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Clarifying Interpretive Themes
Using heritage interpretive themes will make your program planning easier and more effective!
A common misconception we often come across when planning interpretive programs or services is that of developing heritage interpretive themes.
Interpretive themes are a critically important aspect of the interpretive planning process. Getting interpretive themes right is easier than you think!
The following are a few ideas and examples that will help make your interpretive theme planning process easier and more effective.
So what exactly is an interpretive theme?
The interpretive theme is the central concept or key idea of any visitor experience presentation. Not only does the development of an interpretive theme provide organizational structure and clarity of purpose of the program, it also has a dramatic effect on the whole business planning process.
Interpretive themes help you plan exhibits and manage visitors; they affects how you train your staff, who your market is and what you sell in the gift shop. It is all encompassing and the single most important element in the interpretive planning process. Once the interpretive theme has been decided, everything you do in effectively presenting that theme to the audience falls into place.
What makes an interpretive theme?
What's the difference between interpretive themes & topics?
It is important not to confuse interpretive themes with topics. Examples of topics that might be mistaken for interpretive themes might be:
Be sure your interpretive themes are "complete sentences" and that they meet the other criteria noted above. Here are some examples of interpretive themes:
In simple terms visitors exiting your museum / heritage centre / historic site / and so on, should be able to summarize the interpretive theme of the visitor experience in one succinct sentence.
As a simple experiment ask 20 visitors leaving your site, exhibit, etc., what they thought the experience was all about and to sum it up in one short sentence.
The answers you get back, if you have done your job properly, should reflect your interpretive theme.
If it doesn’t, you might have a problem!
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www.heritagedestination.com
www.heritagedestination.co.uk
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