What PowerPoint Presenters can Learn from Tour Guides

Vic

Let me introduce you to Vic.

He’s a tour guide. And last month I had the good fortune to be part of a group of visitors he was leading around the remarkable Copped Hall in Essex.

It’s an astonishing Georgian mansion in Epping, briefly visible from the M25 as you approach Junction 26 going anticlockwise (shortly after you emerge from the Bell Common tunnel). The house was gutted by fire in 1917, remaining derelict and under threat of development for much of the rest of the 20^th century. But in 1995 it was bought by the Copped Hall Trust with the aim of permanently protecting the site and carefully restoring the house and its amazing gardens for educational, cultural and community benefit.

Copped Hall

Unlike most historic homes which are open for the public to visit, Copped Hall is part country house, part building site. Progress over the last 28 years has been necessarily slow, driven mainly by the funds which have been raised by volunteers, but also by the availability of craftspeople with the traditional skills required. Nevertheless, every time you visit there is something new to see. Another window may have been replaced (at a cost of £5,000) or perhaps an additional tread in the spectacular Portland stone principal staircase (just 17 more to add to the 42 already reinstated, costing a cool £1,850 each).

Portland stone staircase

Vic is Victor Knope a senior guide and trustee, who has been involved with the Trust for over two decades. Tours aren’t short – ours lasted nearly three hours, including a break for coffee and cake. But what struck me as the tour progressed, was that many of the techniques Vic was using to keep us informed and entertained were the same as those which should be used by PowerPoint presenters for their audiences.

Amongst them were these six skills in particular:

Rapport

This is more than just a smile and a few friendly words on arrival (although both of these are welcome too). Rapport is also about good humour, topical references, perhaps spotting something in the crowd and commenting on it. Finding something which connected us all. This made us feel at ease and at home straight away. It was also a relief to discover he was someone who we were happy to spend some time with. People are comfortable in the company of people who are like them.

Pace

Not so fast to prevent you keeping up, and not so slow as to sound tedious. The length of sentences was short and snappy. Nothing too long or convoluted. No sub-clauses up front which you had to try to remember before the subject matter of the sentence was revealed. Coupled with varied intonation – the natural rise and fall of spoken English – it was easy on the ear.

No assumed knowledge

The site of Copped Hall is so vast and varied, visitor interests may be historical, architectural, archaeological, horticultural or all of the above. But you didn’t need to know anything about any of these topics to enjoy what Vic had to say. After all, many of us were just there out of curiosity, wondering what was going on at this massive shell of a property, while whiling away a Sunday morning.

Colloquial language

In a word, he was chatty. No long words used where short ones would do. Vic understood that we wouldn’t treat him less seriously if he spoke more conversationally. In fact – the opposite. As the quote often attributed to Einstein goes “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough…”

Stories

There were plenty of these. From tales of the fire which ripped through the house in 1917, to the deliberate destruction of the stone staircase in the 1950s, and volunteers having to clear the mass of the tangled mass of plants and trees that had invaded by the late ‘90s. Details like this helped us visualise what had happened and put the facts into context.

A clear purpose

Above all, Vic recognised what his tour was for. I walked alongside him as we returned to the car park and complimented him on his approach. “I don’t expect anyone to leave here remembering a dry list of facts and dates,” he said. “I just want them to experience and understand a little more about this remarkable site.” Perfect – and something PowerPoint presenters could take on board too.

There are guided tours around Copped Hall on the third Sunday of every month (except in December), priced at a very reasonable £10 a head (carers / children under 16 are free).

If you go, please send Vic my regards.

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Eric Dixon

Eric Dixon is a talented and inspiring media and presentation trainer of 20 plus years’ experience. He has been a journalist for over thirty years and hosts communications workshops for The Media Coach. Eric conducts the following courses: Media Training, Crisis Media Training, Presentation Training, Message Building, Personal Impact Training and Pitching Via Zoom.

Participants of his courses regularly use phrases such as ‘life-changing’, ‘inspirational’ and ‘hugely entertaining’. He is himself a confident and professional presenter and public speaker, hired – for example – to compère, events across the UK including the BBC Good Food Show and BBC Gardener’s World Live. His voice is also behind hundreds of TV and radio commercials including the ‘Homebase’ radio and TV campaign.

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