A four-part live course on designing and leading memorable visitor engagement through inquiry, dialogue and intentional experience design.
Starts 14 January 2026 | Wednesdays 7:00–9:00pm CET | Live + recordings
Live with Claire Bown · Recordings included · Open to all roles and departments
Visitor engagement is a core museum practice, and so many interactions are shaped by how we invite people in, spend time exploring together, and bring encounters to a close.
Engaging museum experiences don’t happen by accident. They are intentionally designed.
This four-part live online course with Claire Bown, founder of Thinking Museum® and author of The Art Engager: Reimagining Guided Experiences in Museums, shares practical methods for creating richer, more meaningful museum encounters with visitors and collections.
You’ll explore how to design experiences that feel memorable, open and people-centered, using adaptable strategies that work across all departments and roles.
The focus of the course is on connection before content, and making engagement part of everyday museum interactions.
The course is structured around the three phases of a museum experience: Entry, Exploration and Exit.
Across four sessions, you’ll test ideas, reflect between classes and build a personal toolkit of engagement practices rooted in the Thinking Museum® Approach.
How the course works
The online format gives you time and space to apply what you learn between sessions, with each week building on the last.
- Live, interactive sessions with a supportive, international cohort
- Flexibility to join live or watch recordings when it suits you
- Space for reflection and experimentation between sessions
- Step-by-step development of your engagement and facilitation practice
Who this course is for
This course is designed for anyone involved in shaping visitor experience, whether you work directly with the public or behind the scenes.
- Museum and gallery educators, guides, docents and volunteers
- Front-of-house and visitor experience teams
- Learning and engagement professionals
- Curatorial and interpretation staff
- Heritage, cultural and community organisation staff
- Anyone working with visitors, collections or stories who wants to create more engaging experiences
What you will gain
Participants will leave the course with:
- practical strategies for making visitor encounters more engaging and memorable
- confidence shaping inquiry-led dialogue across a wide range of visitor interests
- adaptable tools for sparking curiosity and connection in everyday interactions
- clarity on creating connection before content, whatever your role
- simple methods for reflective practice and intentional experience design
- a growing personal toolkit for continuing your engagement practice
Course structure
Four live 2-hour sessions with Claire Bown. Join live or watch the recordings at a time that suits you.
Session 1: The Entry Phase
Wednesday, 14 January 2026
7:00–9:00pm CET
We’ll begin by exploring the core elements that make experiences engaging – what helps people feel curious, involved, or connected. We’ll then look closely at what happens when visitors first enter a museum or a programme: the cues they pick up on, the concerns they may have, and the emotions they bring with them. This helps us understand how the Entry Phase shapes the conditions for engagement right from the start. We’ll explore approaches for setting the tone, building rapport, and creating psychological safety, whether your interactions are brief and spontaneous or part of a planned programme.
Session 2: The Exploration Phase – Part 1
Wednesday, 28 January 2026
7:00–9:00pm CET
The Exploration Phase covers everything that happens in the gallery – all of the moments when visitors look closely, think deeply and begin to make their own connections with art and objects. In this session, we’ll explore this phase through the key Practices of questioning and facilitation from the Thinking Museum® Approach. You’ll learn how to use questions to spark dialogue, encourage multiple perspectives and deepen visitors’ engagement — whether you’re working with a group or having a brief, spontaneous exchange in the gallery. We’ll look at facilitation as a flexible, responsive practice: reading the room, adapting to different needs, and guiding conversations with care. Along the way, we’ll touch on elements of multimodality and creating a community of collaboration, considering how tone, approach and group dynamics shape each interaction.
Session 3: The Exploration Phase – Part 2
Wednesday, 11 February 2026
7:00–9:00pm CET
Building on Session 2, we’ll continue exploring the Exploration Phase – the time spent with visitors in the gallery, looking closely and making meaning together. This session focuses on intentional information: sharing knowledge carefully and purposefully, offering enough context to deepen understanding, without overwhelming the experience. We’ll explore how how and when we share information matters just as much as what we share, and why less is often more. We’ll also explore deliberate design – the deliberate choices we make when we design with the outcome in mind, from pacing to structure to the small decisions that help an experience feel open, balanced and engaging. By the end of this session, you’ll have practical ways to use information with intention and to make thoughtful choices that support engagement in both spontaneous moments and more structured interactions.
Session 4: The Exit Phase
Wednesday, 04 March 2026
7:00–9:00pm CET
In our final session, we’ll bring together the ideas and practices we’ve explored across the course and consider how they can be adapted for your own role and working context. We’ll look at common challenges that can get in the way of engagement and explore simple, realistic ways to respond to them.
We’ll also turn to the Exit Phase – how thoughtful endings help visitors make sense of their experience and leave with something that stays with them. By the end of this session, you’ll have a clear sense of how to apply what you’ve learned and continue creating engaging experiences in your own context.
What to expect in each session
- Interactive live sessions, with space for discussion, participation and shared reflection
- Clear, practical strategies you can use straight away – whether you work directly with visitors or support engagement in other ways
- Structured artwork or object discussions using a variety of Questioning Practices and prompts, so you can see the Thinking Museum® Approach in action.
- Guidance on applying ideas across different roles and departments, from formal interactions in programmes to the more ad-hoc exchanges that happen on gallery floors
- A welcoming and supportive space to explore ideas, ask questions and learn alongside others
- Time to think about how these ideas might look in your own context, whatever your department or responsibilities.
🌍 Joining from around the world
All sessions take place live on Wednesdays from 7:00–9:00pm CET.
You can take part live or watch recordings at a time that suits you.
Typical local times:
Amsterdam / Berlin / Paris: 7:00–9:00pm
London / Lisbon / Reykjavík: 6:00–8:00pm
Helsinki / Athens: 8:00–10:00pm
New York / Toronto (ET): 1:00–3:00pm
Chicago (CT): 12:00–2:00pm
Denver (MT): 11:00am–1:00pm
Los Angeles (PT): 10:00am–12:00pm
Sydney / Melbourne: 5:00–7:00am (next day)
Auckland: 7:00–9:00am (next day)
You can confirm your local time here.
Recordings and resources will be available after every session.
What’s included
When you register, you will have access to:
- Four live, two-hour sessions with Claire Bown (recordings available for a limited period)
- Downloadable resources and prompts
- Practical examples and strategies
- A supportive cohort of international peers across museum roles and contexts
- A certificate of completion (PDF)
Pricing & Registration
Individual Registration
€350
Includes all four live sessions, recordings and resources.
Team Registration
€1,950
Up to 8 participants from the same organisation
NB: Names and email addresses for all participants will be requested upon registration for team sign ups.
If you’d prefer to enrol a larger group, please get in touch for tailored group pricing.
VAT will be calculated automatically at checkout according to your location.
Stripe handles this securely and in full compliance with EU and international VAT regulations.
Grant Access
To support wider access, I offer a small number of reduced-rate places for individual participants who are unable to join at the full fee. These places are allocated through a short, confidential application form.
Applications are considered on a rolling basis, and I’ll be in touch once I’ve reviewed your submission.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if I can’t attend live?
You’ll receive a recording of every session, so you can take part at a time that suits you.
Do I need experience with facilitation or visitor interaction?
Not at all. We explore facilitation in its widest sense – as the art of helping visitors feel comfortable, curious and connected. This applies whether you lead structured conversations, support visitors on the floor, or design experiences behind the scenes. Everything is introduced step by step.
Is this course a facilitator training or licence to use the Thinking Museum® Approach?
No. This course is not a facilitator training or a licence to deliver the Thinking Museum® Approach or its frameworks. It is designed as a reflective, experiential space to explore attention, encounter, and the design of meaningful experiences in museums and cultural contexts.
Participants are welcome to let the ideas from the course influence their thinking and practice over time. The emphasis is on developing your own thoughtful, situated responses rather than adopting a ready-made model or set of tools.
If you refer to specific ideas or language from the course in your own work, appropriate acknowledgement of their source is expected.
Is this course suitable for my role if I don’t work directly with visitors?
Yes. Engagement is shaped by many parts of a museum, not only by those who work face to face with visitors. The ideas we explore apply equally to interpretation, communication, exhibition design, programming and visitor experience. You’ll see ways to adapt the tools to your own responsibilities.
Is this course only for people who work with objects or artworks?
Not at all. We use objects and artworks to illustrate engagement principles, but the ideas apply equally to visitor experience, interpretation, programming, digital content, curatorial work and front-of-house practice. If your role contributes to how people experience your organisation, this course is for you.
How much time do I need to commit between sessions?
There’s no required homework, but you’ll get the most from the course if you spend a little time noticing and trying out ideas between sessions. Even a few minutes of reflection or experimentation can make a real difference.
Will I need to speak or contribute?
You’ll be invited to take part in discussions, never required. You’re welcome to engage in whatever way feels right for you.
Most participants find that the more they join in — through small reflections, comments or simple observations — the more they get out of each session, but you can choose the level of participation that suits you.
Will the sessions include breakout rooms?
Yes. This is an interactive course and most sessions include short breakout discussions so you can try out ideas in a smaller group. These moments are an important part of the learning experience, because they help you practise, reflect and hear a range of perspectives.
I understand that there may be times when it’s harder to join a breakout, but I encourage you to take part whenever you can as the more you participate, the more you will gain from the course.
How long will I have access to the recordings and resources?
You’ll have access to all session recordings and downloadable resources for three months after the course ends. This gives you plenty of time to revisit the material, reflect on the ideas and try things out in your own context. After this period, access will close as we’re not able to store video files indefinitely.
Will I get a certificate?
Yes. You’ll receive a PDF certificate of completion after the course.
Is there homework?
No formal homework. You’ll be encouraged to notice, try out ideas and reflect between sessions, but this is flexible and entirely optional.
How big is the cohort?
There’s no cap on numbers. Participants join from many countries, roles and museum contexts. Each session includes structured moments for personal and group reflection and optional opportunities to contribute.
Will I get a certificate?
Yes. You’ll receive a certificate of completion after the course.
What if English isn’t my first language?
You’re very welcome. My facilitation style is clear, paced and accessible, and participants join my online courses from all over the world. We always enable live closed captioning upon request (which you can toggle to your preferred language).
Is this relevant for teams working across different departments?
Yes. Engagement is part of everyone’s work in museums. The ideas and techniques taught in this course can be adapted for front-of-house, learning teams, guides, curators, interpretation, public programmes, communications and more.
Can my organisation pay by invoice?
Yes. If your organisation needs to pay by invoice instead of card, just get in touch and we’ll arrange it.
Ready to join us?
If you’d like to deepen your engagement skills, build confidence and create more meaningful experiences with art, objects, stories or spaces, we’d love to have you in the first cohort of this new course.
Register now!
Ask a question
You can always drop me a line to ask me a question about the course – but do check the FAQs above to see if I’ve already answered your question!