{"id":4982,"date":"2017-09-12T17:00:42","date_gmt":"2017-09-12T21:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/ID\/?p=4982"},"modified":"2018-11-05T18:17:46","modified_gmt":"2018-11-05T22:17:46","slug":"preparing-to-interpret-at-a-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/ID\/preparing-to-interpret-at-a-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Preparing to Interpret at a Conference: Lessons Learned from a Healthcare and Court Interpreter"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Liz Essary<\/strong><\/h5>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"[READY]\"During my training as a conference interpreter, some of the most important advice I got was this: Don\u2019t crush your listener with a wall of sound.\u00a0 But what does that mean? It took me a while to figure it out. Rather than parroting a word-for-word monotone (and likely meaningless) rendition of what the speaker\u2019s saying, you must process the message within all its surrounding context to produce something meaningful for the listener. As an interpreter, who\u2019s worked in healthcare, court, and conference settings, I find this is something that applies no matter where you\u2019re interpreting.<\/p>\n

But how do conference interpreters prepare for an event? I\u2019ve found it to be a bit different than going to an assignment in the healthcare or court setting. Here are some key parts of my preparation before interpreting at an event.<\/p>\n

Building the context surrounding the event: Preparing to interpret at an event goes far beyond preparing a glossary of terminology! When I\u2019m getting ready for an event, I read up on the company\u2019s history and key players. I want to know if there\u2019s anything happening internally, like a leader who\u2019s stepping down, or a merger. Is this particular company making big changes, expanding, acquiring another company? I want to know about trends in the industry. Is the location or timing of the event significant? All of this helps me anticipate, within a broader context, what the event will be like. It helps me understand the tone of the event, so I can adjust my delivery accordingly. I don\u2019t want to accidentally go upbeat when the recently-resigned CEO is giving her last address to the company.<\/p>\n

“Don\u2019t crush your listener with a wall of sound”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n

Program review: Who are the speakers? What will they speak about? For how long? Will there be general sessions, meetings, workshops, panels, or a mix? I like to create a spreadsheet with the speakers\u2019 names, short bios, and the topic they\u2019ll be addressing. I can follow along as each speaker is introduced, and this ensures that all of the speakers\u2019 names and their credentials will be properly represented in my interpretation. This is especially helpful when you\u2019ve got someone introducing a speaker and reading their bio at lightning speed from a text.<\/p>\n

Speeches and slides: I don\u2019t necessarily need the finished product. I\u2019m not going to take a speech, translate it, and then read it aloud from the booth. I\u2019m not going to take slides and share them with anyone. One of the most helpful drills in my training was to learn to scan the text of a speech and prepare it so I could work with it in the booth. We were taught to scan and mark up the text to indicate links, numbers, and keywords. In the end of training, we were able to prepare the text in about five minutes. While in training, this exercise could feel tedious at times. But it comes in very handy because on many occasions someone has knocked on the door to the booth minutes before start time to hand me a speech.<\/p>\n

Terminology: Just like I create a spreadsheet of speakers and their bios, I like to create a spreadsheet of terminology. Believe it or not, it\u2019s not much help if someone just hands me a glossary of terms. The work that goes into researching and understanding industry-specific concepts and jargon is the real benefit of creating a glossary, and not the finished product itself.<\/p>\n

Sports: They will always come up at a meeting or event! Every time I\u2019ve interpreted at an event, there\u2019s a speaker who warms up the audience by talking about the buzz surrounding the local team, or there\u2019s someone bragging about his golf game, or some banter in the Q&A or among the panelists about the local sports legend. I always scan the local news to see what\u2019s going on in sports, and I\u2019m always glad I did.<\/p>\n

YouTube: If there is publicly available video of a speaker, I\u2019m going to dig in to that.\u00a0 I\u2019ll know what their style is. Is it fast and energetic, or slow and rambling with a tricky accent? I can then use those speeches to practice interpreting and zero in on any tricky spots and think of solutions before I even step in the booth.<\/p>\n

“When I\u2019m getting ready for an event, I read up on the company\u2019s history and key players”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n

Contacting my team: Any time I work an event, I contact my team ahead of time to introduce myself and let them know that I\u2019m looking forward to working with them. I\u2019ll share any materials I\u2019ve got that might be useful to them, and if possible we\u2019ll meet in person before the event and talk about how we think it\u2019ll go, and discuss any experience we\u2019ve had interpreting for this particular client or in that particular field.<\/p>\n

Making this kind of effort to prepare makes it less likely that I\u2019m going to feel backed into a corner by one word. And there\u2019s always the booth mate who\u2019s by my side (rarely resting), researching, looking up last-minute words, and jotting down numbers when they come flying at us.<\/p>\n

An added benefit to my training in conference interpreting is that it completely changed the way I prepare for healthcare and court assignments. After so many years working in healthcare and legal settings, it\u2019s exciting to find new techniques to weave into my preparation and practice in those settings. I\u2019m more assertive about asking for more information from a client so that I can practice ahead of time and clean up any problem areas before I go in. I do a much better job about asking for what I need, before and during an assignment. In the end, it\u2019s a better experience for me, and for the people listening to me. And isn\u2019t that what\u2019s it\u2019s all about?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Liz Essary<\/strong> has been interpreting in healthcare and legal settings since 2002, and training interpreters since 2009. After years of supervising interpreters in the hospital setting, she finished her Master\u2019s of Conference Interpreting at the Glendon School of Translation in Toronto in 2016. She currently works as a freelance interpreter and trainer based out of Indianapolis, IN. You can find her blog at www.thatinterpreter.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Image by Wokandapix via pixabay.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Given the ridiculous weather patterns we\u2019ve been having all over the globe, I hope this post finds you and yours safe and sound. Even as I write from Paradise (Santa Barbara) where we are experiencing record heat (I don\u2019t mind, being from south of the equator) \u00a0enjoying swimming with the leopard sharks, I feel for all of those who are suffering, and bow my head in silent prayer.<\/p>\n

I hope you enjoy this post from Ms. Essary, who provides excellent pointers for preparing for conference work. The delightful conclusion she draws is so true and brings me back to the notion that interpreting is interpreting is interpreting: a consummate professional will do what it takes to rise to the assignment, be it conference, court or healthcare and everything in between!
\nIn Liz\u2019 own words: “In the end, it\u2019s a better experience for me, and for the people listening to me. And isn\u2019t that what\u2019s it\u2019s all about?\u201d<\/p>\n

As always, enjoy!<\/p>\n

Lorena<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":4999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[167,38],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nPreparing to Interpret at a Conference: Lessons Learned from a Healthcare and Court Interpreter - ATA Interpreters Division<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I hope you enjoy this post from Ms. Essary, who provides excellent pointers for preparing for conference work.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/ID\/preparing-to-interpret-at-a-conference\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Preparing to Interpret at a Conference: Lessons Learned from a Healthcare and Court Interpreter - 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