This is an episode all about the hard stuff. Politics. Disagreement on tour. Tour sites where the truth itself is in debate. Confronting places with complicated, dark histories.
Most of the advice out there is: avoid this stuff at all costs. People just want to have fun, they’re on vacation. Guides should stick to the script and make sure they don’t say something that upsets the guests. I’m not here as a tour guide to shove my opinions down everyone’s throats. Can’t we all just get along? Can’t we just keep the discourse civil?
Our guest this week, Mike Fishback, is a middle-school humanities educator and curriculum designer who thinks this instinct is exactly the problem. “Civil discourse” isn’t about keeping things polite — it’s about strategies for engaging with and managing disagreement and difficulty in learning situations, like a tour. Mike learned through experience that it’s unwise to sit back, cross your fingers, and hope you don’t upset a guest. That there are powerful ways to lean into difficult topics that make the whole experience more meaningful — intentionally creating dialogue through artful questioning and participatory techniques. And he has the educational frameworks and two decades of lived experience to back every word of it up.
Mike also happens to have spent years as a client of mine — I was the tour guide for his group of middle schoolers on trips to New York and DC, and I saw firsthand how he engaged his students with really meaty, difficult topics in a way that didn’t shut them down but fired them up.
The lessons here aren’t for kids. They’re for everyone. And if you’ve ever told yourself that your job is just to deliver the facts and keep things light, this conversation might be the most useful hour you spend all week.
Key Takeaways
- Facilitate participation instead of just performing content.
Build moments into your tour where guests are invited to notice, reflect, or respond rather than simply listen. Even small prompts can shift energy from passive to active. When people contribute, they feel ownership over the experience. - Lead with curiosity, especially when something feels tense.
If a guest says something awkward, provocative, or incorrect, resist the urge to immediately correct or shut it down. A simple “Tell me more about that” can lower defenses and open dialogue. Curiosity keeps the moment constructive instead of confrontational. - Start with “What do you notice?” to anchor the group.
Asking guests what they see in front of them is an easy way to invite everyone in. It levels the playing field because no special knowledge is required to participate. From there, you can layer in historical context in response to what they’ve observed. - Name difficult history before it explodes on you.
If a site carries tension or controversy, acknowledge that upfront in a measured way. Framing the difficulty yourself shows confidence and awareness. It prevents a guest from blindsiding you later with a challenge you could have anticipated. - Think in rhythms, not scripts.
A great tour moves between storytelling, interaction, humor, reflection, and forward momentum. If you’re only delivering information, energy will flatten over time. Operators should train guides to design experiences with pacing and variation, not just memorize facts. - Model how to handle mistakes gracefully.
You will say the wrong thing at some point. When you do, acknowledge it briefly and correct yourself without defensiveness. Guests respect guides who show accountability and move forward with confidence. - Turn strong personalities into collaborators.
If someone keeps adding extra facts or commentary, give them a short, structured moment to contribute. This often satisfies their need to be heard and reduces interruptions. It also reinforces that the tour is a shared space, not a competition. - Protect the group without publicly shaming anyone.
When a comment crosses a line, redirect calmly and firmly. You can reinforce norms without humiliating the speaker. The goal is to maintain a psychologically safe environment where learning can continue. - Connect big historical moments to everyday human choices.
Instead of only recounting events, ask guests what they might have done in that situation. Questions about risk, fairness, identity, or power make history feel immediate. That emotional connection is what people remember long after the tour ends. - Train guides to facilitate dialogue, not just deliver facts.
Today’s most memorable tours create space for thought and conversation, especially at contested sites. This requires emotional intelligence and structure, not just content knowledge. Tour operators who invest in facilitation skills will stand out in a crowded market.