Interpretation and training
My training work is varied, but all of it is concerned with communication in one way or another. I often run courses on writing clear, accessible text, but have also developed events on
- social justice in museum work
- using communication to influence behaviour in the countryside
- facilitated workshops for senior managers looking at future development options.
All my training events take a hands-on approach as much as possible. I believe it’s important that participants build their confidence in developing new skills, and leave the event enthusiastic about the subject. Here a few examples of my work:
Kelvingrove writing workshops
As part of the radical re-development of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow, I ran a series of workshops for the entire curatorial and education staff team. The workshops introduced and discussed the tight text specifications that had been established for the project, and gave staff the confidence to write engaging, creative text within them.
The workshops included some lively, challenging discussions, but they were also a lot of fun! They were structured around two days of training, with a practical exercise in between. I later ran a similar series of workshops for staff working on the Museum of Transport re-development.
“Presentation was great – kept my attention and posed the right level of questions.”
“Very inclusive process, people felt free to express themselves.”
“Not only helped me develop a positive/creative approach to the text writing for Kelvingrove, but revolutionised my view of what exhibition texts are trying to achieve.”
“Enjoyed it very much. Made me feel the word limit was possible – but I wish I'd had the course years ago!”
Cairngorms National Park interpretation training
I ran a number of training days as part of the Land Based Business Training Project run by the Cairngorms National Park Authority. These included sessions on interpretation planning; effective written communication; and interpretation panels and leaflets
Participants came from tourism-related businesses and private estates as well as local Ranger services.
“Extremely practical… and inspirational – thanks!”
“A huge amount of information packed into one day successfully.”
“In the past I have left confused from interpretation training but I’m leaving this one feeling much more confident.”
Wildlife tourism training
This pioneer training scheme was designed to reach anyone in front-line contact with visitors, and to raise their awareness of Scotland’s world-class wildlife. It aimed to establish how important wildlife is as part of Scotland’s tourism, to give them a good knowledge of the wildlife in their area, and most importantly the confidence and enthusiasm to encourage visitors to appreciate it.
After running an initial pilot scheme I set up and coordinated a series of more than twenty events across the whole of Scotland. Each one-day course involved a contribution from a local wildlife expert. I worked closely on this project with John Macpherson, a talented wildife photographer – he’s the chap with the lucky tie in the picture!
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