Since providing interpreting for a meeting requires a certain amount of financial investment, it’s best not to have the meeting interpreted rather than invest in an organisation which will do a bad job. With this in mind, it’s crucial to ask yourself the right questions before committing to anything.
The six key questions:
1.How formal is the meeting?
- Is it a one-to-one meeting or a negotiation meeting of no strategic importance? The translator/interpreter will act as an intermediary by translating each sentence.
- Conference with a booth? This requires at least two conference interpreters and interpreting equipment. Simultaneous interpreters will only work alone for 45/60-minute stints.
- Short speech? For someone famous, for instance, you need to use a consecutive interpreter, who speaks in front of an audience in sequences which can last several minutes.
2.What is the meeting about?
- Is it a medical or financial meeting? If so, it’s important to use specialists and three interpreters per language. Such highly complex specialist areas are constantly changing and regularly adopt neologisms. Furthermore, numbers are difficult to translate as the interpreters are required to remember them…
- Will a different field be discussed? If so, it’s a matter of choosing the right specialists and above all reliable professionals who will study the meeting topic and prepare the necessary vocabulary. Some symposia lasting an hour can require several days of preparation.
3.How long will the meeting last?
- For simultaneous translation lasting under 30 minutes, one interpreter is enough.
- Consecutive interpreting always lengthens the meeting. As such, it is not suitable for an entire day!
- However, two interpreters can provide whispered interpreting for a full day.
- A meeting lasting several days requires static interpreting booth equipment as portable equipment can become uncomfortable for participants after several hours.
4.Who is taking part in the meeting?
- How many participants are there?
- Do they all speak the same language?
- Will interpreting be required in two directions?
- Will there be a Q&A session?
- Are the participants executives or employees?
- What kind of distance will there be between the participants and interpreters?
Such questions require making a choice as regards human and terminological variables (level of language) as well as what the interpreter is to wear in order to blend in at the meeting.
5.What equipment is needed?
- Do interpreting booths need to be set up in a theatre-style layout?
- Is a conference system required if the participants are going to sit at a table?
- Is portable interpreting equipment required if there is going to be little interactivity during a short meeting? In such a case, do headsets need to be supplied for the interpreters?
- Is the venue fitted with a PA system? Is a PA system needed?
- How many headsets are required?
- How big is the room? (this can dictate whether or not equipment is required to relay the sound).
6.Where is the meeting taking place?
- Do the interpreters need to travel to the venue? If so, how?
- Do meals need to be provided? Is accommodation needed?
- Is the venue equipped for simultaneous interpreting? Is the venue fitted with a PA system?
Working with a translation “agency”
The term “agency” is associated with “temping” and often conveys the image of a “letterbox” entity of a translation company..
Organising an assignment and finding a team of interpreters requires a translation company to harness its expertise and understanding of its interpreters and equipment, and, a bit like a sport agent, coordinate all of the business relations, logistics and back office tasks.
A translation company knows all of their interpreters and has watched them in action. A translation company knows their strengths and weaknesses and can allocate assignments to them based on their expertise, the task at hand and their soft skills. A translation company can also form effective teams of interpreters.
The Interpreting Manager is tasked with managing any changes made to the programme, coordinating equipment and interpreters and solving any event-related logistics issues.
The client can leave everything for the translation company to sort out, giving them peace of mind to concentrate on the task in hand: defining and communicating the desired message to ensure their assignment is a success.
Catherine Granell
CG Traduction & Interprétation