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2018 Giveaway - Extraordinary Storytelling for Tour Leaders - Free Mini-Course

2018 Giveaway – Extraordinary Storytelling for Tour Leaders – Free Mini-Course

I’m here today with some exciting news…

Our most recent online program, ‘Extraordinary Storytelling for Tour Leaders’  is only 1 week away from spring registration!

To say that we are excited about welcoming a fresh batch of learners into this program is a huge understatement…

But before I get too carried away, here are your two most important links:

1) To kick off our Spring of Storytelling,…

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[VIDEO] How to speak in front of a group and How to get people’s attention

[VIDEO] How to speak in front of a group and How to get people’s attention

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Getting the attention of a group is not a trivial skill.

Even when customers have paid to come on a tour and employed you as a guide to share your knowledge – getting an audience to pay attention can sometimes feel like an impossible task. How can we effectively get people’s attention when leading a tour or facilitating and experience?

As someone who worked as…

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[VIDEO] 10 Tips for Taking Better Photos on Tour - How to Take Great Pictures of Your Guests - Guide Photography

[VIDEO] 10 Tips for Taking Better Photos on Tour – How to Take Great Pictures of Your Guests – Guide Photography

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Guide Photography: Taking Pictures as a Tour Leader A great tour leader works to create memorable experiences and puts in the extra effort to make sure their guests have a great time. Being in the service industry – we should always be on the lookout for new ways to be helpful and supportive. That’s why in today’s video we’re going to have a look at guide…

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The 2018 Lead Amazing Tours Challenge - Free Workshop Series

The 2018 Lead Amazing Tours Challenge – Free Workshop Series

Ah, the smell of a fresh, new year…   For many of us, this means taking stock of where we are – and where we want to go. If you are anything like me, you may be planning 2018 to be a year of learning and personal growth. I feel so lucky to live in a world where people can share their experience, knowledge, guidance and insights online – and that it is accessible no matter where you live.  Just in…

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[VIDEO] How to Learn People's Names on Tour - Techniques for Remembering Names

[VIDEO] How to Learn People’s Names on Tour – Techniques for Remembering Names

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Learning techniques to remember people’s names is a great skill for everyday life. But as tour leader, guide or someone who works in the service industry – learning names becomes one of your most important skills. In this video, we’re going to look at how to learn people’s names on tour and give some practical suggestions for quickly recalling the names of your…

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Extraordinary Storytelling for Tour Leaders - Giveaway and Free Mini-Course

Extraordinary Storytelling for Tour Leaders – Giveaway and Free Mini-Course

I’m here today with some exciting news… Our brand new, hot-off-the presses, OMG I can’t believe it’s finally ready, latest online program, ‘Extraordinary Storytelling for Tour Leaders’  is only 1 week away from opening! To say that we are excited about this program is a huge understatement… But before I get too carried away, here are the two most important links you need to know: 1) To kick off…

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Back by popular demand... Our single, most viewed tourism training series (3500+ views!)

Back by popular demand… Our single, most viewed tourism training series (3500+ views!)

Almost every week I get an email asking about our Lead Amazing Tours workshop series and when people will be able to access all four workshops again. Our next scheduled launch of the series is not until October 2017 – but I am always getting messages just like these ones….. So here’s the deal…  instead of waiting all of the way until October…. IF you would like to access this training series,…

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We are excited to introduce you to...Akela Tonner Bassendale! (pronounced Ah-Kay-la) born 9lbs 9 ounces at 9:09pm, May 10th - under the light of a full moon. Healthy as a baby horse and roughly the same size! Akela is the leader of the wolf pack in the story of the Jungle Book and a name we both loved. Our congrats to new grandparents, uncles, aunts, friends and family!! Sarah, Kelsey and Akela xoxoxox (at Vancouver, British Columbia)

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#notaseasyasitlooks Swipe right to see my attempt.... This was exploring the unique watery world of #Inlelake Lake, #Myanmar. Here, Intha fisherman row canoes with one leg, as they sail past floating gardens and wooden homes perch above the water on stilts. ⠀ (at Inle Lake)

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You can't fake this kind of #happiness. While road tripping in #Jordan, Kelsey and I came across a bedouin camel herder. Staying true to the super friendly nature of the Jordanian's, he offered to let me try milking one of his #camels and then taste the milk!⠀ Verdict? Warm which was a bit weird, but good :) ⠀ (at Jordan)

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Perfect #Picnic spot found #biketouring along the #Loire on one of our weeks off from guiding in France. ⠀ ⠀ This is the Loire à vélo, a 800km bike path that is mostly #carfree and #flat. #Winning ⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ #ilovefrance #roadtrip #dowhatlocalsdo #gotouring #letsgosomewhere #newexperience #tourguides #tourguidelife #lifeofadventure #exploremore #biketrip #likealocal #biketravel #cycletouring #guidelife (at Loire, Rhone-Alpes, France)

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Checking out an #elephant skull in #zimbabwe. ⠀ ⠀ #funfact The skull of an elephant makes up 25% of its body weight. In fact, the #africanelephant 's brain is bigger than any other animal. And now you know!

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#fireballoon in #chaingmai, #thailand. A photo of us during the Loi Krathong festival (after leading tours in northern Thailand) Each year, thousands and thousands of fire balloons are all set off at once during the festival. ⠀⠀ Many Thai's believe that launching these balloons will send a person’s bad luck away into the air, especially if it disappears from view before the fire goes out! Here's hoping...⠀⠀ .⠀⠀ .⠀⠀ .⠀⠀ .⠀⠀ #athomeintheworld #newexperience #endlessexperiences #wanderlust #travel #voyage #traveldeeper #exploremore #becomeatourguidebecause #tourguides #tourguidelife #tourism #tour #tourism (at Chiang Mai, Thailand)

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[VIDEO] Interpretation Tips for Tour Guides - Interpreting Culture, the Environment, History and Heritage

[VIDEO] Interpretation Tips for Tour Guides – Interpreting Culture, the Environment, History and Heritage

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Cultural, Environmental and Historical Interpretation is something that many guides do on a day to day basis. In this video, we look at some interpretation tips for tour guides and share resources for helping you with your presentations on tour. PLUS, we have a special guest, Sarah Bassendale, one of the lead trainers at our Be a Better Guide Academy. We’ve…

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[VIDEO] Common Mistakes made on Group Tours - Zipline Tours Gone Wrong (ft South Park)

[VIDEO] Common Mistakes made on Group Tours – Zipline Tours Gone Wrong (ft South Park)

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Good satire is hard to come by. So when Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the award-winning creators of South Park and The Book of Mormon, decided to parody the common mistakes made on group tours  – I got pretty excited. I first heard about this South Park episode when I attended the 2017 International ACCT conference. This annual event brings together aerial park…

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Recruit and Train Extraordinary Guides - 2017 Online Workshops

Recruit and Train Extraordinary Guides – 2017 Online Workshops

Online Workshops for Tour Business Owners – January 2017 We’re kicking off 2017 with three weeks of workshops on how to recruit and train extraordinary guides. While many tour and activity business owners in the tourism industry generally only recruit and hire at certain times of the year – often 3-4 months before peak season – in these workshops we’ll share with you a new strategy for finding…

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Episode 19 - A few things your clients never ask on tour, but secretly want to know

Episode 19 – A few things your clients never ask on tour, but secretly want to know

After spending hundreds of dollars on ‘mind-reading, wearable tech’ from sketchy online stores, I will be the first to tell you that mind reading technology has not yet arrived. However, after leading tours for almost ten years now, I’ve been able to pick up on a few questions that clients never ask on tour. These will not be surprising for many of you, but here is why I think they are important:…