Tips for organising multilingual conferences with simultaneous or consecutive interpretation.

• Conference interpreters are responsible for conveying the speakers’ messages as faithfully as possible. Do not sacrifice quality with simultaneous interpretation.

• Conference interpreters who are members of AIIC, the International Association of Conference Interpreters, and/or have specific EU accreditation have the necessary training, experience and skill. They are also subject to a Code of Ethics and Professional Standards.

• Ask an experienced organisation of interpreters or a consultant interpreter to assemble a team of interpreters.

• Simultaneous interpretation requires special equipment. Ensure that this equipment conforms to ISO standards. Verifying equipment requirements with the organisation recruiting the interpreters for you is advisable.

• Professional conference interpreters are knowledgeable about many areas but are not experts in every discipline. Provide interpreters with available conference documents as soon as possible. Avoid reading texts aloud, as this practice tends to strain interpreters and listeners alike. If reading aloud is inevitable, provide the interpreters with copies of the texts in all cases.

• A professional team of interpreters always has designated a team leader to liaise with the client. To facilitate communication between the interpreters and your organisation, we recommend that you appoint a central contact as well.

• With highly technical meetings, advance briefings are a good idea.

• Conference interpreters operate under highly stressful conditions: they listen, interpret and speak at the same time. To maintain interpretation quality, working days should not exceed eight hours, including breaks.

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