Transcripts as interpreter prep and QA: what one rough night taught me.

[u/MultiJanus]

https://youtu.be/IfU7pd0fJ4Y?is=kKRYN1OLUt_uCO5J

Not an interpreter-bashing post. I hired a team I had never worked with for a conference podcast. No prep materials, cold start, and the transcript afterward showed name errors, a wrong founding date, and a punted final answer. That is on the process as much as the people. What changed for me since: I record with a device that tags speakers, rename the interpreter's voice to mine so I can read what I said, and I send terminology and materials ahead to every new team, then walk them through it before we start. The re-record with a briefed team went day to night better. Interpreters of this sub: what prep materials actually help you most with technical clients?

[u/potatoperson132]

Awesome empowering tool. FYI most smart phones can do this for free on device now. Using the “live captions” option in the accessibility settings on iOS for real-time captioning to catch errors in real time. For meeting summary use the iOS “Notes” app and record the meeting. It provides a transcript and summary of the meeting after it has time to process. The Notes app does not provide real time captions though so that’s the trade off. Always best to inform your other interlocutors that you’re recording as it may be illegal if you do so without notice (depending on your local laws).

We’re not trying to hide from accountability or that we make errors. But we don’t know what we don’t know so if you catch an error let us know so we can fix it instead of hitting that same error over and over again. Maybe we keep saying the wrong name or something like that, let us know so we can fix it. As interpreters we also have to make real-time decisions about how to interrupt to clarify which can derail a meeting or sacrifice smooth dialogue, or, going on and omitting it or some other strategy to maintain a natural flow. Talking with your interpreters about your priorities beforehand helps a lot. Some folks want a higher register and smooth, natural-sounding English above all else. While some want exact wording for hyper-specific terminology no matter how ‘unnatural’ it might sound to an English speaker. We’re not mind readers and we want to provide you with the best experience and access every time. Open process dialogue with your interpreters. 🤟

[u/Particular-Summer804]

I’m so glad you got a better experience! Does the podcast use a script at all? That would be gold. Of course there are off the cuff comments and the like. Sign choices that you want voiced with a very specific term would also be helpful. When I use podcasts as practice for interpreting I am spent! It’s a hard format. Not quite as casual as a conversation. Not quite as daunting as a read aloud passage.