Section 3.7: Choosing Your Props


	I. General Concepts 3. Interpretation and Communication

Section 3.7: Choosing Your Props

Props are items introduced to help you communicating your message and enhancing the visitor’s learning experience. They can be either “the real thing” or a representation. They contribute to provide meaning and examples to the issue you are addressing. Most of the times they are examples of objects which are relevant to the story you are telling but they can also be a communicating aid, as in the case of hand-puppets used to provide a “dialogue partner” to the interpreter.

Props can be either active or passive, depending on the use the interpreter makes of them.

Passive props are those presented by the interpreter without an actual manipulation of the object. Once they are presented they remain static. Passive props can be charts or maps fixed to the walls or mounted on easels or models of the element you are interpreting.

Active props are those which the interpreter actively manipulates with to illustrate his/her story. An example of an active prop would be a sickle which has been traditionally used for harvesting when the interpreter uses it to cut up a handful of grass and lets the visitors do the same.

Props are important because they provide a visual, sensorial background to your story. They help your audience to focus on your message and illustrate it in a way much more effective than your words. Interpreters need to learn how to use their props and rehearse with them when necessary. These are some tips to master the use of props when interpreting as proposed by Sam H. Ham:

Make sure the prop is visible to all visitors. If possible, pass your prop hand-to-hand.
When you are holding your prop, hold it high and while standing at the center remember to turn it to right and left side.
Try not to talk to the prop, maintain eye-contact with the audience.
When pointing to something, do it slowly and deliberately so that everyone can see what you are pointing at.
Whenever possible, make active use of props.
When possible, use props that encourage your audience to make use of additional senses, encouraging your audience to touch, smell or even taste.
Rehearse how you will use the prop during your presentation and find the moment in your speech when you will present it.

In Jaraba we have decided to choose a shepherd’s walking stick and pack as those props that will accompany the interpreter during the whole itinerary. From the pack we will extract and present a shepherd’s knife and some “sebo”, a stick of lard mixed with spices that shepherds used to season their meals. We will also present a piece of the coarse home-made soap that was used in old times and make our visitors try to wash a piece of cloth at the washing place.

Section 3.6: Storytelling

Section 3.8: Delivering Your Message; Communication Skills