Lecture #1 - Presentation techniques - Zvi Feffer

• Being an effective tour guide is much more than just knowing one's "stuff."  It is preparing the logistical aspects of the trip, preparing for the unexpected, and acting and dressing professionally.  
• Know when to be quiet on a trip.  If they want to sleep, let them sleep.
• Have some activities prepared for the kids; the parents will love you for it.
• If the schedule is changing (e.g. lunch will be a bit late) for unavoidable reasons, let the group know ASAP.
• No one is listening right after lunch.  Keep quiet.
• On the trips, sell yourself!  You are in a try-out for the next trip, when one of the current guests recommends you to his friends.
• Be prepared!  Maps, readings et al.  Have a packet for every pair of seats, if desired.

Coming Up!!!  Trip #1 - December 22, 2009 - Beit Shemesh area, including:

1. Tel Azeka/תל עזקה
2. Tel Beit Shemesh/תל בית שמש
3. Tel Tzor'a/תל צרעה
4. Grave of Dan ben Yaakov
5. Biblical Sculpture Garden in Beit Shemesh
6. Moni Winery/יקב מוני
   
7. Dir Rafat Monastery/מנזר דייר-ראפאת
8. Mano'ach's altar
   

Machon Lander course begins.......FINALLY!!!

After many hiccups, my tour guiding course at Machon Lander is about to begin, this Friday, December 11.  I am still hoping to get a ride in from Mazkeret Batya, so I need not sleep in Jerusalem twice a week.  The problem?  The trips are scheduled to leave from Binyanei ha-Uma at 6:45 every Tuesday, and the earliest bus gets in at 7:15.  The classes are each Friday from 8:00a-12:30p, and the earliest bus gets in at 8:15 (thanks, Friday Egged schedule!).  There are a number of solutions:

1. There is a woman in Mazkeret Batya who goes in every weekday between 5:30-6:00a, so that would solve the Tuesday problem.
2. My brother-in-law has kindly offered to let me stay at his apartment the night before trip- or class days.
3. When the trips are going to either the Tel Aviv-, Ashdod-, or Be'er Sheva area, they will need to go in my direction anyway, so I could meet the bus at one of a number of junctions, either on Highway 1 to Tel Aviv, or on Highway 3 to the coast and Be'er Sheva.

I'll figure out something.  Look forward to updating you (and me!).

Stay tuned for class- and trip updates.  Check out the list of trips, and be very envious of me.