Introduction
You who you must study and know, before going on your way as a tour guide in Berlin, you need to study the history of the city’s old lanes landmarks and attractions. As a history junkie, this isn’t surprising at all: Berlin is a city steeped in the past – from medieval trading town beginnings, through the days of that country’s Cold War division and subsequent reunification.
A great place to start is to read books, watch documentaries, find out about online resources talking about Berlin’s past. Get the first hand understanding of the city’s culture and heritage by seeing the city’s museums, landmarks and neighborhoods on site. If you plan to conduct a future tour where you will be able to provide your tourist with accurate and interesting information about the city, it will be worth your while learning about the history and the culture of the city you are taking your tourist to.
Tips:
Find local historical societies, attend lectures or any other events concerning Berlin’s history.
Talk to local tour guides or established tour companies and learn from their experiences and views.
Visit lesser known sites of Berlin to find hidden gems that you will be able to include as value add points during your next tour.
Attend lectures or events in regards to Berlin’s history and join local historical societies.
Take the time to connect with local tour guides or even established tour companies that will provide you with their experiences and their perspectives.
See lesser known side of Berlin and find hidden gems that might help you when you make your trips.
Step 2: Getting Relevant Certifications and training
Certifications and training programs aren’t mandatory, but they can really add some legitimacy to you as a tour guide in Berlin. Getting certified can demonstrate that you are committed to excellence and professionalism and separate you from a competitive field.
The International Guide Academy has a complete training program for guide aspirants. This program includes public speaking, group management and the development of the tour. Moreover, securing the first aid and CPR certificate will improve your appraisals as it indicates that you are ready to deal with any unpredictable moment in the course of the tours.
Tips:
Go through research and check out online different training programs and certifications that fit your interests and goals.
If you want to be more proficient in English and other common tourist languages such as Spanish or French, consider a language course.
know what’s going on so that you can provide accurate, relevant information to your tour participants who go to Berlin.
Look into different training programs and certifications, do the research and see which training program and certification align with what you want to do.
It’s your chance to attend language courses and improve your English and other common tourist languages.
Keep up with things that are happening in Berlin right now in order to give your tour participants accurate and relevant information.
Step 3: Gain Practical Experience
Berlin tour guide can be a very difficult job. Practical experience is invaluable. It enables you to fine tune your own storytelling skills, define your own style and get the hang of what types of tour participants you need to cast.
You might want to start off as an assistant or an apprentice working as a tour guide or tour company in Berlin. By hands on experience of this, you will understand about tour operations, interaction with customer and handling of tour logistics. It will also assist you in building a network of contacts in the industry, and this network of contacts can open other doors for you in future job opportunities.
Tips:
Get involved volunteering as a guide at local cultural events or festivals to give yourself experience to practice your public speaking skills.
Start by creating sample tour itineraries and then pretend to give yourself and your friends or family a tour, to work on your presentation skills.
Get feedback from participants and faculty to enhance and sharpen your tour guiding skills.
Volunteer to guide from one place to another at local cultural events or festivals, just to get some public speaking experience and practice.
Improve your presentation skills by creating sample tour itineraries and by going on mock tours with friends or family members.
Get feedback from the participants and mentors that you can constantly learn and refine your guiding skills.
Step 4: Market Yourself and Brand Yourself
After mastering the art of being a tour guide, it’s time to market yourself, to grow your personal brand. Often successful tour guides in Berlin meet clients through word of mouth recommendations and positive reviews online. It is therefore often worth focusing on making a great impact online and building a good positive name.
You need to create a professional website with a logo and the details of your tour offerings and customer testimonials. Share engaging content about Berlin’s history, culture, and attractions on social media. Take advantage of focusing on some type of art, food or architecture and offer specialized tours to different audiences.
Tips:
Professional photography will help you to bring the beautiful Berlin to life on your website and social media channels.
Partner with local hotels, travel agencies and business to promote your tours to their customers.
Gather and showcase customer reviews and testimonials to increase trust and legitimacy with potential tour participants.
As your website shows of the beauty of Berlin, you should invest in professional photography.
Promote your tours to customers of local businesses, hotels, travel agencies etc.
Then collect and showcase customer reviews and testimonials to build trust and credibility with potential tour participants.
Conclusion
There are many good reasons to learn how to become a Berlin certified tour guide, and this gives you the ability to get ingrained in Berlin’s history and culture while making it an exciting process for thirsty travelers to learn more about you. So you can go on your way to become a real expert tour guide and have great experiences with your tour participant, with conscious adherence to the steps in this guide. Continuous learning, practical experience, and loving Berlin and the beautiful stories of her.
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