Emelyanov B.V. Guided tour. How to make a good excursion Create an excursion
Create a new interesting excursion- it’s not an easy matter. The planned event should be divided into two equal stages - preparation and conduct of the excursion.
To develop new excursion route you need to decide on the purpose of the excursion, the type (in terms of content - sightseeing, thematic; according to the method of transportation - walking, bus) and objects of display. The text of the excursion, its duration and richness of facts will depend on this. This should not be done by one person, but by a creative group, which should include from three to seven people.
First steps to planning an excursion
When objects are selected, we begin collecting information on each of them and compile the most convenient route transitions (moving, etc.). Now, from a large amount of information on objects, you need to compose a tour text for each of them and a card of the object. Such a card is an indispensable part of a guide’s portfolio; it contains brief information about the object and possibly a photograph of it.
After excursion texts for objects have been written, it is easier to create an interesting and concise excursion text and connect the parts with competent transitions.
After preparing the materials, a methodological development of the excursion is done - this is a document describing the excursion and its main parameters. The manual includes a topic, a map of the route, its length, type of excursion, safety rules, purpose, tasks and time. It also includes a table - a plan for the excursion:
- route;
- display object;
- stop;
- time in minutes;
- listing of main issues, names of subtopics;
- organizational guidelines;
- guidelines(logical transitions).
After this, the manual must be certified by management; it serves as confirmation of the quality of the excursion.
Tour guide's briefcase
Before conducting a tour, you need to collect a “guide briefcase”. This is the professional name for a set of visual aids to simplify the excursion. These can be reproductions of paintings, photographs of people who are related to this topic, maps depicting enterprises or military operations, geographic Maps, geological samples, product samples, tape recordings and other materials that help inform the excursion.
Material requirements
The criteria for selecting visual material are low: preservation, unusualness, expressiveness, need for display and educational value. These are the main qualities of these criteria. It is very important to have good materials on objects that have not survived to this day or have been greatly modified. This will make the material easier to understand. It is worth considering that reproductions, maps and photographs must be on a cardboard base, the image must be clear with a size of at least 18*24, preferably 24*30 cm.
Now that all the material is ready, let's figure out how to conduct a tour correctly. Typically, each guide has his own technique for conducting an excursion, based on personal experience and observations. But the methodology for conducting an excursion is a whole system of requirements and tasks, methods of telling and showing. All this is necessary to achieve maximum digestibility of the material. A well-developed methodology is a kind of list of rules for a guide when conducting a specific excursion. But it is worth paying attention to the fact that the methods of conducting the excursion should differ slightly depending on the age characteristics of the group and the interest of the excursionists.
For school-age children, it is better not to overload the text with facts; it will be more interesting for them to see visual material and hear an interesting legend or story. It is also worth preparing for questions; children receive a lot of them. It is important to be able to hold the attention of schoolchildren. To do this, you need to ask questions: “Do you know?”; “Have you heard about...?”; “Do you like...?” etc. In this case, the guide begins a dialogue with the excursionists, and this way you can hold your attention for quite a long time.
Older generation tourists, as a rule, behave quietly and calmly, and it is quite difficult to understand whether they are interested in the story or not. In the event that these are not professors and scientists, it is advisable not to overload the excursion text big amount dates and numbers. Always allow time for photographing, just five to seven minutes will be enough.
Guide techniques
There are generally accepted methods for conducting excursions, they include techniques of telling and showing. Display techniques allow tourists to pay attention to the most important details, evaluate the general appearance of the object and its combination with the environment. Narrative techniques, in turn, help to recreate a more accurate picture of events in the imagination of tourists. Key words: “Imagine...”, “It’s been... a year...”, etc.
Safety regulations
But besides interesting material and a pleasant guide, the event must be safe.
Safety when conducting excursions, especially walking ones, is very important. Basic rules of safety and behavior on the route can be read in the methodological development of the excursion. But the guide is obliged to notify the group about safety precautions immediately before the excursion. Tell us about all the nuances of the route. The most banal phrases about not sticking your head out the window of a bus and jumping while it’s moving must be heard. Since the guide takes responsibility for the group during the excursion, it is his task to talk about safety rules.
What tourists should be warned about
Particular attention should be paid to road intersections and transitions (rope bridges, caves, tunnels, etc.). If the excursion is conducted outdoors, you should be warned about the rules fire safety. It is also necessary to talk about the fact that you should not try mushrooms, touch various insects and animals with your hands, drink water from open reservoirs and walk barefoot.
It is worth taking care of the household items of the local population and the surrounding nature at the excursion site. In addition, persons who have undergone preliminary instruction and medical examination, as well as people who do not have health-related contraindications, should be allowed on excursions.
I drink coffee and stick cloves into oranges - getting ready for the excursion..
The aromas of citrus and cloves remind others of winter. People passing by my table smile. Orange-clove therapy also works for me: I joyfully run out into the street, and there is snow... the first of this year.
Hello, Christmas excursion! No, today is my birthday. Children are wonderful and parents are amazing!
I am often offered to lead excursions for children, considering it something quite difficult. In my opinion, a children's excursion is an amazing thing, simple and complex at the same time, but it is important that you immediately feel dedication, gratitude and love from the children.
What is the most important thing in a children's excursion?
A few tips for moms, dads, grandparents who walk around St. Petersburg with their children and want their children to listen and hear your historical stories:
1. Think in vivid images that children understand.
First, you yourself must see the image of what you are talking about. The picture should be colorful, detailed and evoke feelings for you personally.
For example, the gardener Eliseev grew strawberries in the greenhouse for Count Sheremetyev at Christmas. The guests are in amazement, the count exclaims in excitement: “Ask for what you want!”
I imagine everything very vividly: the count’s doublet, the wicker basket, the snow outside the window, frost down to -40 and the aroma of strawberries. So it's easy to tell. And questions arise naturally for the children: “What happened next, what do you think?” If the picture is bright, then the guys can easily come up with ideas and immerse themselves in the story. Where did the Eliseevs go when they became free? What did you start doing? Was it easy for them in St. Petersburg? What would you do in their place if you had 100 rubles? And here it would be good to move from words to action.
2. Find a thing, a detail that characterizes your hero, story.
It’s easier, of course, to use an illustration, picture, photograph. But the best thing is to find a thing that you can touch, smell, and guess the riddle associated with it. For example, with the Eliseev merchants, I give the guys an orange, with the letters of their surname written in carnations on it. The letters are scattered and you need to form a word from them (Eliseev began selling oranges on Nevsky Prospekt).
When talking about Peter I, I like to give children a map of the area of St. Petersburg in the 18th century and suggest drawing a rough plan of the city (this is for older children, of course). When we go to the Photo Salon, I give a photograph and suggest that you find the point from which it was taken. IN Summer Garden I invite the children to sculpt some of the sculptures themselves. Everything that the children touched and made an effort to solve will be remembered by them for a long time.
It’s not easy to find something that hits the mark, as they say, but the process itself is worth it! For me personally, this is the most interesting thing about the excursion: the process of searching for that very historical detail.
3. Less is better, but better.
Children do not remember dates, especially when they are standing, listening even to the most interesting stories 5-7 minutes at most. Therefore, the entire historical story should be packed into 15-20 minutes, and the entire excursion into 1.5 hours maximum.
And after such an immersion, leave children with a desire to learn more, but on their own. It’s not like “I told you everything, but now I remember, listen to me carefully.” No! Fill your communication with dialogue, searching, jogging, photographing and discovering places.
4. Encouragement, prize, snack at the end of the historical walk.
After the excursion we go to lunch, dinner or afternoon snack. It will be great if the food you offer the guys is related to today's walk. Maybe not all of it, but again the detail will be remembered for a long time and will make the meal “historical” and exciting. And even if you feel like the kids are tired of historical information, you can just say that this is what our hero loved.
If you have boys and you have visited the Suvorov Museum, then eating buckwheat porridge and cabbage soup in bread is a must. And if your heroes are emperors, take with you a lace napkin and a couple of porcelain plates. Even during military campaigns, emperors ate simply, but always with silver and on porcelain. And this day will be special.
5. And the last thing, my favorite: it’s easy to forget everything they tell you and everything they show you, but we will never forget the atmosphere when we feel good.
Be surprised, play, discover history with your children! The love for the city is inside us, and the child feels and understands everything, we just need to talk about this love creatively. I have approximately the same approach to adult excursions. And even if colleagues in the workshop do not always understand this, awakening the inner child in a serious adult is very exciting!
On the screensaver is a fragment of the photo jasoncedit/Flickr/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
2.5. Excursion techniques
The effectiveness of any excursion largely depends on the technique of its implementation, the connection between the methodology and the technique of conducting it. There are a number of requirements for the technique of conducting an excursion. These include the guide’s introduction to the group, the correct placement of the group at the object, the excursionists getting off the bus and returning to the bus (other vehicle), the use of a microphone by the guide, adherence to the time allotted for the excursion as a whole and the disclosure of individual subtopics, answers to questions from tourists, etc.
The guide introduces the group. The guide, upon entering the bus, introduces himself to the group. He greets those present, states his last name, first name, patronymic, the excursion institution that he represents, introduces the excursionists to the bus driver, i.e. begins the excursion with an introduction.
It is important that from the very beginning the guide subordinates his actions to the established rules of communication with the group. He doesn't start talking right away. There is a pause that lasts ten to twenty seconds. The first acquaintance occurs; further contacts between the guide and the group largely depend on it. The tourists gradually fall silent, sit down more comfortably, and their attention turns to the guide. The excursionists figure out what the guide is capable of, what interesting things he will tell them, and the guide thinks about how to interest these people, how to rivet their attention to the topic.
With proper organization of excursion work, preparation for it should occur in advance. This is done by excursion organizers or travel agents.
The plot of the excursion must be known to the excursionist in advance. The tourist must know the topic of the excursion. It is extremely important that promotional activities and the purchase of a tour package are separated from the tour by one or two days. This is significant in the sense that during this period of time a certain psychological attitude of the tourist will take place. He will have time to think about it and get used to the plot of the excursion.
Each topic has its own introduction. If the composition of the group is different (for example, local population and visiting tourists, adults and children), the same excursion will have different introductions. The guide pays special attention to the preparation and execution of the introduction, which gives a specific instruction to the excursionists and allows them to establish contact with them.
Excursionists exit the bus (trolleybus, tram). Tourists need to prepare in advance for departure. In cases where this is not done, a significant part of the group remains sitting on the bus, without getting out to observe the monuments at their location. Thus, excursionists lose the opportunity to personally get to know the object.
At stops where the excursion group is provided to exit, the guide leaves first, showing an example to the group and determining the direction of its movement to the object. In cases where other stops are made during excursions, for example, sanitary stops or for purchasing souvenirs, the guide informs you of the exact time (hour and minutes) of the bus departure. It is necessary to require tourists to comply with the regulations for the excursion, which affects the bus schedule along the route. If the parking time on a country excursion is shortened or increased for some reason, the guide informs all excursionists about this.
Arrangement of the group at the object. When developing an excursion, as a rule, several options for accommodating a group to observe the excursion object are determined. This is done in the case when the place determined by the methodological development is occupied by another group or when the sun's rays shine into the eyes, making it difficult to examine the object. There are other reasons that prevent you from using the recommended location. In hot weather, opportunities are used to arrange groups in the shade. In case of rain, there is an option to accommodate tourists under a roof, under the canopy of trees. In some cases, the technique requires that several points be selected to examine an object: distant, if the object is shown together with the environment or other objects; near, if individual details of a building, structure, area, or natural object are analyzed. These features are reflected in the column “Organized instructions for methodological development.” Each guide carefully studies these instructions and, before leaving with the group on the route, clarifies issues related to the arrangement of the group to observe objects. It is also necessary to ensure the safety of tourists when inspecting objects and when crossing highways.
When several groups are simultaneously located at one object, such a distance must be maintained between them so that one guide does not interfere with the other with his story, so that one group does not obscure another object of observation. Known difficulties in meeting this condition are caused by the placement of groups for displaying museum exhibitions.
Movement of tourists from bus to object, from object to bus, between objects is carried out by a group. The guide's place is in the center of the group, several people walk in front, a few next to each other, and the rest behind. It is important that the group does not stretch: the distance between its head and those who come last should not exceed 5-7 meters. The guide must ensure that the integrity of the group is not compromised when moving the group along the route. If the group is extended, not everyone will hear the guide’s story, his explanations and logical transitions that are presented along the way. Experienced guides skillfully guide the movement along the route.
The pace of the group depends on the composition of the group (children, youth, middle age, elderly people), on the terrain, for example, climbing a mountain, poor road conditions, overcoming ditches hazardous areas in working workshops, etc.
IN walking tour The pace of movement of tourists is slow and unhurried, since the objects on display are located next to each other.
It is more difficult to establish the required pace of movement of the group on a bus excursion. Here, after getting off the bus, the guide does not immediately start moving, especially if the object is located in the distance. He allows most of the excursionists to get off the bus and then, slowly, but not too slowly, at the head of the group heads towards the goal. Approaching the object, he begins his story not immediately, but after the whole group has gathered.
The guide guides the movement of tourists during their independent work along the route. Tourists walk around the object to read the inscription on it themselves, go inside it, and see the peculiar features of the architecture. They climb a hill to determine its height, climb a bell tower, a minaret to make sure of the unusual “step” of the steps of a steep staircase, go down into the fortress moat to determine its depth, etc. These movements of tourists enrich them with additional information and new impressions , provide an opportunity to experience the unique features of the objects, the features of the events to which the excursion is dedicated.
Return of tourists to the bus. During the group's movement, it is led by a guide. When a group boards the bus, he stands to the right of the entrance and counts the excursionists who enter the cabin. This is done unnoticed. Having made sure that all participants of the excursion have gathered, he enters the bus last and gives a conventional sign to the driver to start moving.
It is necessary to avoid counting tourists who have already taken their seats on the bus. This introduces unnecessary nervousness and sometimes causes comical situations, thereby disrupting the course of the excursion.
Guide's place. The guide on the bus should occupy a place from where he can clearly see the objects discussed on the excursion, but so that all the excursionists are in his field of vision. At the same time, sightseers must see it. Typically, this is a designated front seat next to the driver (the seat behind the driver is reserved for another driver). The guide is not allowed to stand while the bus is moving (as well as tourists) for safety reasons.
On a walking tour, the guide should be positioned halfway to the object. Displaying visually perceived objects requires that they be in front of the guide’s eyes, because he analyzes them based on his visual impressions. This is especially important on country excursions, when the guide, while the bus is moving, sitting in his seat with his back to the excursionists, looks out the front window of the bus and talks about what the excursionists are already seeing or are about to see.
Keeping time during the excursion. The methodological development indicates the exact time allocated for the disclosure of each subtopic in minutes. Everything is provided here: a demonstration of objects, a story from a guide, movement along the route to the next one, and movement of the group around the observed objects. The ability to meet the allotted time does not come to the guide right away. This requires a lot of practice, including conducting an excursion with a watch in hand: at home, at a specific object. It is necessary to ensure compliance with time when carrying out a logical transition, covering a single subtopic and main issues. It helps the guide to time the time spent on individual parts of the excursion. Based on this timing, taking into account the listener’s comments, the guide makes appropriate adjustments to his story. Everything unnecessary is removed from the excursion, which leads to time overrun. Often, for reasons beyond the guide’s control, a tour is significantly reduced in time. This is due to the group getting ready for a long time, breakfast not being served to tourists on time, the bus being late, etc. As a result, the excursion starts late. The guide has only one option - to reduce the time allotted to cover the topic. This should be done by preserving all that is important in the content of the excursion and removing the unimportant. To do this, you need to prepare in advance for a possible reduction in excursion material.
Technique for telling a story while the bus is moving. The story while driving on the bus should be conducted by the guide through a microphone. If the equipment does not function well or there is no microphone at all, it is useless for the guide to narrate the story while driving. The engine noise and shaking of the bus limit audibility, so explanations will only be heard by tourists sitting nearby. In this case, the guide gives information about the nearest section of the route before the start of the movement, and during the movement only reports the names of objects or areas. When there are important objects or settlements it is necessary to stop the bus, turn off the engine and only then give an explanation. This must be agreed upon with the driver in advance.
Answers to questions from tourists. In excursion practice, a certain classification of issues has developed. They are divided into four groups: questions from the guide, answered by excursionists; questions posed during the story, answered by the guide; rhetorical questions that are posed to activate the attention of tourists; questions asked by excursion participants on the topic. The first three groups of questions are related to the methodology of conducting excursions, and only the fourth group of questions is related to the technique of conducting excursions. Their content is different - sometimes they are connected with objects, sometimes with the lives of famous figures, and often with events that are not related to the topic of the excursion. The main rule for working with such questions is that you should not interrupt the story and give an immediate answer to them; you also do not need to answer questions at the end of each of the subtopics. This scatters attention and distracts the audience from perceiving the content of the topic being revealed, since not everyone in the group is concerned about these particular issues. Therefore, the guide should answer questions not during the tour, but after it ends. The content of the answers should not be of a debatable nature, that is, cause tourists to want to argue or continue the topic raised in the question.
When making an introduction to the topic, the guide informs his listeners about this order of answers to questions.
Pauses in the excursion. The guide should not talk continuously. There should be short breaks between individual parts of the story, the story and excursion information along the way, the logical transition and the story about the object and the events associated with it.
Pauses serve the following purposes:
The first is semantic, when people use the break time to think about what they heard from the guide and saw with their own eyes. To consolidate factual material in memory, formulate your conclusions and remember what you see. It is important that excursionists have time at each object free from showing and telling for independent inspection, preparing for the perception of what will be shown and told at the next stop;
- the second is to give short-term rest to excursionists. It does not carry any semantic load. This is especially important for those who are not yet accustomed to such an active form of cultural and educational work as an excursion.
Pauses in country excursions are combined with rest, which, in accordance with the existing procedure, is provided to the guide: 15 minutes. after each hour of work (for a guide, an hour of conducting a tour is 45 minutes). This rest can be summed up and used by the guide at the end of the excursion. There may also be pauses during excursions - free time, used for purchasing souvenirs, printed materials, quenching thirst, as well as for sanitary stops on long excursions.
Technique for using the "tour guide's briefcase". The contents of the “guide’s portfolio”, its meaning and role in the use of methodological techniques of demonstration are related to the methodology of preparing and conducting the excursion. Each exhibit - photograph, drawing, reproduction of a painting, portrait, drawing, copy of a document - has its own serial number. This determines the sequence of demonstration of this exhibit to tourists.
The exhibit can be shown by the guide from his workplace, handed over to the tourists in rows for more detailed acquaintance.
Sometimes, in accordance with the methodological development, the guide organizes the playback of tape and video recordings. It is important to check in advance the serviceability of the equipment, the availability of the necessary recordings, and ensure audibility for all participants in the excursion. The guide must be able to use this equipment.
During excursions, elements of ritual (a ceremony developed by folk customs) are used. Sightseers at burial sites and memorials honor the memory of the dead with a minute of silence, are present at the changing of the guard of honor, participate in processions and rallies, and listen to mourning melodies. The guide needs to know the procedure for laying flowers, the passage of tourists at the locations of mass graves and obelisks, participation in the guard of honor, a minute of silence, the rules of conduct at the Eternal Flame and at the burial sites of heroes of the Civil War, the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) and others. wars. Before the start of the excursion, the guide informs you about everything, emphasizing the importance of observing the ritual when visiting historical places.
conclusions
The importance of issues related to the technique of conducting excursions is difficult to overestimate. Neither a fascinating story about objects, nor methodological techniques for displaying monuments will give the necessary effect if all aspects of its implementation are not seriously thought out, if conditions for observing objects are not created.
Control questions
1. The concept of “techniques for conducting excursions”.
2. Contents of the column “Organizational instructions”.
3. Organizing the work of the guide with the group.
4. Skillful use of excursion techniques.
5. Skills in using excursion techniques.
6. The pace of movement of the group, its significance.
7. Using a microphone. Work in the absence of a microphone.
8. Establishing the necessary order in the group.
9. Use of free time during the excursion.
10. Answers to questions from tourists.
11. Techniques for using visual aids.