How to Become a Docent

When you go to a museum or historic site and take a tour, chances are your tour guide is a docent. The word “docent” comes from the Latin word meaning “to teach.” Docents are usually volunteers or student interns, although there are some full time paid docents. To become a docent means more than just volunteering to help out as a community service. Docents study, train, and practice to learn what they must know and to keep up to date. It’s fun, challenging—and one of the very best resume builders you can imagine!

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Time to volunteer on a regular schedule
• Interest in the subject matter

1. Look for opportunities to become a docent that fit your interests. There are art, science, and history museums. Historic sites have docents as tour guides, and in some cases you will even meet docents who have studied and demonstrate crafts at these sites. Check your local phone book and community websites for places where you can become a docent.
2. Contact the museums and/or historic sites you find interesting and ask if they are accepting volunteers for docent positions. If you are a high school or college student, ask about internship opportunities either during the summer or year-round.
3. Commit to a regular schedule. If you work full time you may have to limit yourself to weekends only. However, since the largest number of visitors to museums and historic sites is usually on the weekends, a docent who will work those days is usually more than welcome!
4. Take the training seriously. You will put in some serious study to learn the subject matter. It might be modern art, the history of aviation, or how people lived on a 19th century farm. You will be the teacher who explains and informs visitors and answers questions about the exhibits they are viewing.
5. Learn how to lead a group of people. When you give a tour, you may be responsible for tourists from another country, families on vacation, or a class of schoolchildren on a field trip. You will learn to tailor your tour to the audience, to keep an eye out so no one touches exhibits, and to direct the tour group—-all while explaining everything on the tour and answering questions. But don’t worry--you will have plenty of opportunity to practice before you are expected to do all this on your own.
6. Participate in other projects and activities. Some docents master and then demonstrate crafts from the past. Others participate in serious research projects. A student can use the facilities to research and develop school projects. Student internships often require this, in fact.
7. Make learning a habit. Any museum or historic site constantly has new exhibits and activities and you will always have something to learn!
8. Be reliable. You may be able to commit only a few hours a week. Because you are a volunteer, that’s not going to be a problem. But when you make a commitment to be there, make sure you follow through.

Tips & Warnings

• Every hour you spend as a docent is an investment in your future. It’s not just that you have something to put in the space that says “community service” on a school o r job application. You will develop skills ranging from research to managing groups of people that are highly valued in virtually every profession. Above all, you will master the art of public speaking, learning to present material clearly and in a way your particular audience can appreciate and relate to.

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