By Alan Leftridge
Originally published January/February 2011
NAI’s annual workshop signals the end of my autumn and the start of winter. I enjoy the opportunity to connect with lasting friends and colleagues, but am happy to return home because the beginning of winter marks the start of ski season in western Montana. Years ago, I was primarily a Nordic skier, spending a lot of time skiing in and near Yellowstone. I remain a cross-country skier, but I have since balanced my time with Alpine skiing. When I began downhill skiing in earnest, I decided that I wanted to be the best skier possible. I did not begin skiing at an early age. Nonetheless, I thought I could become an advanced skier if I devoted enough time to practice.
I felt that my opinion was validated when I recently read an excerpt from Rolling Stones’ guitarist Keith Richards’s book Life. In the memoir, he relates the Stones’ early years of playing before small audiences, “For three years—we played virtually every night, or every day, sometimes two gigs a day. We played well over a thousand gigs, almost back to back….” Richards’s account is similar to that of the experiences of The Beatles. While still an amateur high school rock band, they were invited to play in Hamburg, Germany, by a bar owner who employed bands to play nonstop, providing continuous entertainment to passing foot traffic. According to Pete Best, The Beatles’ first drummer: “We played seven nights a week. At first we played almost nonstop till 12:30….” John Lennon related, “In Liverpool, we’d only ever done one-hour sessions, and we just used to do our best numbers, the same ones, at every one. In Hamburg, we had to play for eight hours, so we really had to find a new way to playing.”
Malcolm Gladwell, in Outliers, estimates that The Beatles played 10,000 hours during their five stints in Hamburg. The number is identical to Daniel Levitin’s figure reported in This is Your Brain on Music. Levitin discusses various studies that involved mathematicians, athletes, chess professionals, ice skaters, writers, master criminals, and musicians, comparing innate ability to practice. Whereas talent is scientifically defensible, the studies point in favor of the view that practice makes perfect.
Levitin says, “The emerging picture from such studies is that 10,000 hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert—in anything.” Levitin continues, “Ten thousand hours is equivalent to roughly three hours a day, or 20 hours a week, of practice over 10 years.” The 10,000-hour theory is consistent with what we know about how the brain learns. Repetition and practice strengthen neural pathways, creating strong memory representations.
Ten thousand hours of Alpine skiing is beyond what I am willing to devote to the sport. But skiing is more than a form of entertainment to me. I have found that each time I ski, I learn something about how to adjust to changing snow conditions or how to negotiate new terrain. If I pay attention, I will improve and continue to set new goals.
Finally, I am on the chairlift, riding to the top of the mountain for my first ski run of the season. I think of my NAI friends. Most of them began their careers as frontline interpreters; many are now supervisors, trainers, academics, and managers whose responsibilities take them away from regular interactions with visitors. It occurs to me that the interpreters with the most developed skill sets are those who have the most experience relating with visitors. They should be the faces of their organizations. The visitor’s first contact should be with an experienced and skilled interpreter. My thoughts shift to an example from my own life. Bill Lewis, author of Interpreting for Park Visitors, trained me in frontline interpretation techniques three decades ago. At that time, Bill was a university professor, National Park Service trainer, and for many years a seasonal interpreter and trainer in Yellowstone. After his retirement from academia, Bill continued to facilitate sharing Yellowstone with visitors as a seasonal interpreter. Along with his passion for the resources and visitors, he developed skill sets formed from his considerable practice connecting with audiences. Experienced practitioners like Bill offer the best visible appearance for their organization.
It is an errant assumption that anyone can interpret informally. Research described in This is Your Brain on Music suggests that many hours of practice are needed to become proficient in the challenges of informal frontline interpretation. Interpreters with years of practice and highly developed skill sets will be the most effective at connecting visitors to the resources. In a visitor-based profession, it should be a priority to place the most accomplished interpreters “out front” where they can perform their long practiced art.
Alan Leftridge is a contract interpretive trainer, visitor services trainer, and interpretive writer based out of the Swan Valley of Montana. Contact him at www.leftridge.com.
