Why I Recommend All Museum Marketers Spend a Day Giving Tours

I’m not primarily a museum interpreter, but I spend a few days each year in an interpretive role to strengthen my marketing skills.

I’ve spent my career helping museums and heritage organizations tell their stories, but I wanted to better understand what actually happens between an interpreter and a visitor — that moment when someone stops hearing facts and starts feeling connected.

So I began giving weekend tours as a docent at the Homewood Museum in Baltimore. Each tour was different. Before I started, I’d quietly read the room:

• How much history does this group already know?

• Are they curious about decorative arts or the Founding Fathers?

• How do I introduce the topic of slavery in a way that invites conversation rather than defensiveness?

Later, I started hearth cooking at Schifferstadt Architectural Museum, an 18th-century German home and one of the oldest in Frederick, Maryland. There, I talk about cook times, local ingredients, and daily routines. I ask kids if they can spot our fridge or microwave. I hand them a milkmaid’s yoke and watch their eyes widen when I tell them they’ll need to walk to the creek to bring back water.

My goal isn’t just to share facts; I want to make a connection. And that’s exactly what good marketers and fundraisers do, too.

Interpretation, marketing, and development all have the same goal: to help people see themselves in the story.

What I Learned by Earning my Certified Interpretive Planner Credential

A few months ago, I attended a week-long training with the National Association if Interpretation to earn my Certified Interpretive Planner credential. As we worked through the material, it became clear to me that interpretation, communications, and fundraising are all variations of the same process: understanding your audience, crafting a meaningful message, and inviting participation.

Yet in most organizations, those three functions are often siloed. Marketers are working to get visitors through the doors. Interpretation is focused on delivering a compelling, educational visitor experience. And fundraisers are hoping to convince those visitors to make a gift.

They are all doing important work, but are their efforts reinforcing each other's?

When all three functions share a common story, the organization’s voice becomes clear and confident. That voice is your brand. It’s what people recognize, trust, and carry with them long after their visit.

That kind of consistency builds trust, and trust is what turns visitors into advocates, donors, and champions for your mission.

Bringing the Story Full Circle

That’s exactly what I’m exploring in a new training I’m developing for 2026 — how museums and heritage organizations can align their interpretation, marketing, and fundraising to speak with one clear, authentic voice.

If you’d like to be notified when it’s ready, or if your team could use some help weaving your messaging together now, send me a message or join my email list. I’d love to help your staff find — and share — your organization’s strongest story.