Interpretive Training

Currently Available Training Opportunities with Tim Merriman and Lisa Brochu – Scroll down to Register for HEART Trainers’ Course – Jan. 26-28, 2026; Continue to scroll for other classes.

Learn to Use ChatGPt and other AI Resources in Interpretive Experience Development- Limit of 14 per seminar

A Three-Hour Seminar/Workshop for Guides, Interpreters and Trainers – Monday, March 30, 2026, Monday, 12 to 3 PM Hawaii time (3-6 PM PDT, 4-7 PM MDT, 5-8 PM CDT, 6-9 PM EDT) – $40

Explore how artificial intelligence can enhance the planning and delivery of interpretive experiences. Designed for guides, interpreters, and frontline staff, this practical session connects emerging tools with Interpretive Approach values.

What you’ll gain:

• An overview of AI tools useful in interpretive experience planning and creation of logos and other artworks
• Techniques for audience analysis and theme development using AI
• Guidance on ethical, inclusive, and mission-aligned AI use
• Hands-on demos of AI-assisted scripting, image creation, and more

Who should attend:

• Park, Zoo, Nature Center, Botanic Garden and Museum staff
• Volunteer coordinators
• Tour guides and educators
• Interpretive planners and trainers

Stay ahead of the curve—learn how AI can support, not replace, your interpretive voice. Empower your storytelling with tools that deepen connections and enrich experiences. Want to expand your interpretive toolkit with the help of AI—without losing your voice or values?

Join Tim Merriman, Ph.D. and Toby Merriman, MFA, Assistant Director of Center for Virtual Expression at Southern Illinois University for a three-hour Zoom seminar/workshop on how to use AI resources in interpretation

Bring your curiosity and leave with a new voice for your mission.

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HEART Approach to Interpretation – Train the Trainers Course – February 23-25, 2026 Mon.-Wed.- 8 AM – 12 PM Hawaii Time (10 AM – 2 PM PDT, 11 AM – 3 PM MDT, 12-4 PM CDT, 1-5 PM EDT)

with Tim Merriman, Ph.D.

Are you ready to deepen your interpretive impact and inspire others through transformative communication?

Join us for a dynamic three-day, 12-hour, virtual workshop that introduces both foundational and forward-thinking ideas (including AI) in interpretation of natural and cultural heritage—guided by the HEART approach: Holistic, Engaging, Appropriate, Rewarding, and Thematic.

This is not just another training—it’s a flexible, hands-on experience designed for CITs, experienced interpreters, and trainers seeking a fresh, holistic perspective.

🧰 You’ll leave with a full suite of customizable training materials (including HEART Manual, Trainers’ Handbook, handouts and activities) that can be made unique to your training style and to adapt for your own workshops and audiences.

🕗 Workshop Schedule (All sessions 8 AM – 12 PM Hawaii Time – 10 AM – 2 PM PDT, 11 AM – 3 PM MDT, 12-4 PM CDT, 1-5 PM EDT

• “Throughout this course, we’ll be exploring how to communicate more meaningfully—using the HEART Approach—but we’re also going to explore how we create and teach more effectively using new tools.
• That includes ChatGPT—specifically, a HEART custom version created just for HEART trainers and interpreters.
• This GPT knows the HEART model inside and out. It can help you:
• Write and refine strong themes and sub-themes.
• Build stairstep models and experience plans.
• Explore questioning strategies and audience psychographics.
• Design engaging, mission-based programs—and evaluate them.
• And even support your own facilitation and training sessions.
• You can think of it like a colleague who’s always ready to brainstorm, clarify, or offer new ideas—one that understands both interpretation and HEART at a deep level.

💵 Fee: $250

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Interpretive Planning (Virtual Training) with Lisa Brochu

Dates: March 30-April 2, 2026

Times: 8:00 am – 11:00 am daily (Hawaii Standard Time)

Cost: $300

Workshop Size: Limited to 9 individuals to allow plenty of time for interaction

Instructor: Lisa Brochu (author of Interpretive Planning: the 5-M Model for Successful Planning Projects)

How to Attend

Once you register, you’ll be sent a password and link to the Zoom workshop platform. You’ll need to have access to internet and the Zoom app downloaded to your computer. Please note that the time of the workshop is in Hawaii time, so adjust for your time zone, wherever you are in the world.

Who Should Attend

Anyone who has been assigned the task of completing an interpretive plan for the first time or anyone who wants to sharpen their existing planning skills, whether you work as a consultant or are employed at a museum, park, nature center, zoo, community organization or any other place that uses interpretation as an approach to communication.

What You’ll Learn

With a small group, it’s possible to address more questions in depth and encourage more group interaction, even in a virtual setting.

During the workshop, we’ll demonstrate various analysis and planning tools, using real-world examples to demonstrate flexible planning processes that you can apply to your real-world or theoretical planning challenges. We’ll discuss in depth how to use the 5-M Model in a variety of circumstances and show you how to decide which planning tool to use in which situation to get the best results. We’ll talk about and demonstrate how to lead group input and decision-making processes and spend time on theme development and writing measurable objectives that matter. We are going to assume that participants already understand the basic concept and principles of interpretation, but we will review the application of those principles to interpretive planning and media choices to enable you to bring your end products to a higher level of success. There are no formal group or individual presentations and no grades of any kind, just a positive learning environment to help you enhance your interpretive planning skills.

Please note this is not a design workshop. We’ll discuss the fine line between planning and design and look at some examples of how good design influences the quality of an experience (or conversely, how not so good design can detract from it), but we will not be designing products in this workshop. This workshop is more about how to make thoughtful decisions about which products and experiences you should be designing in any given circumstance.

How to Prepare

If you are already working on an interpretive plan and getting stuck along the way, with your permission, we’ll use some of your examples to demonstrate how to get past those sticking points, so bring your projects to the table and be prepared to give us a quick overview we can use to problem-solve. As soon as you register, we’ll send additional information about what constitutes a quick overview and how we might integrate your project into the workshop.

It will be helpful if you have either an electronic or hard copy version of the 2^nd edition of Interpretive Planning: the 5-M Model for Successful Planning Projects on hand during the workshop as the book content will be referenced. The book is available on Amazon.

Continuing Education Credits

A certificate of attendance will be provided to all attendees specifying the dates, number of hours (12), title of workshop, and instructor contact. This may be used to earn qualifying credits towards recertification in any category by National Association for Interpretation (NAI); however, this workshop will not substitute for any certification requirement in the Certified Interpretive Planner category and is not affiliated with NAI in any way.

To register for this workshop, use PayPal or credit card below.

Questions?

Contact Lisa Brochu at lbrochu57@gmail.com for more information.

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Contract Management for Interpretive Sites and Contractors (Virtual Training)

Dates: April 3, 2026

Time: 8:00 am – 12:00 am  (Hawaii Standard Time)

Cost: $100

Workshop Size: Limited to 9 individuals to allow plenty of time for interaction

Instructor: Lisa Brochu

How to Attend

Once you register, you’ll be sent a password and link to the Zoom workshop platform. You’ll need to have access to internet and the Zoom app downloaded to your computer. Please note that the time of the workshop is in Hawaii time, so adjust for your time zone, wherever you are in the world.

Who Should Attend

Anyone who has been assigned the task of supervising contractors, writing and evaluating a request for proposal (RFP) for interpretive services consulting or anyone who wants to be a successful consultant in the field of interpretation.

What You’ll Learn

With a small group, it’s possible to address more questions in depth and encourage more group interaction, even in a virtual setting.

During the workshop, we’ll look at what happens on both sides of the table before, during, and after a contract for interpretive services. We’ll discuss how to write a scope of service to get what you want from a contractor, how to respond to a request to increase your chances of successful selection, how to evaluate proposals, realistic calendars and expectations for deliverables, managing a review process and associated meetings, ballparking figures for various projects, setting reasonable fees, how to terminate a contract if needed, and more.

Continuing Education Credits

A certificate of attendance will be provided to all attendees specifying the dates, number of hours (4), title of workshop, and instructor contact. This may be used to earn qualifying credits towards recertification in any category by National Association for Interpretation (NAI); however, this workshop will not substitute for any certification requirement in the Certified Interpretive Planner category and is not affiliated with NAI in any way.

To register this workshop, pay with PayPal or credit below.

Questions?

Contact Lisa Brochu at lbrochu57@gmail.com for more information.