Prior to this course, I had never heard of an “environmental interpreter”, but in the last two weeks, I have been learning about their significant role in many settings! I was reflecting on places I have been to where I have come across interpreters, and one place would be the Roman Baths in Somerset, England, where I listened to an audio tour by dialing the numbers at the various stops. I had never considered that with this type of tool, such careful planning goes into the story telling to appeal to the tourists.
An environmental interpreter requires specific skills in their practice. They need to know how much to share about a topic, and the key details that are of interest and relevance to the listener. In my upcoming projects, I will be abiding by various formulas to connect with my audience through podcasts. Mill’s formula is a great place to start, to create podcasts that appeal to the imagination and the reason, to give life to cold facts, make stories to breathe life into inanimate objects, deal with principles rather than isolated information and give biographies rather than classifications (Beck et. al, 2018).
Freeman Tilden’s six “principles of interpretation” (1975) is also resourceful, and builds on Mills’ formula:
1. Any interpretation that does not relate what is being shown or described to something within the personality or experience of the visitor will not resonate
2. Information alone is not interpretation, however, all interpretation includes information
3. Interpretation is an art, therefore is teachable to some degree
4. The chief aim of interpretation is provocation
5. Interpretation should aim to present a whole rather than a part and must address itself to the whole person, rather than any phase
6. Interpretation addressed to children should not be a dilution of the presentation to adults but should follow a different approach. To be at its best it will require a separate program. (Beck et. al, 2018).
Additionally, Brochu & Merriman’s (2008) POETRY approach is another great tool to follow to ensure an environmental interpretation podcast will be successful (Beck et. al, 2018). P, for “purposeful”, is important because I want my topic to be of interest to my listeners, but also of significance, which in turn should motivate more people to listen. O, for “organized”, is also important for a successful project. The information in the podcast must follow a certain order to make listening enjoyable and easy for the audience. If I am jumping from topic-to-topic, the podcast will be difficult to follow and disorganized. E, for “enjoyable”, goes in-hand with purposeful and organized. An enjoyable podcast should not be dense with facts. For example, while the topic of climate change is purposeful, and can be explained in an organized way, if I go on a tangent about the science behind oceanic currents and the Coriolis effect, I may lose some of my audience to boredom. It needs to be a mixture of scientific facts and symbolism to reach a larger scope of viewers. T, for “thematic”, also correlates with enjoyment. It is important to stick to a theme as not to confuse the listeners, and to keep them engaged. If I title my podcast “wildlife in a concrete jungle” and begin my podcast about the different wildlife in the Toronto area, I do not want to conclude my podcast with results of the recent election (which is another point, that talk of religion and politics should be avoided). R, for “relevance” is key to being a successful interpreter. They must remember why the audience tuned in and what they are there to learn. While analogies can be made to make the understanding easier, when teaching a historical lesson, the facts should remain present and relate to the topic. If my audience tunes out and asks themselves “So what? What was the purpose of listening to this?”, then I failed. Lastly, Y which stands for “you” (as the interpreter) is important to consider when creating a podcast (Beck et. al, 2018). The only way to display my passion and enthusiasm about a topic is to be curious and interested in what I am teaching!
I am very excited to start practicing and building upon my skills as an environmental interpreter. I have always loved nature and wildlife, and want others to perceive it the way I do, but this is only possible through technique and effective communication. I hope that soon, I can help more youth and adults perceive nature in a positive way, and highlight aspects of nature that often goes unnoticed! I would love to know, what other skills do you think an environmental interpreter needs to successfully engage their audience and how do they obtain these skills?
Reference
Beck, L., Cable, T.T., & Knudson. D.M. (2018). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage for a better world. Sagamore-Venture.