A couple of weeks ago I attended an event as a participant and among others there was a presentation held in Portuguese. The organizer had hired a Portuguese to Greek interpreter for this session which allowed for a smooth communication during the discussion with the speaker.
The speaker was a foreign expert who was invited as a special guest and although everything run smoothly when he held his own presentation, he couldn’t avoid communication problems in the rest of the event. It turned out that the interpreter was only hired for that specific session instead of the whole duration. As a result, our guest speaker was quite isolated most of the time not being able to understand the other presentations and even felt marginalized, as he could not adequately interact with other people.
It is true that organizers often restrict the interpretation coverage in an effort to cut costs. What is not usually obvious though is the (negative) impact this can have on audience engagement.
Audience engagement is a decisive factor for the success of your event and the results that are going to be generated in the post-event period. The more interaction you have among the participants the more likely you are to achieve your goals and gain valuable insights for your professional development.
When people get involved in a phenomenon themselves, they activate all their senses and live a more intense and concrete experience which is difficult to forget. To get involved you need of course to interact and communicate. And as we can see, full interpreting coverage contributes to this direction.
In this regard, engaging an interpreter only partially does not only cut your costs. It also cuts your engagement and the impact of your event.
On the other hand, bear also in mind that interpreters apply minimum rates for short missions. This minimum fee stands often not far from their full-day rate. If the two amounts are almost equal, then what is the point in providing only partial coverage? Is a small cost reduction of this kind really worth the risk of reducing your success?
So, if the engagement level among the audience matters to you, you’ll definitely want to hire interpreters for the whole duration of your event.
And if the linguistic management seems overwhelming to you, no worries. Our experts’ team is here to make everything easy for you.
Get in touch with me now for a free consultation!
Contact me at: info@translationembassy.com
My team consists of top-notch experts, ready to help you not only with the implementation, but also with the preparation of an event, taking care of all those small but critical technical details which can make or break your event, if not managed properly.
What we offer:
- One-on-one consultancy on how to build a successful and impactful event from scratch
- Know-how and training for your speakers so that they speak directly to the heart of your audience
- Guidance on how to ensure maximum engagement
- Professional interpreters to get your message across smoothly and involve everyone in the discussion
- Arrangements for the technical on-site equipment
- Provision of an online platform for virtual events or guidance on how to select the right one
- Translation of your presentations and promotional material
Does this sound interesting? Reach out and take the first step towards success!
Get in touch with me now for a free consultation!
Contact me at: info@translationembassy.com
