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Interpretation

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Interpretation: Telling Your Byway's Story

This article is based on a May 3, 2000 conference call with Tim Merriman, Executive Director of the National Association for Interpretation, and Lisa Brochu, an interpretive writer and planner.

Storytelling is an age-old tradition that has existed in every human organization. Before written history, oral traditions were key to the survival and evolution of cultures. Shamans, storytellers, and elders of tribal groups carried the oral history of their people forward from generation to generation. Interpretation of natural and cultural heritage may be as old as the human race. Today, interpretive approaches are used to communicate in parks, zoos, nature centers, aquaria, museums, historic sites, scenic byways, and even industry.

What is Interpretation?
In 1957, Freeman Tilden published a book called, Interpreting Our Heritage. Tilden was an accomplished playwright, book publisher, editor, and talented writer. The National Park Service hired him to visit interpretive sites across the country. They chartered Tilden with, “Help us understand what we do.” Based on that experience, Tilden provided what many interpreters consider the classic definition of interpretation.

“An educational activity which aims to reveal meanings and relationships through the use of original objects, by firsthand experience, and by illustrative media, rather than simply to communicate factual information.”
-Freeman Tilden, 1957

Making Connections
A common interpretive training activity used by the National Park Service is to pass around a fragment of concrete. Students are asked to give a one-word image related to the object. Common images are “rough,” “hard,” “gray,” “concrete,” “aggregate” and “durable.” Once students learn that the stone fragment was picked up in 1989 when the Berlin Wall was torn down, the one-word images change to “freedom,” “civilization,” “conflict,” “life,” “death” and “passion.” That little bit of insight illustrated the power of interpretation to build connections between tangible things (a stone) and intangible things (freedom). All human beings can connect with universal intangibles like love, family, friendship, civilization, agriculture, etc. Tim Merriman explains, “If you don’t know much about your audience and their particular experience and background, ‘universals’ are more likely to make connections than stories about natural and cultural resources that are steeped in local culture. Regional stories may not translate to someone from a different culture, or someone who speaks a different language, or someone who didn’t grow up in your part of the country.” Good interpreters make significant emotional and intellectual connections for their audiences. They help people understand the meanings behind a resource.

Questions and Answers

Q: Could you describe some of the social science research related to the motoring public? Has research indicated how we can reach that broad audience, particularly those traveling on scenic byway?

Merriman: Social science research indicates that people remember themes well, but they forget facts. Many times, there is a real temptation to put the “hook on the wall” or the “book on the sign.” People are afraid that they won’t deliver all the information. In interpretive planning, it’s more important to identify the themes you want to convey. A theme is an idea, a complete sentence. For example, “the rich coal resources of eastern Kentucky were critical to the economic development of the area” is a theme. “Kentucky - the coal State” is a topic. In conveying themes and sub-themes, the “magic number” is seven (plus or minus two). When introduced to new ideas, most people can easily carry away three to five new ideas, themes or sub-themes. Once you exceed five themes (7-2), some people will drop out. They can’t retain all that information. If you get to nine sub-themes (7+2), a few people may retain that, but many won’t. In planning interpretation, it’s important to limit the number of messages used in signs, brochures, and other communications. If you try to convey too many messages, you will confuse people. It will be difficult for them to understand what’s really important.

Brochu: Observation of visitors indicates that most people will not stand in front of a sign for more than 10 seconds. This is true even if it’s the most beautiful sign in the world and has twenty words or less. People like large beautiful graphics. They look at the graphics, but have every little attraction to the words. Try to keep words light and graphics big and attractive. Visual representation is extremely important. It will help a great deal if you can use big graphics to convey a large part of your message, and not rely on the written word or the spoken word.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is also a key factor when you are dealing with scenic byways and the motoring public. If a visitor’s basic needs (like bathroom facilities and water stops) are not being met, the chances of them stopping to participate in a voluntary activity (like reading an interpretive sign or picking up a brochure) plummet. Try to capitalize on those basic needs. For example, if you place interpretive signage near the bathrooms instead of by the “big view” your readership goes up almost 80%. Everyone needs to go to the bathroom, but not everyone needs to stand and look at the view (only those who choose to). If you want to increase your readership, think about where you are locating things. Try to capitalize on the basic needs that people have. It’s been a successful strategy in lots of places.

Q: What is the best way to explain scenic byways to a broad range of cultural difference and ethnic backgrounds?

Merriman: When you develop themes or write text for signs and brochures, it’s important to communicate in “universals.” You’ll be more likely to connect with people from other cultures and other backgrounds. Sometimes terrible assumptions are made about who the audience is. Ideally, you’ll conduct some studies and find out. For example, you may find out that 40% of the people seeing your sing are Hispanic. The assumption is that if you write the sign in Spanish, they will read it. At the same time, it’s important to know the education level and literacy level of your audience.

One of my first projects for people with disabilities was planning an interpretive trail for people who were blind or visually impaired. I took some individuals who were blind on the trail and explained that the signs would be done in Braille. They told me that only 10% of people with vision impairments read Braille. So, we created an audiotape of the interpretive information.

Brochu: The hardest thing in the world is to try and do something that is going to meet everybody’s needs. It just can’t be done. Because tourism is so multicultural, it’s impossible to provide everything in every language. We need to try to appeal to universal truths, rather than real specific information. We want to reveal things, not just spout facts. If you do that, you will have a greater change of overall success.

There is a great quote, “Do not try to satisfy your vanity by teaching a great many things, instead try to light a spark and if there’s some good stuff there it will ignite.” That is what interpretation is all about. It’s lighting a spark that will appeal to a great many people.

The best thing is to draw on a palette of experiences. Try to find a way to allow everyone to “touch” your resource, to connect with it. Find something that appeals to everyone is some way. But don’t try to do all things for all people.

Q. What distinguishes good interpretation?

Merriman: At a National Association for Interpretation conference, I took a field trip to the Tumacacori Mission in Tucson, Arizona. Inside, tours were being conducted in the exhibits area. Many of the exhibits were extremely text intensive. You could learn a lot, if you were willing to stand in front of each exhibit for ten minutes. Most people won’t do that. I also got bored very quickly. I wandered outside and discovered a Tohono O’odham woman making tortillas. She spoke no English or Spanish and I realized we were not going to have a conversation. She handed me a ball of tortilla dough. She patted a ball of dough, in her hands, into a perfect circle and fried it on a stone. I tried to do the same, and ended up with a ragged “amoeba” which fell apart when she cooked it. She put some salsa on my tortilla, handed it back to me, and I ate it. Her demonstration would have communicated with anybody. It did not matter which culture you were from. It was engaging and personal.

Sam Ham (author of Environmental Interpretation) says that interpretation needs to be four things:

1. Pleasurable. People in informal settings like driving a highway, are not there to be educated. They don’t feel any obligation to stop and read anything.
2. Relevant. It has to be both personable and meaningful to make an emotional and intellectual connection.
3. Organized. It has be organized in a fashion that people can engage it. In the case of signage, the theme has to be in the title because that may be all a visitor reads.
4. Thematic. It has to be thematic to have lasting power.

The program of the Tohono O’odhan woman fit all of those criteria. Many of the highly textual exhibits didn’t.

Q: Do you have any suggestions on selecting interpretive media?

Brochu: Make sure the medium you select is appropriate for the site. I recently saw a Braille sign created out of metal. It was located in central Texas where summer temperatures can reach 105 degrees. Would you want to feel a metal Braille sign on a hot Texas summer day? Those types of issues need to be considered. In planning interpretation, you need to take your audience’s needs into account, along with your needs to communicate.

Q: We want to implement a radio broadcast system at three sites along our 47-mile byway. Do you have any suggestions on planning this specific type of interpretation?

Brochu: One of the best things you can do is to hire an interpretive planner. NAI maintains a green pages directory that lists vendors and consultants who provide these services. This is a network of people who do this type of work for a living. The green pages directory is posted on NAI’s website (www.interpnet.com).

Merriman: Experts have worked on interpretation activities in dozens, and hundreds, of places. They can keep you from making other people’s often costly, mistakes. For example, an interpretive signage expert can help you choose the best sign locations, select material that withstand sunlight and determine how to discourage vandalism.

Brochu: If you don’t have the time or the funds to collect bids to hire a planner, you can begin the process yourself by starting to put together a plan. Think about (1) who your audience is and what their interests are, and (2) what you want to communicate. You need to find a balance between those two things. Next, start to develop a script. Once you’ve drafted a script, it’s a good idea to contract an interpretive writer to help you hone the script. The writer can make sure you’re using good interpretive techniques to get your point across to as many people as possible. That would be a less expensive approach. Hopefully, it will help you prevent mistakes that could make your program unsuccessful.

Q: How can you measure the effectiveness of your efforts?

Merriman: There are several ways to accomplish that. One way is with market information systems. By building in a few questions at cash register locations (i.e., in a visitor information center), you can collect continual feedback form people. You might ask “Where did you learn about this?” or “What did you think about this?” You could also provide a form with a Likert scale (rate 1-5) for people to fill out. After doing that in a formal way for a while, you’ll have an index you can use for comparison. For example, you could say, “Last year our feedback forms showed a 3.6 approval rating, this year our objective is to increase that to 3.8.” It would help measure effectiveness of new contact information you distributed to visitor centers, stores, and communities along the byway.

There are lots of forms of evaluation. You could also hire a visitor study specialist to design an evaluation program that fits what you do. As an example, NAI conducts market survey of its member to get feedback on the association’s performance, services, etc. Some of the feedback comes from “in stream” communication, such as providing a place to write comments on a membership renewal notice. Think about collecting “in steam” feedback every time you design a new communication vehicle, a new brochure, or a new signage program. You want to build an “in stream” approach to getting feedback, rather than an occasional one. If you only do research one every five years, you may lose touch with your audience.

Q. How can interpretative products be evaluated?

Brochu: It is a good idea to do some evaluation before you put your final product in the field. Conduct test marketing with people who are driving or staying along the byway. Set up focus groups and test your product before you do the final production steps. That way you can determine if there is a problem before you spend costly production money. This will allow you to refine and make changes during the process.

Merriman: A poster board version of a sign (for a few dollars) is much cheaper than spending a thousand dollars for sign material, another thousand to frame it, and another thousand to install it. Pre-testing can save you a fortune, if bad decisions have been made along the way.

Brochu: Follow-up is also a key factor. Unfortunately, follow-up is rarely done. Things get put up in the field and then left there for 10-15 years. The question comes up, “how come no one looks at this?” Chances are that no one ever looked at the materials. They may have been put up in the wrong location in the beginning. Careful planning on the front end can help you avoid some of that, but follow-up evaluation is important. I’ve conducted visitor observation where I sit and watch people look at signs. I evaluate whether they are reading the sign, how long they stand here, etc.

Q: What types of training does NAI offer?

NAI sponsors several national and regional training events. In addition, a National Interpreters workshop is held each fall. This five-day event includes three full days of concurrent sessions with more than 100 professional presenters. Field sessions are offered at area parks, zoos, nature center, and museums. Merriman encourages the scenic byway community to attend. “It’s a rich environment to get information and ideas, and to meet consultants. The trade show attracts 80-100 commercial firms working in the field of interpretation.”

NAI also has a program to certify individuals at Certified Heritage Interpreter, Certified Interpretive Planners, Certified Interpretive Trainers, and Certified Interpretive Mangers. For more information, see the NAI website (http://www.interpnet.com).

The National Association for Interpretation (NAI) has 4,250 members in all 50 United Sates, all the Canadian provinces, and 29 other countries. NAI produces a national magazine called Legacy, which offers articles and column related to current topics in interpretation. The Association also publishes the Journal of Interpretation Research. Membership information is posted on the Internet site www.interpnet.com, or you can request an information packet by calling 1-888-900-8283 (toll free).

Twelve Tips in Planning Interpretation

1. Identify the themes you want to convey. People remember themes, but forget facts.
2. Limit the number of ideas, themes, and sub-themes to seven (plus or minus two).
3. Use big attractive graphics. People are attracted to graphic, not words
4. Communicate your message in 10 seconds—this is how long most people will stand in front of a sign.
5. Place interpretive signage in locations where it will get read (i.e., near rest rooms).
6. Connect with diverse groups of visitors, communicate universal truths rather than real specific information.
7. Choose interpretive media that is appropriate for your site.
8. Plan interpretation that is pleasurable, relevant, organized, and thematic.
9. Hire an interpretive planner. NAI maintains a directory of interpretive consultants on the website www.interpnet.com.
10. Do an evaluation before you put your final interpretive produce to the field. Identify problems before you spend costly production dollars.
11. Follow-up on your interpretation products. Don’t put things out in the field and forget them.
12. Improve your interpretation sills through NAI training, conferences and certification programs.

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