What you need to do for conference interpreting to be really smooth and professional
Almost every interpreter knows the story how many, many years ago although the interpreting technology was ordered, interpreters were not arranged seeing they thought that the device itself would do the job. Of course, we no longer hear about such things, but there are still numerous traps worthwhile paying attention to when organising interpreting for an event.
Conference interpreting is an interpreting technique used at conferences, events and press conferences. Interpreters (2 per language pair) can see the speaker from a booth and mediate what is being said with the help of headsets, i.e., provide an interpretation through the microphone simultaneously to what is being presented to the audience using a receiver. The advantages to this are that there is no time loss, since interpretation is provided instantaneously. Simultaneous interpreters with excellent routine and knowledge of the theme are capable of providing entertaining interpretations almost forming an "independent presentation".
In the present post I am taking it for granted that the client has decided when and where the conference will be held and to and from how many languages interpreting will be provided (this will be detailed in another post), as well as who will ensure suitable quality interpreting technology. This is why I would only like to outline a very typical, usual situation: a conference with foreign participants speaking the same foreign language assisted by two conference interpreters.
What do you need to pay attention to at conferences organised with the help of simultaneous interpreters?
1. Once the date is set, it is worthwhile contacting the interpreters as soon as possible, since good interpreters are booked quickly.
2. Although using the same interpreter and/or an interpreter that is familiar with the topic in highly specialised areas is definitely an advantage; however, it is also worthwhile knowing that a routine interpreter is capable of interpreting almost any particular topic. Of course, the interpreter needs some background information and truly needs to have the routine and experience.
3. If the pair of interpreters is booked (besides very short programmes, always two interpreters are needed in the case of conference interpreting due to the workload), the following needs to be clarified, in addition to sending information to the interpreters preferably as earliest possible before the conference takes place:
a) What is the conference about (title) and what exactly is its programme: in what order will the speakers come and what will they be talking about.
b) Who the speakers, special guests or the patrons are. Name of the institution, name, position and organisational unit of the speakers. One of the most difficult things from an interpreting perspective is when the name and position of participants are “listed in a rush” at the beginning of the conference by assuming that in any case this is only a polite gesture; however, interpreters are expected to translate this professionally. The combination of titles and organisational units is often so complex that unless interpreters have the knowledge required they will surely fail, especially if the individual presenting this information is a fast speaker. So it is important for interpreters to receive this information well in advance, preferably not simply at the venue of the conference.
c) Lectures, presentations, speeches, etc. – I do not think I need to go into the details of the importance of this point. An interpreter needs input to be able to produce sufficient output. Although interpreting is like a blind fall and anything can happen anytime, if the interpreter knows in advance that, for example, the word colostrum will be used at the conference, she/he will be able to prepare for this. Otherwise, the interpreter will have to improvise, which may go both ways. (By the way, do you know what this word means? If you don’t, don’t worry, I didn’t either a few years ago. Otherwise, colostrum is the form of milk produced by the mammary glands of mammals which differs in both texture and composition to ordinary milk.)
d) Who the contact person will be at the venue on behalf of the contracting party and what her/his the telephone number is (if this person is not the same as the one with whom the contract was negotiated).
e) Will any audio or visual recordings be made at the conference that record the voice in the interpreter’s booth? This needs to be clarified for reasons pertaining to copyright, because, the interpreter is entitled to the interpretation as a product and if anyone wants to use this text beyond the “here and now”, this needs to be negotiated with the interpreters by paying for copyright surrender in certain cases.
f) If films are screened which also need to be interpreted, these need to be made available to interpreters beforehand.
g) In this regard, it is also important for interpreters to be able to see the speakers from the interpreting booth to read non-verbal communication and follow where the speaker is up to in the presentation being projected.
h) It is important to clarify whether there will be any sections runing simultaneously in other rooms other than the main venue of the conference. If there are and interpreting is also needed in these sections, separate interpreters are needed, because leaving one interpreter in the booth and moving the other one to the workshop does not work. This is not why there are two interpreters, but because interpreters take turns interpreting because of the high workload.
i) From the perspective of interpreters, as well as the rest of the participants, it is important to clarify whether they will get lunch or coffee in coffee breaks in the case of a full-day conference. They generally do.
4. Once everything is organised for the conference and all the items on the list are ticked off, let’s focus on a few details that makes the conference go smootley:
a) It is worthwhile telling the speakers that their presentations will be interpreted, so they should try to talk at a normal pace (by prefearbly not reading out their presentation, but presenting it freely).
b) If participants may ask questions at the end of the conference, a microphone is also needed for individuals posing questions in the audience, otherwise the interpreters will not hear the question in the booth.
5. On the day of the conference, don’t forget that in most cases interpreters will be speaking all day long, so they need to have something to drink. Put a bottle of mineral water in the interpreting booth.
6. Finally, the interpreting technology must be tested before the start of the conference to check whether it functions properly, which should preferably be done in the presence of the interpreters.
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