As this booklet is intended for both practising conference interpreters and beginners, experienced colleagues will find many statements of the obvious, while newcomers to the profession may not always understand the reasons behind some of the suggestions.

Many interpreters, indeed some delegates, have contributed to the bouquets and brickbats from which this sort vademecum has been distilled.

Although our prime concern is with quality, that elusive something which is recognised by everyone but which nobody knows how to define, experience has amply demonstrate that breaches of simple rules can adversely affect not only the image that delegates have of interpreters but also the image that interpreters have of one another.

At a time when consecutive is becoming rarer, when the number of working languages is increasing rapidly, when an impersonal machine assigns an interpreter to a meeting on tin in the morning and one on dairy products in the afternoon, leaving no time for adequate preparation, when newly fledge (and sometimes decidedly underfledge) colleagues are being hastily drafted in to fill ever more booths, there is a pressing need to maintain quality and standards, to motivate newcomers to do so and generally to recognise that the profession’s reputation for quality rests on the sum of our individual efforts to secure it.

Although an attempt has been made in what follows to proceed in logical order, real life is rarely logical and things may turn out very differently.

I. CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS
Offers of work may come from intergovernmental organisations, private bodies or firms, from professional conference organisers, ad hoc organisers or from colleagues.

When the offer comes from an intergovernmental organisation, the conditions of work and remuneration will almost certainly be in conformity with existing agreement or accepted practice. If in doubt, check with colleagues who work for such bodies. Agreements laying down conditions of employment and remuneration have been signed inter alia between AIIC and the UN family, the European Communities and the European Coordinated Organisations. They are reviewed every five years.

If the recruiter is a private organisation or firm, it may not be familiar with existing practice or professional requirements and tactful guidance may be necessary. If you have not been in the profession long enough to know how to respond, consult a more experienced colleague.

Professional conference organisers, if not interpreters themselves, may not always wish fully to apply internationally accepted professional standards, although many have learnt from experience that this can lead to unsatisfactory interpretation.

Most colleagues involved in recruiting interpreters will have either been your teachers in interpreters’ school or will have the same language combination as you. Any AIIC member may and can recruit.

Wherever the offer comes from, it is your responsibility to be aware of the terms and conditions of employment in the profession and to ensure that they are observed. Colleagues will explain if the intricacies of team strengths, language combinations, per noctems, etc. defeat you.

Read your contract before you sign it and always keep sour engagements’ book up date. Reply promptly to letters and offers of work. If you publish a telephone number make sure that somebody is usually there to answer and knows your availability, or invest in an answering machine and check it daily.

Open envelopes containing documents immediately, even if you do not need to study them until much later. Contracts, programmes or details of changes of venue may be hidden among a pile of conference papers and organisers are justifiably irritated when phoned for information that has already been sent out.

Once you have signed a contract, do not try to get out of it because someone has offered you something more attractive. If you need to be replaced, find out if a suitable colleague is free on the date(s) concerned, without further details at that stage, then approach the person who recruited you to see if the colleague you propose is acceptable. The person who recruited the team will have taken care to ensure that it is balanced linguistically and otherwise and will not be pleased if you disturb that balance. Remember that your reputation for reliability will suffer if you ask to be replaced.

II. PREPARING FOR A MEETING
It is a good idea to have a system to keep track of documents (past or current) relating to a particular subject or organisation. Unless you have a photographic memory (and even that can become clouded with time and overloaded) adopt a method for indexing key words, including the titles of officials and committees, with their translation into each of your working languages, so that you can retrieve them easily when needed. The better your mastery of the organisation’s structure and jargon, the more likely you are to be recruited again. Interpreters, even freelances, should identify with the “corporate image” of the organisation they are working for and seek to fit in with it.

If the organisers have taken the troubles to send you documents, study them, in all your working languages. You will find that minutes of past meetings or the proceedings of earlier congresses are the most useful but don’t hesitate also to use Encyclopaedias and basis text books for beginners. An interpreter needs to have as good a knowledge of the terrain as an `infantry-man` before going into the battle. Prepare your own multilingual glossary for the meeting. Note the terms specific to that particular group or topic, a Management Committee in one context may be Steering Group in another. Be prepared to share your glossaries with the other members of the team. Never be a terminology “freeloader”, relying on others to do the work.

In compiling glossaries, whether on a computer or manually, make sure that you have a logical system for sorting terms (e.g. by subject, organisation, committee, etc.) in alphabetic order for each language and which enables you to identify terms with the organisation that uses them in that particular way. If you decide to buy a computer, consult the AIIC computer working group (GRIP) on proven software and hardware.

Briefings, even very short ones before a session, can be a valuable addition to your preparation for a difficult technical meeting. They can also enhance the professional image of the interpreter. A well organised briefing, i. e. one attended by experts, preferably covering the working languages of the conference, and the interpreters, who have studied the conference papers and relevant textbooks in advance, can greatly improve interpretation performance. Experts usually appreciate informed questions and in the course of explaining the significance of a term, a process, etc. they develop a much better understanding of interpreters’ needs and much greater confidence in the interpreters’ ability to do the job satisfactorily.

III. TEAMWORK IN THE BOOTH
The only people who must be on time for a meeting are the interpreters. A group of delegates may habitually arrive late, but the day you do, you may find that they arrived on time and are waiting for you. Interpreters should be there 15 minutes before the scheduled starting time, to check whether any new documents have been circulated or ad hoc working groups convened, etc.

Working arrangements with colleagues should be based on a clear understanding of who does what when. Arrangements must take account of the needs of all the booths, overall language cover, working conditions, difficulty of the subject, etc. Slavish adherence to the clock or to dividing the work rigidly on the basis of the number of papers to be presented may serve neither your interests nor those of the delegates. For example, it is rarely advisable to change interpreters in the middle of a speech, unless it is very long.

In a team where all the working language are covered in each booth, there can be no excuse for systematic relay or the sudden absence of a given language combination. This can happen if there has been insufficient consultation between booth. In the absence of the chief interpreter, the team leader is responsible for coordinating `inter-booth` arrangements and must therefore be kept informed of what is proposed.

If relay cannot be avoided, there are ways in which the “pivot” (i.e. the interpreter from whom relay is being taken) and those taking relay can help one another. The “pivots” should make an extra effort to be clear and construct simple complete sentences. They should also make a point of stating the name of each new speaker.

Before the meeting starts, interpreters who need to take relay for a given language should inform the “pivot”, saying for which language they will be using relay. If the “pivot” does a good job, say so; if it is not very good do not rush into the booth to complain but try to be constructive instead, making it clear that you understand the difficulties and that you realise that you are adding to them by having to take relay. Tell the sound engineer that your booth will be relaying off booth x. Ask for a test run before the meeting starts, to be sure that you can hear the “pivot” clearly and that you can easily switch to the right booth. Relay systems can vary from one installation to another.

When not actually interpreting, do not leave the meeting room for longer than absolutely necessary. When not working continue to listen to what is going on and be firm, but courteous, with people who drop by for a chat. Keep track of the points of contention, jokes, metaphors which may crop up again and generally follow the course the meeting is taken. If your colleagues has unavoidably to leave the booth during his/her turn at the mike, do not abruptly hand over the mike the moment s/he returns. It takes a little while to pick up the thread of the discussion again. Brief your colleague on how far the discussion has progressed and on anecdotes or unusual terms which have been used by speakers. Likewise, if a new team is taking over after you, leave them a note in the booth telling them how far the meeting has got, etc.

If you want any special help from your boothmate(s), ask for it. If you resent help, say so. Unwanted help can be as much of a problem as assistance that is not forthcoming when required.

If you are an experienced interpreter, do not keep your `know-how` to yourself. Do not forget that not only are interpreters judged as a team but also that we were all beginners once. Similarly, if a colleague doesn’t know something, don’t spread it around, thereby creating a source of tension.

If you feel nervous, try not to spread the feeling. If you cannot conceal it, confide in your colleagues who can usually be of assistance in overcoming such difficulties.

As a general rule, respect your colleagues’ wishes (even unspoken) regarding socialising in the booth. Not every interpreter is able to deal simultaneously with a speech from the floor and your life story. If you are a staff interpreter working with a freelancer, or vice versa, try to break down the prejudice which the two groups sometimes feel towards one another. Show that you are eager to establish a good working relationship.

Even if you think you are one of the best known interpreters in the profession, introduce yourself to colleagues you have not met before. Experienced interpreters should make every effort to put newcomers at their ease and beginners should concentrate on doing a sound job rather impressing or pleasing their boothmate(s).

Never hand over copies of documents to enquiring journalists or visitors. You have a duty of confidentiality. Always refer such requests to the conference organisers.

Do not smoke in the booth without your colleagues’ consent. If you must smoke, do so outside the booth. Similarly, use perfume or aftershave sparingly. Too heady a scent can be as intrusive as tobacco smoke. It is not advisable to knit or manicure one’s nails in the booth, nor to be seen to be reading a newspaper in full view of the delegates or to be snatching a late breakfast. Not only is such behaviour likely to disturb your colleagues but it is also unlikely to impress the organisers and delegates with your professionalism.

Be discreet and respect the confidentiality of the proceedings. Do not comment in a loud voice on the meeting or a particular speech as you leave the booth. You may find yourself quoted in the next day’s newspaper or discover, when you turn round, that the speaker is just behind you. Do not discuss meetings in public, even with colleagues.

IV. ON THE AIR
The quality of booths and equipment can affect both your performance and the quality of reception for delegates. The following points are of particular importance:

Booths must be large enough, correctly ventilated and soundproofed. Interpreters must be able to work in comfort with the door closed, otherwise there will be sound interference between booths and with the meeting room.
Good sound equipment is essential. If the sound is not clear, ask the technician for assistance. Learn to adjust both volume and tone controls to strike the right balance between treble and bass. This will enable you to set the volume lower, thereby protecting your hearing.
There is an international standard for permanent booth and equipment (ISO `2603-1983`) and one for portable booths (ISO `4043-1981`).

No interpreter can provide a professional standard of interpretation unless the equipment and working conditions are up to minimum professional standards.

AIIC publishes a Directory of Conference Facilities which rates installations against the ISO standard. Copies can be obtained from the AIIC Secretariat as can copies of the Checklist to be filled in for new facilities or ones that have improved or deteriorated since the entry was published. It is wise to check that the facilities in which you are expected to work are adequate. If they do not appear in the Directory fill in a Checklist, return it to the Secretariat and inform the AIIC Technical Committee. If they are rated unusable, consult the other members of the team and the recruiting interpreter.

When you arrive on the first day of a meeting, introduce yourself to the sound engineer. If you need her/his help, ask for it courteously and calmly, perhaps through the team leader. The sound engineer is an important member of the team and his/her goodwill is essential. When the meeting is over do not leave without saying goodbye and thank you.

Remember that life is not always easy for delegates. Some have to wear headphones most of the time and they are less well protected from extraneous noise than interpreters. It is tiring enough to have to follow several days’ discussions and when this has to be done via interpretation, it becomes very demanding.

Always seek to be clear and lively in your interpretation. If a speaker is having to use a language other than her/his normal working language, try to convey the message with clarity. Never add your own comments or alter the emphasis of what is said. Your job is to communicate the speaker’s intended meaning, not to alter it. Be precise and remember the golden rule: as literally as possible, as freely as necessary. Be fluent in your delivery and as close to the patterns of spontaneous speech as possible. Dot not speak in sharp bursts followed by long pauses, nor in a monotonous `sing-song`. Match your register to that of the speaker and the audience If the speaker is using simple, plain words do not distort the original by using abstruse terms or particularly arcane expressions. Conversely, do not lapse into a familiar or jocular tone on formal occasions.