The interpreting day is an indivisible 6-hour period, even if interpreters are not required to work for the entire 6 hours. After the sixth hour, an additional hourly fee applies, with a view to discouraging clients from using interpreters for periods longer than that. The ideal and most cost-effective format for a conference with ST is 3h in the morning, lunch break, and then 3h in the afternoon.

Only trained and seasoned professional interpreters can deal with the pressure of translating a speech delivered at normal speaking pace in language A correctly and intelligibly into language B with minimal lag. If your presenters are not speaking their native tongue the task is twice as daunting and when the topic is too arid or technical the level of difficulty increases four or fivefold. Don’t trust the success of your event to amateurs.  Always hire an experienced professional.

In fact,  they could do without it but for sure it wouldn’t be as comfortable for the participants.  Use of the portable equipment at small meetings enables interpreters to stand further away from their listeners and use a much softer tone since they’re speaking into a mike, therefore preserving participants from unnecessary noise and disturbances in the room.  Additionally, use of the equipment makes it much easier for interpreters to engage in truly simultaneous mode rather than intermittent, which expands speaking times.

Interpreting is a very taxing activity. It requires full, sustainable concentration for as long as the speaker talks. An interpreter on his own can keep up this level of concentration for no longer than one hour. That is why all professional interpreters’ associations (APIC, AIIC etc) recommend that for events longer than one hour, two interpreters be hired — always.

Ask to talk to their recent clients.  If they are totally comfortable and confident about the service quality they provide, they will gladly give you access to their recent clients, in the same or similar line of business.

You may think that any of your most talented and outgoing associates would rise up to the challenge of serving as M.C. at your next conference. Don’t go for it. A professional MC will not only set the pace and tone of your conference, but make sure speakers keep to their time slot, keep the audience engaged, be prepared to tackle last-minute delays or absences and conduct the entire event according to plan.