The third meeting of the Tareq Rajab Docent Programme began at 10 AM sharp on Saturday the 15th of October, with less than a week until the long-awaited half-term break. After some brief updates to Faris and Amishi about everyone’s research progress towards a revised and updated Docent handbook, the docents were split up into groups of four or five for the first training session of 2019.
Whilst anyone can memorise and recite the information in the TRDP handbooks, a training session at the museum is what teaches a docent to be able to talk about any artefact in an engaging, passionate and informative way while also building invaluable confidence and enthusiasm. In a sense, they teach a docent to shine amongst the very artefacts they wish to present.
Under the supervision of Amishi, Faris and programme veterans, Noorul and Tapi, each group of docents were given a section of the museum, the relevant handbook pages as well as tips on how to showcase the artefacts with confidence and charm, from perfecting pronunciation and eye contact to expressing personal opinions and answering follow-up questions from tourists. For more experienced docents, this proved an opportunity to refresh their presentation skills gained previously, while our newest members saw the beginning in honing their skills as equally superb docents. There was lots of work to be done and there was no room for distractions- not even from the camera!
The groups reconvened at the gift shop area, where a member of each group was chosen to talk about an artefact they had just been studying. Constructive feedback for each docent came from the group heads, Faris and Amishi, concerning delivery, audience engagement and even posture. There is no doubt that everyone wrapped the day up feeling marginally more confident in their presentation skills and very excited for the upcoming holidays and future events.
We would also like to announce the Docent of the Month for October: Razan Suleiman. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to the programme; keep it up!
The TRDP enjoyed another surprise that Saturday- our first tour of the season, given to two American military doctors by docents Abdelrahman El-Atawna and Emilia Stankovic. It went incredibly well- we hope our visitors enjoyed themselves and we look forward to many further opportunities to show people around in the future.
If you yourself would like a tour of either of the two museums, please do not hesitate to email either Amishi Singhal (8799) or Faris Al-Sayed (9495) to book one.
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Meeting updates will be regularly posted on the Print: stay tuned!
