Working with interpreters

At some point in your professional lives, you will probably work with conference interpreters. Perhaps you will be giving a presentation at an international forum; perhaps you will be involved in bilateral negotiations; or perhaps you will be listening to other delegations statements and reporting back to your company or the government agency you work for. If you do not fully understand all working languages in use, you will need to follow the proceedings through consecutive, whispered or simultaneous interpretation. Were happy to have this chance to introduce interpretation to you; perhaps one day after graduation, when you are at your first international conference listening to the discussion through professional interpretation, some of the voices you hear over your headset will sound familiar! It is the interpreters job to provide you with a cultural and linguistic bridge to enable you to communicate effectively in a multilingual, cross-cultural environment. However, they are not simply service providers: they are part of your team. The quality of the interpretation depends on good cooperation between speakers and interpreters; the following guidelines1 will help you work together more efficiently. 1. Documentation Interpreters are very knowledgeable and are trained to prepare complex subjects at short notice. However, they cannot be experts in all subjects. To help them become familiar with the topic of your presentation/ negotiations, etc., make sure that they receive documentation in as far in advance as possible. They will be able to study the documents and prepare glossaries, and do a better job. Holding back information from interpreters means that they do not know what to expect and cannot prepare as well as if you have shared information with them. Do not worry if you decide to change the wording after submitting a copy of your presentation to the interpreter they are not stuck to your words; they listen carefully to your speech and interpret the meaning. 2. Consultation with your interpreters Your interpreters may be able to help you with some questions you may have about your presentation. Some things do translate better than others (i.e. jokes, idioms and colloquial phrases are often more difficult to interpret unless there are equivalents in the target language). Feel free to check with your interpreters; its always better to be safe than sorry.

Adapted from Commandments for Speakers at International Meetings, Guidelines for Speakers and Checklist for Conference Organizers, aiic (International Association of Conference Interpreters), Geneva

3. Public Speaking Communicate! Do not read your presentation. Written language, because of its complex structure and high information density, is hard for listeners to follow. Use your paper as a prompt and speak as naturally as you can. Many professional presenters practice their presentations and review the videotape afterwards. You might want to have a dry run before presenting in public this will help you be more fluent and give you self-confidence. For consecutive interpretation, remember to break up your speech into reasonable segments so that the interpreter may interpret what you have said. The length of time for each segment may vary greatly, but be sure that each segment contains a complete thought. For simultaneous interpretation, make sure your microphone is on, but do not knock it or blow into it - this hurts the interpreters ears! To test, simply say a few words. Do not speak to close to the microphone, as this may create interference or distort the quality of your voice. Stand about 2-3 feet away from the mike in a comfortable position and look up towards the back of the auditorium. Speak at a normal pace. Speakers who are nervous sometimes speak more quickly than normal. However, even listeners in the same language tune out if the speaker is too fast, or simply reading a written text. Speak clearly and distinctly! Speak in complete sentences! This may sound silly, but speakers often break for interpretation before they complete a thought or sentence, making the interpreters job very difficult. Remember that puns and colloquial language or slang do not translate well and are sometimes meaningless or even offensive in another language. However, this does not mean you should eliminate all humor or richness of language from your presentation. If you move away from the podium (e.g. to point at a transparency), remember your interpreters cannot hear you without a microphone. Members of the audience who have a question must speak into a microphone so that the interpreters can hear. When interpreters work with relay interpretation (e.g. original French>English relay>Spanish interpretation), the process may take some time, so speakers need to wait for the interpretation of a question before replying. Use large format for your overheads and transparencies and PowerPoint slides so that they can still be seen clearly from a distance. Normal fonts are too small. Where possible, use multi-lingual text on your overheads (TL + English). If you are well prepared, follow these basic rules and remember that you have the professional support of your colleagues in the booths, your presentation will be a success!