Walking Tour Guiding

What skills and qualities does a walking tour guide need to be professional?

Show your personality when guiding.  This will help your guests feel more at ease.

Remember, first impressions count.

What a guide shares on a walking tour is of course relevant to the reason and the theme of the walk, but here are the most relevant areas of knowledge to cover on a walking tour.

We say so much with our bodies, so consider what non-verbal messages you are sending out when you guide.

Effective communication will give the guide an opportunity to share so much about their town and make the guides want to learn and experience even more.

Some ideas to put into action when leading a walking tour.

Be prepared and do a 'dry run' of your walking tour before you meet your group, so you can avoid as many of the barriers to effective communication as you possibly can.

Your voice is the most valuable tool when leading a walking tour - use it effectively and look after it to prevent injury to your vocal cords.

Use these tips to position yourself to be heard.

Assess your walk to know if it has been a success and amend as necessary.

Analysis of your own perceptions, will help you become a better guide.

Be really clear about what your visitors are expecting from their walking tour.

Positioning a group so they can see, or manage their movement to ensure they all get an opportunity to see what you are talking about, will ensure your group stays enthusiastic about your walking tour.

Gesturing with intention and clearly, will ensure your group know exactly what you are showing them.

Some tips to ensure your visitor questions are answered for the benefit of the whole group.

There will always be one difficult customer - how do you manage them to prevent them having an impact on you and your group?

Now it is time to put your walking tour together.  Here are some simple steps and guidelines to help you create a walk that you will be able to deliver with ease and that your guests will enjoy.

It is always good to hear from those who guide for a living, what they think are points to remember when leading a walking tour. Here are some top tips from guides who have mostly worked in Europe, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.