WHY YOU NEED

BETTERTOURS

@audioconexus Condensed Version

PUT ME OUT OF MY MISERY

TOUREMPTY SEATS

RIGHT NOW, SOMEONE OUT THERE

HOPEFULLY IT’S NOT YOURS

IS ON A REALLY BORING TOUR

YOUR TOUR SHOULD BE

FUNENTERTAININGEDUCATIONALINSPIRINGDON’T BORE PEOPLE

FLOORPEOPLE

Guided tours that preoccupy themselves with describing what’s on the right, what’s on the left — are simply announcing a route map.

What chance is there that every guide you hire is like Anthony Quinn? Or that your average tours are going to share average stories?Why are travelers going to choose you?

The worst

sin is to be

boring

So what makes a tour great?

An effective guided tour has more than a beginning, a middle and an end;

it has a point.

Like a good story well spun, a great tour narrative forges an imaginative connection between teller and told.

A great tour, with a great story as its core and context, is infused with its own particular magic and energized by its own unique electricity.

Deciding the story to tell is only half the story

A great tour, with a great story as its core and context, is infused with its own particular magic and energized by its own unique electricity.

Deciding the story to tell is only half the story

Bringing that story to life is the other half of the battle

a great tour narrative uses every tool of storytelling at its imaginative disposal

historical persona, single and multiple narrators,

music, sound effects, dramatic re-enactment

not only to engage the attention and sustain the interest of its audience

but to immerse them within an enhanced experience whose  whole is demonstrably

greater than the sum of its part

A great tour is story-driven, it

entertains; that’s what makes it truly

memorable.

If you’re boring or your tours suck

PEOPLE WILL TALK

If you’re boring or your tours suck

PEOPLE WILL TALK

and

YOU CAN’TIGNORESOCIAL MEDIA

Our tour guide had a

thick accent and

broken English and

was difficult to

understand.

We were very unhappy with the tour and service

provided.

The guide was very cynical and said

demeaning things about guests.

*Reviews by real people found on the Web. Names withheld.

Our tour guide had a

thick accent and

broken English and

was difficult to

understand.

We were very unhappy with the tour and service

provided.

The guide was very cynical and said

demeaning things about guests.

The tour guide got into bad mood after and the rest of our tour was touch and go

Being a good tour guide is something I take seriously. I had an unprofessional driver, and a boring tour.

Boring tour

guide

The guides at the bus stops and the tour

guide on board the bus were not very helpful or knowledgeable.

The guides

varied from

good to bad and

often gave

conflicting

information

I'm a fair

person, but

this tour was

terrible.

boring sightseeing

tour

boring sightseeing tour full of

facts

The most boring tour ever!

“How can you squander even one more day not taking advantage of the greatest shifts of our generation? How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable?” – Seth Godin, Seth’s Blog

Seth Godin knows how to make a successful business tick

So we decided to put together

10 Telltale Signs You Need

Better Tours

1 Your tour is "good enough"

Your tour sounds like a history lecture

You don't follow a script

Either you deliver Wow or you're wasting time and money.

A traveler said it best: "a guide needs to be a good storyteller. A pure recitation of facts is mind-numbingly boring."

Lack of consistency is why businesses fail or fail to grow.

2

3

You're not getting much feedback or any comments

You asked staff members to write your stories

You're talking about things people don't care about

If people aren't talking about your tours it's because they didn't have anything to talk about.

If you're talking about things people don't care about - don't expect them to care about your tour.

We’ve seen a lot of bad tours. Using professional writers means you’ll go from good to great.

4

5

6

You're using the commentary from 10 years ago

Your marketing builds your business (and will save you)

Anyone can provide a great tour

Your commentary is outdated. It more than likely feels stale and old - not only for you - but for your passengers.

Focus on creating an exceptional customer experience first. Then worry about the marketing.

Great guides have the knack. The mojo. The magic. Invest in storytellers.

7

8

9

Focus on attracting audience(s) that share your worldview. And then write commentary that will engage and entertain your

audience. The bottom line is your stories matter. And they matter to your audience.

You don't know your audience10

PROVIDING ENGAGING, ENTERTAINING TOURS

IS NOT A MYSTICAL ART

Storytelling is the heart and soul of agreat tour narrative

MAKE A POINTBE CONSISTENTTELL STORIES

INSPIRE PEOPLE

Thanks!@audioconexus

PHOTOS

Flickr/Sightseeing/Thomas van de WeerdFlickr/Pout/Dan FoyFlickr/Packard tourist sightseeing car/CommonsFlickr/New York Bus/CommonsFlickr/flickr contacts/Hobvias SudoneighmFlickr/Our Guide 3/Son of GrouchoWikimedia/CarrisTur – Tourists/Pedro SimõesQuote from The Experience Economy - Pine and GilmoreFlickr/DSC_0252/Joshua GandersonFlickr/Larry Lessig makes a point/Robert ScobleFlickr/Catatonic Delirium/joaquinuyFlickr/El Grito Del Fantasma/Javier PrazakFlickr/40+37 Magic 8 Ball/BarkFlickr/View on Black/John Steven FernandezFlickr/Seth.Godin.MBA/Aaron TangFlickr/Rain Man’s Rainbow/Steve JurvetsonFlickr/Conjuration Original/Dhilung Kirat

WEBSITES

FLICKR.COMWIKIMEDIA.COMISTOCKPHOTO.COMYOUTUBE.COM

THANKSA Special Thanks to Blair Shakell for writing The Importance of Storytelling. He’s not only one of our writers, he’s an amazing guy. And to @JESSEDEE for evangelizing about what it takes to make a great presentation.

CREDITS