce an unpleasant experience for a guest. Be aware, too, that some people are too polite to interrupt you despite obvious signs of their disinterest (e.g. drumming fingers, folded arms, looking away, turning around, etc.) in your responses to them. Look for the following to determine if your informal contact is an opportunity for interpretation. Reveal content and read each item, then say : First, come to know what a visitor's need is, then meet it, then – if cues exist to support your movement in this direction – then shift towards an interpretive dialogue. Central to all interactions, again, are the visitors' needs. And, these needs reflect your response as per the Interpretive Continuum.
Say : Quality service to all park guest – for those staying at Xanterra facilities as well as those who are not – is a requisite to memorable and positive experiences at the Grand Canyon for all persons interacting with Xanterra personnel. Xanterra, therefore,... Read slide content. Reveal slide, reading content per item and saying : Image : Professional image is expressed by how you care for your appearance. Also, it conveys to a guest or audience the value you place upon the resource and the guest themselves. Behavior : Professional behavior (i.e. how you act, respond to and interact with guests) contribute greatly to the quality of a guest's visit to GCNP; and, it is these instances of interaction that foment and shape the memories guests will share with other potential visitors to the park. Therefore, one's behavior can impact the both immediate and forthcoming experiences of current and future visitors. In total, you should strive to assist visitors in making meaningful connects to the park and its resources, as this best ensures its protection as part of our national heritage in perpetuity. Communication :
Reveal content and read .
Say : Quality service to all park guest – for those staying at Xanterra facilities as well as those who are not – is a requisite to memorable and positive experiences at the Grand Canyon for all persons interacting with Xanterra personnel. Xanterra, therefore,... Read slide content. Reveal slide, reading content per item and saying : Image : Professional image is expressed by how you care for your appearance. Also, it conveys to a guest or audience the value you place upon the resource and the guest themselves. Behavior : Professional behavior (i.e. how you act, respond to and interact with guests) contribute greatly to the quality of a guest's visit to GCNP; and, it is these instances of interaction that foment and shape the memories guests will share with other potential visitors to the park. Therefore, one's behavior can impact the both immediate and forthcoming experiences of current and future visitors. In total, you should strive to assist visitors in making meaningful connects to the park and its resources, as this best ensures its protection as part of our national heritage in perpetuity. Communication :
Distribute Hospitality Standards cards to those who need them, saying : Our 15 standards, although developed independent of this course, are alligned with the goals of the standards of professional conduct in the course of informal visitor contacts. Take a moment and read through the standards. We'll discuss their application during informal visitor contacts next.
Say : Xanterra's Hospitality Standard speak directly to the point of professional image (e.g. Standards 10 and 11), demeanor and image. Obviously, you are a representative of the park; and, this is true regardless of having just completed a 12 hour shift in the kitchen or while buying adult beverages at the local market shortly thereafter. How you act and what you look like while doing whatever you are doing within a public space speaks to quality of service provided to guests of GCNP, to say nothing of Xanterra. Therefore, take pride in you image. Don't let yourself turn into this guy. Instead,… Reveal image and text, saying : groom and bathe daily; be attentive of your posture and how holding yourself conveys positive or negative attitudes; be sure to where the appropriate work-related attire (and only while at work); and, Accessories that attire with functional, work-related additions only (i.e. gloves, etc.).
Say : Again, Xanterra's Hospitality Standards speak directly to various points of professional behavior. For example,... Reveal text and say per point: Courteous and Helpful: Hospitality Standard 4 says that we make guests our number one priority, implying that we are helpful and courteous at all times. Knowledgeable : Hospitality Standard 7 states: "We are knowledgeable of property information, allowing us to respond properly to guest inquiries." Objective & Patient : Escorting guests (Standard 5) and owning complaints (Standard 9) are always done with the upmost objectivity and patience. Again, Hospitality Stand 4 – i.e. making guests our number one priority – sometimes requires a concerted effort towards patience and objectivity when dealing with challenging guests. Safe : Although none of Xanterra's Hospitality Standard explicitly address safety, they do implicitly related to the safety of our associates, guests and others who are interacting with Xanterra Employees.
Say : Xanterra's Hospitality Standards speak directly to various points of professional communication. For example,... Reveal text and say per point: Body Language Skills : The 10-5 Rule (Hospitality Standard 2) states that we acknowledge the presence of each guest within 10 feet of our being and verbally greet those within a 5 foot radius of our person. Verbal Skills and Listening Skills : Standards 3 and 6 – dealing with proper vocabulary and phone etiquette, respectively – explicitly address verbal and listening skills. Additionally, the implicit respect for guests enumerated in other Standards address listening and verbal skills employed in a professional setting and in a professional manner. Listening Skills : Guest Service Perceptions [GSP] (Hospitality Standard 4) requires us to listen without expectation to the requests of our guests. Conflict Resolution : Owning guest complaints is the first step in resolving any conflict with guests. This does not mean that we comp rooms and grant feel meals, but it does mean that we objectively and respectfully address each situation according to appropriate protocol and through necessary and proper channels.
Say : Let's take a moment and review some customer service vignettes. Take the next two or three minutes to read and respond to the above. We'll discuss this item when we are ready, moving to the next afterwards. Reveal answer and review attendee responses. Reveal text and permit student responses and review.
Say : The basis of all successful visitor contacts is a set of skills relating to communication. It is this set of skills that enable to gain a sense of guest needs in order to serve them as they desire. Reveal text, allow student to read it and say : Occasionally, the explicit language of visitors allow us to know what is being requested. However, what will you do to effectively communicate with a non-native English speaker or someone who is prefers to communicate in a non-verbal fashion (to say nothing of those who say one thing but clearly indicate another with body language). In such instances, reading visitors can be as complex as the individuals themselves. You will have to rely upon tone of voice, body language and other direct actions.
Say : Often, direct questioning and comments will indicate what it is that a visitor needs. Be careful, however, to avoiding drawing conclusions prior to acquiring a clear picture of a guest's concern. Also, recognize when enough is enough. Visitors ask for a quick response in seeking directions to restrooms for a reason. Say : Be sure to pay attention to the following voice and speech characteristics: Tone : Your tone of voice is the style or manner of expression you use when speaking. By altering your tone of voice you can express surprise, contempt, kindness or anger. Click on the audio examples below to hear how altering your tone of voice can change the meaning of what you say. Volume : The entire audience should be able to hear your talk. It can be very frustrating trying to listen to someone who is speaking too softly. Pace : The speed at which you speak is a helpful technique for accommodating audience needs and preferences. If there are visitors who do not speak English well, speaking slowly may help them understand what you are saying. Also, pacing should slow when covering material that is unfamiliar or new to those who are in an audience. Voice Modulation : When you change the inflection and/or pitch of your voice you are using the technique of voice modulation. Using the full range of your voice adds interest and meaning to your words. Silence : Pausing when giving a talk can be a most effective technique. Remaining silent can provide an opportunity for the audience to process the importance of what you have said..
Say : More than half of how we communicate is non-verbal; and, given that a majority of the people who visit the Grand Canyon each year are not from this country, our non-verbal means of communication (e.g. body language) is not necessarily easy to understand. Some things are clear across culture, however. For example, people crossing their arms or holding themselves in a closed fashion are typically closed off to the idea of assistance or interpretation. They could, likewise, just be cold. Regardless, you must use your best judgment and let experience be your guide. Reveal each item, and say: Crossed arms are an indication of being closed to experience, eye contact is strongest when people wish to be engaged, posture can indicate excitement or tedium, scratching the chin can be a sign of being mentaly engaged or as sign withholding; likewise, too, excessive blinking is often an indication of deceit (as in "No, we thank you for your information but we have to get going now.). Last, direct action, explicit statement like head towards an exit, are most easily understood. Take a moment and think about the things you do when you are unconsciously engaged by a task or an event. Are you relaxed? Do you stair at the ceiling? Are you approachable? How so? Odds are, these reactions will be observable in your audience, too.
Reveal each question in turn, permitting response and revealing responses in kind.
Say : Informal visitor contacts range back and forth across the interpretive continuum; therefore, you must be prepared with knowledge relating to orientation, information about the park, and interpretive endeavors within the park. Reveal each item in turn and discuss . Say : Updating and expanding your knowledge base continual will ensure that you are capable of addressing orientation, informational and interpretive needs of the guest. This will require more than knowledge of and about the park, however: it will require your awareness of the park, its resources and their meanings. Before, discussing this, however, what are some informational resources open to you as personnel of Xanterra and as a resident of the park. In other words, where can you go and what can you do to obtain a working and useful knowledge of the park and its resources?
Say : Occasionally, informal visitor contacts provide you with an opportunity to go beyond the basic services typically requested of you. In these cases, guest are seeking to connect to this place and its various resources. This involves you in the work of linking tangible and intangible resources within a context whereby visitors can build associated meanings with those resources. This will occur based upon your perception of visitor cues and needs and where you deem a situation an appropriate context for doing so. Reveal and say : A tangible resource (say a pinyon tree) could be linked to an intangible idea (reveal). In the former the case, the pinyon tree is an object possessing physical qualities. An associate idea – say survivability, as in indigenous cultural uses for the tree – would be abstract and non-physical: intangible. You could note the bark and its qualities, feeling its roughness, smelling its odor and state its use as cordage for carrying olla's weaving bridles and other uses. In all, the meaning inherent to the resource and its tangible is not directly given, but allowed to develop as part of your context for relating the intangible and tangible. Linking your resources to the intangibles they represent makes those resources more valuable and significant to guests.
Reveal content and read , noting the following per item: Xanterra Interp. Courses & NPS Training Opportunities: former advertised in each Pinyon Press, later advertised as notified by NPS in current Pinyon Presses or by notification via Interpretive Training Specialist. GCNP Park Documents: e.g. Comprehensive Interpretive Plan, NPS Resource Alerts, etc. Park Libraries: Public Library and NPS Research Library (Note: in the case of the later, must possess a job relating to professional interpretation and seek approval via headquarters.). Park resource managers, historians, archeologists, etc.: Associations, Interp. Rangers and their programs, Resource Management Staff and their programs, etc. Co-workers, Supervisors and other Community Members and Agencies Media: park and non-park affiliated, but local, etc. Say : Apart from the acquisition of information about the park, you must understand the resource within the park and the meanings they represent. This is best achieved in examining how you and others relate to the park.
Say : Occasionally, informal visitor contacts provide you with an opportunity to go beyond the basic services typically requested of you. In these cases, guest are seeking to connect to this place and its various resources. This involves you in the work of linking tangible and intangible resources within a context whereby visitors can build associated meanings with those resources. This will occur based upon your perception of visitor cues and needs and where you deem a situation an appropriate context for doing so. Reveal and say : A tangible resource (say a pinyon tree) could be linked to an intangible idea (reveal). In the former the case, the pinyon tree is an object possessing physical qualities. An associate idea – say survivability, as in indigenous cultural uses for the tree – would be abstract and non-physical: intangible. You could note the bark and its qualities, feeling its roughness, smelling its odor and state its use as cordage for carrying olla's weaving bridles and other uses. In all, the meaning inherent to the resource and its tangible is not directly given, but allowed to develop as part of your context for relating the intangible and tangible. Linking your resources to the intangibles they represent makes those resources more valuable and significant to guests.
Read and reveal images. Allow group to consider the task, then reveal for answers and discussion. Notes : Pioneer Cemetry: History (Pioneers of the village and surrounding area, many notoriously colorful in character, lay in venerable perpetuity at the local cemetry.). Grand Canyon Railroad: Mobility (Economic feasibility of travel in early 20th century was a limit to visitation, yet the train is now regarded as a middle class adventure.). California Condor: Conservation (Captive breading brought species back from brink of extinction.). Colorado River: Adaptation (Survival of introduced and native species after damming of the river.).
Say : Choosing techniques appropriate for your site and for the visitor is a craft to develop and a skill to hone. During an informal visitor contact, the informed selection and skillful use of interpretive techniques can help the visitor form intellectual or emotional connections to the significance of the site. Interpretive techniques act as a bridge between the site's tangible resources and its intangible meanings by engaging the visitor and relating to his or her experience. In order to facilitate interpretive opportunities, it is essential to be familiar with a wide range of interpretive techniques and their appropriateness for the visitor and the setting. The final section of this course is designed to help you develop this broad range of skills. Read content of slide, then reveal saying : A list of appropriate techniques has been distributed to you. Bear in mind that this is not a comprehensive list and that your willingness to seek and apply other techniques will – no doubt – increase as you develop your interpretive skills and abilities.
Say : According to the interpretive equation, each interpretive opportunity is the result of ( reveal per item) knowing your resource, knowing your audience and using appropriate techniques. Appropriate interpretive techniques are skills (like telling a story, asking a question, or using an analogy) that help to connect the physical resources of a site to the ideas and concepts they represent.