Interpretation is one of those words in which the meaning is derived from the context in which you use it. Interpretation generally refers to a form of communication, especially with an audience in pleasure seeking mode. Examples of venues where interpretation is used include parks, recreation sites, museums, art galleries and even wineries and breweries. In interpretation the communication has a theme and is aimed at creating connections with visitor. It is easy to confuse interpretation with the downloading of facts to your audience. While interpretive communication is fact based, the primary goal is not to impart a list of facts. The goal is to create connections and make people care!
Of course with pleasure seeking audiences, first you need to capture and hold their attention. Storytelling is the perfect communication style for capturing and holding your audience. Storytelling is the best way to create connections and make people care! We want to inspire our audience to think and care about our venue. If you have created the connections, people will seek out more information/facts which interest them.
My experience is in museums, which are primarily object based venues. It is resource intensive to house, conserve and display objects, whether they are art, science or artifact based. During challenging times, like we face now – is it worth the resources? How do museum professionals convince funders, including tax payers, the objects are worth the investment? Parks, recreation sites, museums, art galleries, and even bars are all closed. Some venues are creating online work sheets, gallery tours and even take away for the pubs. But, it is critical the sites develop and tell stories! They need to have their audiences emotionally connected. We know from experience, our leisure/pleasure audiences will listen to stories.
In creating stories for interpretive sites, keep it short. It is important to remember your audience is in a leisure/pleasure seeking mode and looking for a variety of engaging experiences. Next find an object, tour stop or place which fits into your interpretive theme. Ask yourself questions about the object, especially about what is it, the importance, history, etc. Remotely it is hard to think through this frame, but your “home stay” is the perfect venue to practice in. We are all stressed by the sudden and unexpected changes in our “world turned upside down”. Think of something which gives you comfort during this time, examples include an old shirt, pets and making art. The next step is to develop a story to make me care.
A chef I know has had to close her award winning restaurant, losing a lifetime of accomplishment almost overnight. She has a favorite bowl and uses it every day to prep food, plan a cook book and for meals. Go and find your “bowl”. From the pictures I’ve seen, the bowl is not unique or impressive, so why is it special? If the bowl were a museum object, how could we make people care about it? Since you already know your “comfort” object, look for your emotional connection to the object. What is the story behind it? Why is that one old shirt, bowl, pet, or painting technique so special? Using the facts about your special comfort object, make a story about it.
You are all storytellers and know several story structures. You will know which structure is best suited to your comfort object. I find with museum objects using the “straight 5s” is effective and an easy start. The five Ps include: people, place, problem progress and point. Think of the object as the people “p”. Now you have a story, and it is easy to justify why that old shirt, bowl or even scruffy pet is so important. You’ve made me care!
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