Guidelines for Booth Manners – Türkiye Konferans Tercümanları Derneği

PREFACE

Founded in 1969, the Conference Interpreters Association of Turkey (TKTD) is a professional organisation that works for the development of the conference interpreting profession in Turkey, contributing to the professional development of conference interpreters and promoting international standards in professional rules. Through its activities, TKTD aims to promote the profession, to contribute to the education of conference interpreters at undergraduate and postgraduate levels at universities through its members, and to ensure that the professional working conditions are aligned with globally accepted practices.

Conference interpreting is a profession in which interpreting is done every day on a different subject, in a different place and in cooperation with a new conference organiser. In addition, the interpreters in interpreting teams consisting of at least two persons may change every time.

In this ever-changing environment, it is important that the professional behaviour of the professional conference interpreter is in line with basic professional ethics and codes of conduct. This code of conduct, which is well-established in practice and emphasised by our professional community, has been compiled in this booklet under the title of “Booth Manners”, covering the period from the time a conference interpreter receives an offer to work at a conference until the completion of his/her work.

We hope that this second publication of TKTD, taking the texts of the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC) and VEGA Young Interpreters Network as a reference, will contribute to the professional training of conference interpreters who are new to the profession, and will refresh the knowledge of our experienced colleagues on these behaviours, which have not been written down so far but on which a silent consensus has been reached.

Best regards,

The Conference Interpreters Association of Turkey: www.tktd.org

BOOTH MANNERS

This study aims to raise the awareness of new conference interpreters about booth etiquette, one of the most important factors of team performance, and to remind more experienced conference interpreters about details that can sometimes be overlooked. This document on what a professional conference interpreter should pay attention to in the booth can also be helpful for interpreters seeking sponsors for TKTD (Association of Conference Interpreters of Turkey) and/or AIIC (International Association of Conference Interpreters) membership as well as for those evaluating a candidate interpreter as a sponsor.

Knowing and sincerely practising booth etiquette when you start working as a conference interpreter can prevent unpleasant surprises during the job, negative comments after the job, complaints from the employer and, therefore, a goodbye to the profession you have just started.

Booth etiquette is not only about your behaviour in the booth. It is the entire process of the things that you should pay attention to before, during and after the assignment, in other words, everything that makes you a conference interpreter apart from the interpreting you do.

BEFORE THE ASSIGNMENT

Booth etiquette starts long before you enter the booth, as soon as the job is offered to you on the phone, by e-mail or in any other way and you confirm your availability. Your employer may be the host directly, or it may be the organisation company or one of the conference interpreting companies. If there is no violation of your working conditions, you can take precautions against many problems at the outset by paying attention to the following after both parties sign the contract:

– Conference interpreting is a teamwork. Find out the names, language combinations, booths and chief interpreters of the colleagues you will be working with at the meeting and take this information with you to the meeting.

– If you are new to the profession, explain that you may need help and that it would be appropriate if you were teamed up with a more experienced interpreter.

– If you have been practising your profession for some time and have a relevant terminology at hand, share it with your team members before the meeting.

– Make your preparations with the documents sent to you before the meeting and share this preparation with your colleagues. Do not always expect this work from your booth mate.

– If you have any questions about the dress code, consult the chief interpreter. If he/she does not know exactly what the environment and participants will be like, choose a suit that is not exaggerated.

– Check your emails and messages regularly, especially if you are working in big events where the room, time, and team are likely to change.

– A few things that are useful to take with you:

– Pen (always with a spare), note paper, notepad (in case you are asked to do a consecutive interpretation), electronic or printed dictionary, glasses (if you need), a small pair of binoculars for halls where the booths may be far from the screen, terminology if available, words, programmes, documents you have extracted from the documents sent to you, laptop,

– medicine,

– pastilles to soothe your throat,

– candies (beware of rustling packaging!),

– life-saving deodorant for hot summer days,

– wet wipes,

– tissue paper,

– fan,

– your invoice if you have already been asked for it.

DURING THE ASSIGNMENT

Outside and inside the booth, in addition to the quality of your interpreting, there are many other factors that will make you a respected, liked and, perhaps most importantly, trusted interpreter and will have a positive impact on the collective performance of the team.

Outside of the booth

– For a conference interpreter, “being on time” means arriving at least 30 minutes before the start of the meeting on the first day and 15-20 minutes on subsequent days (if the employer or speakers want to meet earlier to share information with you, a mutually agreeable time can be negotiated).

– When you arrive at the meeting venue (if you are working together for the first time), meet your teammates, team leader, and technicians. If the employer is your own client and you are the team leader, meet your contact person, inform him/her about the needs of the team, double-check the flow of the meeting. If the employer is not your client, this contact will be made by your team leader or the person who has contacted you for the assignment. You can convey your demands, your concerns about the working conditions, if any, and your questions about the assignment to the person in charge through this team leader.

– If you are a chief interpreter, keep in mind that there are many ways of communicating these demands and complaints to the employer/authorised person. Being rude in the name of “meticulousness” about working conditions will seriously undermine your credibility and reputation. A smile, professionalism and a constructive approach will help you overcome the problem in a short time.

– Knowing where the nearest toilet is located, where the service table is set up for a quieter coffee break, and being aware of the availability of wireless internet service can save time for all interpreters. If you have such information, share it with your team members.

– For organisational matters such as lunch/dinner, transfers, etc., your team leader should contact the person in charge and pass on the necessary information.

Inside the Booth

– Switch off or silence your mobile phone without vibration by checking that it does not interfere!

– If you are going to use a laptop for your own private business in the booth, first ask your booth mate for permission. Your constant use of the computer may distract him/her.

– Before the meeting starts, ask the technician to brief you on the use of the device. The equipment and sound quality in the booth should be tested by the interpreters beforehand. Adjusting the input and output channels is very important, especially in relay meetings.

– When checking the equipment and sound, make sure that the “cough/mute” button also works! Use this button instead of switching off the microphone if you cough or ask a colleague a short question while you are interpreting, so that your interpretation is not interrupted by the speaker’s voice and your audience is not disturbed.

– Try to keep your input volume as low as possible. Listening at high volume can not only damage your hearing and put more strain on your vocal cords, but also cause the sound to be more audible outside the booth. Remember that the treble/bass settings can improve your hearing as well as the volume.

– Funny speakers are fun to listen to, but sometimes this can be a problem for interpreters. Never laugh with the microphone on! If you start laughing before you have finished your interpretation, your listeners will think they are missing something.

– If the sound in your ear or the accent of the speaker makes it impossible for you to interpret, politely announce that interpretation is not possible, giving the reason.

– As the booth is an enclosed environment, bear in mind that even under the best ventilation conditions, the smell of sweat and cigarettes smoked outside can be very offensive, as can the smell of heavy perfume or aftershave.

– The older and more experienced colleague should have priority over who sits where in the booth. Divide the booth evenly in half with imaginary lines to define your private space that you can use without disturbing your colleague. In the centre of the table in the booth you can put a piece of paper for taking notes to help each other. Make sure that the documents you will use together are accessible to both of you. Keep the finished documents in an organised and sequentially accessible place in case they are later referred to by another speaker.

– Adjust your lighting so that it does not disturb the person next to you and the other booths. You can also decide together whether the door should be kept open, closed or ajar. If the hall is very small and the ventilation of the booth is sufficient, it would be more appropriate to keep the door closed so that no sound goes outside and no sound enters the booth.

– Before you start working, discuss with your booth mate how you prefer to cooperate. The non-working person writing notes for the other person, especially in conversations heavy with the use of numbers and dates, is the best example of in-booth cooperation. When your colleague needs help, he/she will let you know in some way. In any case, do not whisper words to your colleague while he/she is interpreting, write them down or use the “cough/mute” button to exchange brief information between you.

– Be aware that the inside of the booth can be seen from the outside as well as you can see the outside. Also, if there are people standing in front of the booth blocking your view of the screens and/or the speaker, the non-working interpreter can step out and politely warn them. Punching the windows of the booth will only frighten people and slow down their movements due to confusion.

– Even if you have to leave the booth, do not disappear for too long. You never know when your friend may need you. At the beginning of the meeting or when you are not working, try to warm up to the subject and terms by following the speeches as much as possible. Always be in the booth a while before it is your turn so that you are aware of the latest speech and the terms used by your colleague (to ensure consistency). Turn off the volume of your own headphones when leaving the booth.

– When you leave the booth, do not chat in front of the booth, do not make noise, warn those who do so.

– If your meeting is a multi-day meeting and one of the interpreters has worked on the previous day’s meeting, it is a good idea for him/her to start interpreting. Again, if someone has already worked at a meeting with the same employer on the same or a similar topic, that interpreter should take priority. If no one has worked at such a meeting with the same employer before, but one of the interpreters is generally familiar with the topic, it would be appropriate for him/her to start first. If the topic is unfamiliar to everyone, the more experienced colleague should be given priority.

– Depending on the topic of the meeting and the flow of the programme, interpreters who know the booth etiquette should discuss how often they will rotate among themselves even before the meeting starts. Normally, this can be 30 minutes for meetings with a not-too-heavy topic and 20 minutes for meetings with a heavier/more difficult topic. The handover should be done at natural intervals in the speech, so as not to disturb the understanding of the audience. However, if the speakers are speaking for equal lengths (e.g., 25 minutes each), it would be better for both the concentration of the audience and your performance to take turns when the speaker changes. During the handover, the interpreter who has already interpreted should switch off his/her microphone first, and then the interpreter who will start interpreting should switch theirs on.

– In addition, you should always prefer to interpret directly from the “floor”, depending on the language combination of the interpreters in the booth, rather than taking a relay as a booth, and divide the tasks accordingly.

– If your colleague in the booth regularly exceeds his/her time, or if he/she is always working less than his/her allotted time, first try to put your watch in a place where you can both see it easily. If it does not work, use signs or notes to let him/her know that his/her time is up/not up yet. If this also fails, try talking to him/her. But never argue in the booth or in a place where anyone can hear you. Do not “steal” the microphone under any circumstances and do not deviate from the time you have set, even if your colleague has worked longer/shorter than you.

AFTER THE ASSIGNMENT

– Take care to leave the booth clean and tidy. This shows your respect not only to the technicians but also to your colleagues who will work in that booth after you.

– Thank your colleagues for the relay, thank the technicians for the quality service they provide, thank the employer (or intermediary) for making your job easier with their help, and if there were service staff helping you, thank them for their attention.

– If the interpreting assignment did not come to you directly (you were recruited through the organising company or another interpretation services company), pass on the business cards you were asked for and the business cards you were given to the person who provided you with the assignment. When you give an assignment to another interpreter, behave as you would like him/her to behave.

– Never forget the confidentiality principle of our profession. Do not leave any documents in the booth that should not change hands; either return them to the employer or destroy them.

Most of these points will be solved with a silent consensus, as our colleagues, especially our new colleagues, will realise in time. What matters is to be aware of how respect, solidarity and cooperation in the booth can affect our performance and to act accordingly.