Tips for event organisers with interpreters

In over 25 years of business, we have organised countless teams of interpreters for international events (face-to-face events, hybrid events or virtual events) and have gained a lot of experience in advising clients who are working with interpreters for the first time. We would like to share some of our experiences with you here in the form of tips for working with professional conference interpreters.

 

Difference between interpreting and translating

New clients are often unfamiliar with the difference between interpreting and translating during their first conversation with our language service. They ask for translators (sometimes also synchronous translators), although the customer actually needs interpreters. The term interpreting refers to oral language mediation and translating to written language mediation. But even after more than 25 years, it still happens to us that we speak of translators when we mean interpreters. Here are some tips for organisers of international events:

 

Tips for organisers of international events

If you are organising an international event (congress, conference, European Works Council, meeting, audit, etc.), you can positively influence the quality of the interpretation by doing two things: Sending preparatory material for the interpreters in good time and providing high-quality interpreting equipment.

 

Preparatory material for the interpreters

Even experienced conference interpreters need preparation material to prepare for an event. Every industry and every subject has its own specific terminology. The more thorough the preparation, the better the interpreting performance during the event.

 

Since the interpreters may be on duty on the days directly preceding your event, it makes sense to provide the interpreting team with the necessary material at least two weeks before the event begins. This includes information about the event itself, such as the programme, a list of participants, the local contact persons, meeting place, etc.

 

To prepare the content, the interpreters and translators need the presentations, speech manuscripts, guidelines or, for example, documents on the products in the case of product presentations. Minutes of previous meetings or documents from previous events on similar topics are also always helpful, as are any glossaries that may be available.

 

If you show videos at your event, the interpreters will also need the videos (a lower resolution than at the event is also sufficient). Often people speak very quickly in videos or the content is presented in a very crowded way. This always makes interpreting videos particularly challenging for a team of interpreters.

 

Conference equipment

The optimal working environment for interpreters is the booth. When setting up one or more booths, please ensure that the interpreting team has a good view of the presentations being shown as well as the speakers. Facial expressions and gestures of the speakers are part of the interpretation.

 

For hybrid or virtual events, it is essential that the speakers use headsets. Headsets ensure a constant distance between the speaker's mouth and the microphone. This ensures a constant volume (no level fluctuations).

 

For their work, interpreters need to be able to understand what is being said acoustically well. Poor sound quality always means an additional cognitive burden for the interpreters, regardless of whether it is a face-to-face, hybrid or virtual event.

 

Working hours and breaks

Conference interpreters receive daily fees. These daily fees include not only the time spent at the event, but also the preparation. 8 hours of presence time and 6 hours of pure interpreting time in a team of two are the usual assignment times. If these times are exceeded, overtime fees will be charged or even a team of three must be deployed. These limits tend to be lower for hybrid and virtual events, as these events are often very compact and have few breaks.

 

Simultaneous interpreting requires the utmost concentration, so please plan sufficient breaks for your event. For international events, the following arrangement has proven successful: In the morning, two blocks of 90 minutes each with a 30-minute coffee break. Then, after a one-hour lunch break, two blocks of 90 minutes each, also with a 30-minute coffee break. If you plan sufficient breaks at your event, not only the interpreting team will thank you...

 

Copyright

The interpreters hold the copyright to the interpretation. If the interpretation is recorded or used in any other way, the interpreters must grant the right to use it. Usually, a half-day fee per day per interpreter is charged additionally for granting the right to use the interpretation.

 

Required information

The more information we receive about your event, the better we can assess your interpreting needs. Of course, we are prepared to enter into a confidentiality agreement before you provide us with any data about your event.

 

We will be happy to advise you on the interpreting services and conference technology you require! It is not without reason that we are called SIM - CONSULT.

 

 

Counselling on interpreting services

Looking for an interpreter? Then SIMCONSULT should be your first point of contact. Because no matter whether

 

• simultaneous interpreting,
• consecutive interpreting or
• escort interpreting, whether
• whispered interpreting or
• remote interpreting,

 

we will advise you on which of these methods is the right one for your requirements. In doing so, we carefully guide you through all the important decisions, organise the right technology and, last but not least, have a large team of highly qualified interpreters at our disposal.

 

Interpreting for every occasion

Are you planning an international conference? The next board meeting or a press conference? Lengthy negotiations with international partners are on the agenda? SIMCONSULT can provide you with specialists with many years of experience to ensure that these and many other events are carried out optimally in different languages. Our interpreters are for example trained

 

• conference interpreters,
• telephone interpreters or
• liaison interpreters.

 

Each of these situations requires a different approach and presents its own challenges. That's why you should rely on SIMCONSULT, ideally for every occasion.

 

Interpreting in all subjects and specialist areas

A supervisory board meeting or general meeting, a medical consultation or even arbitration proceedings are exemplary situations in which literally every word counts. It is therefore all the more important to have a professional interpreter who can accurately translate technical terms or jargon into the target language. SIMCONSULT therefore also employs

 

• medical interpreters,
• sworn court interpreters
• interpreters for market research

 

and specialist interpreters for many other subjects, who are also used, for example, at international specialist conferences or congresses in science and research.