In the WHO’s ranking of the most stressful professions, conference interpreters ranked a nice third, just behind fighter pilots and air traffic controllers. No wonder.\u00a0 At any one time, interpreters have to be able to concentrate on several mentally demanding parallel processes: listening, thinking, translating, speaking, not to mention often trying to understand what they are actually hearing and saying.\u00a0 International conferences could not do without them. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The aim of interpreters is to ensure that conference participants understand each other, regardless of the language they speak. The speaker on stage usually speaks into a microphone in his or her own language, the audience wears headphones with wireless receivers and receives a translation of the message in a language they understand.\u00a0 And somewhere in the background, hidden (live) translators sit in glass booths and interpret.<\/p>\n
Quality interpreting is seemingly invisible to conference participants. It should feel completely natural, no matter the time the listener puts on the headphones.\u00a0 Therefore, perfectly functioning technology and well-managed logistics on the part of the organisers are essential.\u00a0 A single malfunctioning microphone or an undisciplined speaker speaking without a microphone can cause dozens of listeners to miss their translation.\u00a0 The perfect interplay between interpreters and technological support is thus absolutely essential for the successful running of an interpreted conference.<\/p>\n
Organisers should therefore take the time to prepare the facilities and carefully discuss all their requirements or at least ideas with an expert advisor from among experienced professional interpreters in advance.<\/p>\n
There are several options for interpreting conference papers, speeches and subsequent discussions. The ideal solution – especially for larger events – is usually\u00a0simultaneous interpreting<\/a>, which saves time compared to consecutive interpreting and provides the audience with a more authentic experience, as they can follow the speaker with only a slight time delay.<\/p>\n There is also the question of whether there will be direct interpreting between all the languages, or whether, for example, speeches in the local language will be interpreted by one interpreter into English and from there into the other languages. Each option has its own benefits and pitfalls and each event might benefit from a different solution.\u00a0 It is also increasingly being discussed whether it would be appropriate to add a sign language interpreting option.<\/p>\n Many studies have shown that the quality of interpreting declines after 30 minutes, even for experienced professionals. Therefore, conference organisers should plan for at least two interpreters to interpret each of the selected languages, who will alternate at shorter intervals and can assist each other with notes or monitoring and solving more difficult situations.\u00a0 Sports commentators of live TV broadcasts also work in pairs.\u00a0 An interpreting team that is able to accommodate each other and knows how to distribute its forces is a great advantage.<\/p>\nHow are the interpreters going to handle it?<\/h3>\n