When to Bring an Interpreter to a Meeting

Having an interpreter at a business meeting can prove to be a huge asset when you are conducting business with international clients and business prospects.

So, when is it appropriate to provide an interpreter to help you conduct business more effectively? When you’re dealing with partners or prospective customers that do not speak your language proficiently, or at all, you may find that there will be difficulty communicating from the onset.

Here are some common scenarios where interpreters add value:

  • Important marketing/sales or business presentations
  • Contract negotiations
  • When critical knowledge needs to be shared
  • When you want to ensure a great overall experience

Whether in large forums or in one on one meetings, corporate interpreters help to ease the burden of those communication hiccups that can truly make or break a deal.

when to bring an interpreter to a meetingThere are some important steps you should take to put your best foot forward:

  1. Conduct a pre-meeting with your interpreter to establish some ground rules for the upcoming meeting. This will help to alleviate any miscommunication and help you to understand how to make the process of communicating through an interpreter more streamlined. It will also provide some background about the attendees.
  2. Go over important meeting details. Inform the interpreter about the meeting structure as well as the meeting agenda. Find out how often you should pause in between sentences to help them interpret seamlessly, how seating should be arranged, etc.
  3. Talk about the content of the meeting. Share with the interpreter what points will be key during your presentation or discussion. Provide your pitch or presentation ahead of time so that they can point out any potential issues in translation. If you plan on giving a speech, give the interpreter a copy so that they may familiarize themselves with the content, terminology, and key points.

When you’re holding a meeting with an interpreter involved, be prepared to have extra time blocked out for the meeting than you usually would. Interpreting well takes extra time and should not be a rushed process.

On the day of the meeting, there are some additional pointers to keep in mind:

  1. Be succinct in your ideas and thoughts so that points will stand out boldly.
  2. Try your best to avoid humor, as that does not usually translate well and can lead to confusion instead of laughter.
  3. Remember, you’re speaking through an interpreter, but you’re getting your ideas across to the prospect or client, so keep them engaged. Eye contact is key, you want them to feel as though you are speaking directly to them, even though there is someone in the room that is interpreting your words into their language.

Providing translated materials and on-site interpreters that are proficient in your guest’s language, are familiar with the culture and subject matter or industry, provides a sense of trust, creates loyalty and an environment that fosters opportunity.

Let Metaphrasis help you plan your next international meeting.