interpretation
On Tasman Glacier lake – photo: M. Hieatt
Interpretation
Communicating to visitors what our people, land and past mean helps to enrich their experience.
It helps to meet their expectations on travelling here and provide them with an unforgettable
experience. Along with this, it is crucial that tourism supports the natural resources on which it
depends for both the industry’s long-term future and for the upkeep of our natural environment.
Interpretation is one means for helping us achieve this.
What is interpretation?
Interpretation turns factual information about topics into something more meaningful for a visitor.
It communicates what is special, and why, about places, people or events and tells their stories.
Good interpretation provokes people to think and wonder, which leads to meaning and ultimately a
greater understanding of the world around us.
There are many definitions of interpretation but all effectively contain the same elements.
The Department of Conservation’s definition of interpretation is:
Interpretation is an explanation of the natural, cultural or historic values attached to places. It
enables visitors to gain insight and understanding about the reasons for conservation and ongoing
protection of our heritage.
Benefits of interpretation
For visitors
A traveller may not know what interpretation is, but the experience it offers is what they are usually
in search of.
Interpretation enhances visitor experiences by
Heaphy Track
Photo: A. Thompson
Visitors on Black Cat cruise,
Akaroa Harbour
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being relevant and interactive
fulfilling their curiosity
creating meaning
entertaining
provoking thought
For operators
Interpretation
Interpretation may enhance experiences, which leads to more satisfied customers who are more
likely to
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promote your business through word of mouth
create repeat business
purchase something as a memory of the place
stay longer
Tours based on an interpretive approach can also help you
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attract higher customer numbers
distinguish your operation as offering something different
establish your operation’s environmental credentials
to encourage actions which help protect the environment your business is based on
gain more job satisfaction
For the environment/conservation
Interpretation helps to build a relationship between the visitor and the environment.
This has many benefits for conservation:
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evokes curiosity about the environment
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educates about looking after those values
raises awareness of our unique flora, fauna
and cultural history
encourages visitors to treat sites respectfully
can subtly direct attention to less fragile sites
promotes discussion and talk about conservation
leads to behavioural changes of people which
support conservation
“Through interpretation, understanding; through
understanding, appreciation; through appreciation, protection.”
to:
Pho
h
out
re S
tu
ven
Ad
Tilden (1977, Interpreting our heritage)
Information and interpretation – what’s the difference?
A sound knowledge of factual information is required for interpretation, but there is more to
interpretation than just facts. Interpretation gives those facts context, elaborates on them and
weaves them into stories. For example:
Information:
The Southern Alps have formed along a tectonic plate boundary and are eroded by weather.
The erosion rate and the uplift rate are very similar.
Interpretation:
Colliding plates on the earth’s surface created the Southern Alps. Just as when you push two
pieces of paper together they buckle, fold and rise, so does the earth. Weather is working to
slow the rise of the mountains, by tearing away at them with wind, rain and snow. As much as the
Southern Alps get pushed up each year, the weather wears them back down again
so they stay a fairly constant height.
Interpretation
Principles of interpretation
Professor Sam H. Ham has found that there are four important qualities which form the
principles of interpretation. These are that interpretation should be thematic, organised, relevant
and enjoyable. When all four qualities are in place you are almost guaranteed successful
communication.
Remember to smile
– it’s infectious!
Use active language
where possible, e.g. “This
river carved these rocks.”
instead of “These rocks
have been carved by this
river” or “Can you feel
the spikiness of the rimu
foliage?” instead of “The
rimu has spiky foliage”
Enjoyable
To hold people’s attention, any form of communication must be entertaining to some degree.
Incorporating some of the following will help to make your tour or talk more enjoyable for visitors:
Provide means of interaction
Keeping people actively involved will hold their attention and make it more fun for them and you.
Utilise as many of their senses as possible including touch and taste where possible. Group
discussions and question-asking requires people to form their own opinions and share them.
Demonstrations and activities also get people interacting with the environment and each other.
Vary your style
Things as simple as changing the tone and volume of your voice can dramatically increase
the enjoyment for the listener. Remember to use silence too, it can be very powerful at the right
moments. It may help you emphasise the enormity of something you just stated, or help build
suspense.
Incorporate the unexpected
If something unplanned occurs, like a sudden rainstorm, make use of the spontaneity it provides
and talk about it. For example, how early explorers had to deal with such conditions in primitive
clothing. Or if a small skink slithers past while you are talking about something totally unrelated,
then don’t be afraid to change your focus to it. Try to capture the special moments nature can offer.
Relevant
Keeping things relevant will help people make a personal connection to what they are seeing.
When a visitor can connect new information to something they already know or have experienced,
then it is more readily understood and retained.
Use comparisons
Comparisons can highlight differences and similarities. This allows people to form connections to
new places, animals, plants and landforms by seeing them in relation to what they know.
Get to know your audience
Find out where they come from, learn their names if possible and find out their level of knowledge
on your topic. If you have someone who is already very well informed then get them to help you out
by encouraging them to share their knowledge with the group.
Avoid jargon and technical terms
Fancy terms don’t necessarily hold a lot of meaning so avoid their use where possible.
Use analogies and comparisons to explain things your audience are not familiar with.
Organised
Illustration: L. Hartley
Using “you” statements
and questions to
help form personal
connections e.g. “You
probably saw that . . .”
or “Think of the last time
you . . .”
Information presented in a confused and non-logical order is not easily absorbed.
By planning ahead, help your visitors get the most out of their time with you .
Determine your objectives
Knowing what you are trying to achieve with your operation is crucial. Think about why you are
running this tour and what you would like your audience to come away with. This will help you
build objectives for your operation and help provide the framework and themes to build your talks
or tours on.
Do some planning
Think about how you will structure your tour. Following the story-book structure of beginning,
middle and end is a good idea and draft out what each will consist of. Make sure you have
researched your content well and can include stories about people or places with only occasional
Interpretation
facts and figures woven in. Ensuring your ideas and sub-topics flow on from each will help them
make sense to people too.
Thematic
People may easily forget isolated facts and figures but they will remember elements of a
presentation based on a message or theme. A theme can be considered to be the moral of the
story you are telling. Themes provoke visitors to think and wonder, and these are the starting points
for changes in attitudes and behaviour. Just as a good book makes you think and leaves you with
a lasting impression, so should good interpretation.
The theme contains the message you would like people to go away with and provides the thread
for linking your information together in a meaningful way. A theme which your interpretation is
based on is usually written as a sentence (with a verb) and has an action element. To help create
themes for your topics, ask yourself, “So what?” about your topic.
Topic: Glaciers
Theme: This river of ice can teach us about past climates.
Topic: Historic gold-mining town site.
Theme: Gold-fever led people to tolerate remoteness and extreme hardships often with little in
return.
Topic: Alpine plants
Theme: These plants not only endure the elements but also have to battle pests for their survival.
Illustration: L. Hartley
Interpretation
Interpretation Handbook and Standard
The Interpretation Handbook and Standard: Distilling the essence published by the Department of
Conservation in June 2005 is the Department’s leading publication on interpretation. It provides
guidance on communication, interpretation styles and planning in an easy-to-understand way.
It identifies the core elements of good practice for effective, worthwhile and enjoyable
interpretation. Electronic copies of this resource are freely available and it is valuable to anyone
who undertakes interpretation of New Zealand’s natural heritage. It can be obtained from the DOC
website or printed copies can be purchased: www.doc.govt.nz. DOC tourism concessionaires are
encouraged to obtain and use the Handbook and Standard.
References
Department of Conservation (2005). Interpretation Handbook and Standard: Distilling the essence.
Editor: Colquhoun, F.
Ham, S. (1992). Environmental Interpretation: A Practical Guide for People with Big Ideas and Small
Budgets. North American Press
Parks and Wildlife Service Tasmania (2003). The Tasmanian Advantage: natural and cultural features
of Tasmania.
Pastorelli, J. (2003). Enriching the Experience: an interpretative approach to tour guiding. Hospitality
Press.
Interpretation
Interpretation planning template
Programme title Write this last and strive to convey your theme in your title
Topic and theme
Complete the following as complete sentences
1. “Generally, my tour is about..........
2. “Specifically I want to tell my audience about.........................
3. “After my tour, I want my audience to understand that….”
From Ham, S. (1992)
Now fine tune your theme from No. 3 above. Themes are usually written as a
• Complete sentence
• Expresses one idea
• Interestingly worded
• Answers the ‘So what?’ question
• Strives to be short and specific
• Links a tangible to an intangible, use graph below to brainstorm these.
Theme:
Use this graph1 to brainstorm the tangibles and intangibles which relate to your topic.
1
From David Larsen, U.S. National Park Service Module 101
Presentation outline
Introduction
Write this last, after you have prepared the body of your presentation/tour.
Write in full and it should be no more than 3 sentences.
Be sure to cover the following:
• Who you are and what is going to happen
• How long it will take and what is required of the visitors
• Your theme statement
Transition from introduction
This should include a “hook” to get your audience interested or thinking.
Body
Write each of your key points (sub-themes) as a sentence, with a transition statement that links to next subtheme. Try and use a `hook’ in your transitions to keep interest alive.
Sub-theme 1.
Transition
Sub-theme 2.
Transition
Sub-theme 3.
Transition
Conclusion
Write this in full and be sure to cover the following:
• Re-state or encapsulate your main theme
• Thank them for coming on your tour
• Leave them with a good feeling about your site or company
• Provocation of further thought or action
• End with bang, not a whimper!
How will you cater for different learning styles?
List one or two techniques you will use to address each style
Visual learners
Auditory learners
Kinaesthetic learners (touch, movement)
Emotional learners (sensory feeling, emotional connecting)
Bringing my presentation alive
List at least 2 ways in which you will make your presentation:
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Relevant
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Enjoyable
Overall aim of the tour
Liase with your manager to ensure your aims are in keeping with those of company.
Objectives
What do you want the audience to be able to do afterwards?
Describe the type of behaviour and the extent of the outcome
(e.g. At least 70% of audience will take a specified leaflet/brochure at end of tour)
Objective 1
How you will measure it
Objective 2
How you will measure it
Resources or materials needed for your presentation.
Make a checklist of all the resources you need to take with you on tour
Interpretation evaluation
On the following pages are a questionnaire and results table. Using these you will be able to evaluate the
interpretation you provide to your visitors.
Using the questionnaire
As with any survey, the sample size and how you interpret the information you collect affects the
conclusions you can draw from the results. This questionnaire is designed to be given to all participants of
your tour on any one tour or any one day. This is called census sampling and is practical for groups smaller
than 50 in size. If you have groups larger than 50, then surveying a sample of participants is more
practical. For more information on sampling see the Interpretation Evaluation Tool Kit: Methods and tools
for assessing the effectiveness of face-to-face interpretive programs available from www.crctourism.com.au.
The questionnaire can be photocopied and handed out at the end of a tour. You may want to personalise it
for your company but it can be used as is.
To analyse your results
Each question in the survey targets one of five desired outcomes of your interpretation. These are how
much your visitors:
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Were provoked to think
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Found the tour relevant and meaningful
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Value the sites visited
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Were satisfied with their experience
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Would recommend their experience to others
By filling in the results table, you will get a snapshot of how effective your interpretation is in those areas,
relative to a neutral score of 12. Each results table will hold 15 questionnaires.
References
Ham, S.H and Weiler, B. (2005). Interpretation Evaluation Tool Kit: Methods and tools for assessing the
effectiveness of face-to-face interpretive programs. CRC Sustainable Tourism.
Interpretation questionnaire
Tour:
Tour guide:
Date:
For each question please circle the number that best applies. This questionnaire should take only 5
minutes of your time.
1. The tour today included things I care about.
Disagree strongly
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
6
7
Agree strongly
5
6
7
Agree strongly
4
5
6
7
Agree strongly
4
5
6
7
very much so
Agree strongly
2. I would tell another person that coming here is worth the money.
Disagree strongly 1
2
3
4
5
3. I know more about the pressures this site/place faces.
Disagree strongly
1
2
3
4
4. As a result of today’s experience, I would like to stay longer.
Disagree strongly
1
2
3
5. The tour made me want to talk about what I heard
not at all
1
2
3
6. I would like this site/place to remain for generations to come.
Disagree strongly
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Agree strongly
3
4
5
6
7
Agree strongly
7. My experience today was relevant to me.
Disagree strongly
1
2
8. I would tell another person that they should visit this place
Disagree strongly
1
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4
5
6
7
Agree strongly
3
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5
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7
very much so
9. I am curious to learn more about the area
not at all
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10. I would tell another person that coming here is worth the time.
Disagree strongly 1
2
3
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5
6
7
Agree strongly
2
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5
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7
a lot
11. The tour today made me think
not at all
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12. As a result of today’s tour, I would like to visit again in the future.
Disagree strongly
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Agree strongly
3
4
5
6
7
Agree strongly
13. My experience today was meaningful.
Disagree strongly
1
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14. The tour made conservation of the natural environment seem worthwhile.
Disagree strongly
1
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5
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7
Agree strongly
5
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7
Very satisfied
15. How satisfied were you with your experience today?
Not very satisfied
Thank you for your time!
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Results table for tour to:
Interpretation outcomes for
Tour leader/guide:
Question
Date:
Score
Fill in a column for each questionnaire returned.
visitors
Look at the Totals rows for each outcome. A score of 12 is neutral and a score of 21 is the maximum.
Were provoked to think
Question 5
Question 9
Question 11
Totals
Found the tour relevant and
Question 1
meaningful
Question 7
Question 13
Totals
Value the sites visited
Question 3
Question 6
Question 14
Totals
Were satisfied
Question 4
Question 12
Question 15
Totals
Would recommend their
Question 2
experience to others
Question 8
Question 10
Totals