It’s a classic in our profession. The assignment is confirmed, the date is approaching, and the documents we were promised “will arrive the day before”. Sometimes they never arrive. Yet the quality of interpreting is largely decided before you even step into the booth.
The good news: you can prepare very well without the presentations. Here is my method.
1. Ask, follow up, then ask differently
Before going it alone, insist with the client, politely but precisely. Rather than “Could you send me the documents?”, ask for specific items:
- the programme or agenda, even provisional;
- the list of speakers and their roles;
- presentations from previous years;
- an internal glossary, an annual report, a sales brochure;
- the organiser’s contact details, for a quick question the day before.
Explain why: a prepared interpreter means a better-conveyed message and a better-served client. Most clients understand that.
2. Understand the context
Who is speaking to whom, and why? An internal training session for technicians is not prepared like a commercial negotiation. Identify the purpose of the meeting, the audience’s level of expertise and the expected tone. This shapes all your subsequent research.
3. Explore the client’s world
The company’s website is a goldmine: product pages, news, press releases, annual report. Note product names, in-house acronyms, the names of executives and how they are pronounced. Also look at the speakers’ LinkedIn profiles: their background often reveals their favourite topics and jargon.
4. Listen to the speakers before interpreting them
This is my favourite tip. Look the speakers up on YouTube, in podcasts or webinars. In ten minutes, you discover their pace, accent, verbal tics and favourite themes. On the day, you’ll feel as if you already know them.
5. Build a targeted glossary
Don’t aim for completeness. Focus on the 50 to 100 terms that are sure to come up: technical vocabulary, acronyms, proper names, key figures. Useful sources: terminology databases such as IATE, industry standards, trade press articles and bilingual documents published by organisations in the field.
Organise this glossary so you can consult it in a flash in the booth. On paper or in a dedicated tool, what matters is finding a term in two seconds.
6. Prepare for the unexpected
You will never know everything. The speaker will go off script, quote an unknown study, make an untranslatable joke. Accept it. Prepare strategies instead: fallback phrasings, careful generalisation, teamwork with your booth partner, who notes down figures and looks up terms while you speak.
Arrive early. The latest versions of the presentations often circulate in the room an hour before the start. And a short chat with the speaker over coffee can clear up many doubts.
In short
Without presentations, preparation changes form, not importance. It becomes detective work: understanding the context, exploring the client’s world, listening to the speakers and targeting the vocabulary. This invisible work is often what makes the difference between adequate interpreting and fluent interpreting.
Preparing an event? The best gift you can give your interpreter is your documents, even provisional ones. Write to me and let’s talk about it.
