Many nonprofits have been implementing their commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB). One important part of inclusiveness is disability inclusion. You want to ensure that your events of all kinds are accessible to people of all abilities, whether they are a speaker or an attendee of your event. Options such as American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting, live transcripts and closed captioning are more available than ever, even to organizations on a tight budget. Amy Silver O'Leary published an article on the website of Council of Nonprofits on March 16, 2022 to explain that ASL is the first language for the people who grow up in deaf community so that providing captioning is like enforcing them to translate scripts into their first language - ASL. The article also introduces the best way to know your speakers and audience's need is to ask them. It also provides tips of finding interpreters and budgeting. For captioning, the article tells how captioning works for events; and if you ever record your events, how to use free YouTube tools and then professional captioning services to improve accuracy to get subtitled videos. To read the original, full report, please visit here. At RABI, we provide a full line of services to deaf and hard-of-hearing speakers and attendees at events, including but not limited to:
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Wouldn't you love to increase attendance at your conferences and trade shows? One way to do that is to reach out to the international community. Research shows that only 2 of 10 exhibition attendees are from other countries. By putting in place the right global strategy you can tap a whole new market. Join RABI CEO Yvette Fang for an informative webinar about how to increase international attendance at your trade shows and conferences. Yvette will walk you through:
Simultaneous or consecutive interpretation? Do you know the difference and how to choose what you need for your project? Simultaneous interpreters usually sit in a sound booth where they can hear the speaker through their headphones. As the speaker talks, the interpreters listen to the speaker and speak the second language into a microphone which transmits their words wirelessly to headsets that audience members wear. It's easy to accommodate more than one interpreted language at an event, with the audience members able to choose which language they want to listen to. One of the major benefits of using simultaneous interpreters is that the event is not interrupted for the interpretation. In fact, audience members who speak the same language as the presenter may not even realize that the event is being interpreted. Additionally, those audience members who are listening to the interpretation can follow along with the speaker's gestures and facial expressions in real time. Consecutive interpreters are often on stage with the speaker, or if it's a small event, they sit at the table. They listen to what the speaker says, and then at the end of a sentence or paragraph, they interpret it for the audience. One of the benefits of consecutive interpretation is that because the interpreter has time to listen to the speaker's complete thought, the interpretation is often more accurate than with simultaneous interpretation, where the information flows at a much faster rate. The downside to consecutive interpretation is that it can significantly increase the time of the event. Which should you choose? It depends on the type of event and your budget. For simultaneous interpretation, you usually need at least two interpreters and for long events, potentially more. Simultaneous interpretation requires intense concentration and most interpreters can work for about 15 minutes before they need to be relieved by a colleague. In contrast, consecutive interpreters can remain on stage with the speaker for the entire event. SI is usually the best choice if you need to have multiple languages interpreted or when hosting conferences or other large events. Consecutive interpretation is often a better choice for highly scientific and medical information. Because consecutive interpreters have time before their interpretation starts, they are able to take detailed notes that improve their accuracy. CI is also well suited to small meetings, one-on-one meetings, interviews, and press conferences, where the SI equipment may feel like an intrusion and time is not as much of a factor. Decision Time If you need interpretation services, reach out to a professional, qualified agency, and provide as much information as you can about the reasons for the interpreter, the language(s) involved, and the duration and size of the event. The agency should be able to guide you toward the best solution to meet your needs. RABI partners and our local D.C. team were pleased to attend the Destination D.C. marketing outlook 2015 event. Destination D.C. hosted more than 500 tourism, trade, and local business members for a look at how the tourism and convention business is set to grow in D. C. over the next few years. We met Destination D.C.'s President and CEO, Elliott Ferguson, who stopped by our table at the event. Great speakers and sessions made the event fun and informative. Some of the fascinating facts that we learned include:
The takeaway from the event? Huge growth in international tourism, especially millennials, represents a major opportunity for savvy companies. Successful businesses should provide support at their events for participants for whom English is not their first language, and they should also localize their marketing materials and social media posts to reach potential visitors in their languages via the marketing media that their audience consumes most. We can help you provide the best experience and outreach to your market. RABI offers a premier events solution to help plan and organize global events and international conferences and ensure seamless communication through advanced services and technologies. Services we offer include:
Visit redblueint.com/events.html for more information about our events solution and to download our case study, Simultaneous Interpretation: a Commercial Property Company.
Your interpreter arrives at your event ready to go. She is a professional, has years of experience doing similar events, and knows her stuff. You, on the other hand, are an unknown quantity. The interpreter needs to discover quickly if you are comfortable presenting in front of a large audience. Do you largely make up your speech as you go along, do you read it verbatim, or are you somewhere in between? Do you interact a lot with your audience or not? Every speaker is different and every day on the job for an interpreter is an exciting new challenge.
Here are some tips for how to work with your interpreter: 1. If you are a native English speaker and your audience speaks Spanish, do not try to rely on your high school Spanish skills to make a connection with the audience. Even if you are fairly fluent in Spanish, you should do your whole speech in English and let your interpreter do his job. It can be confusing for both the audience and the interpreter if you switch back and forth. Plus, your second language skills may not be as good as you think they are, which could cause confusion and potentially be embarrassing. 2. Limit the amount of jargon, acronyms, and abbreviations in your speech. This should be true anyway, unless you're speaking in front of a group that is really immersed in your world. Not only is the audience unlikely to follow jargon and acronyms, but your interpreter will have a difficult time getting your meaning across. At the very least, try to provide a list of industry or organization specific terms to your interpreter before the event, so she is ready when you start peppering your speech with them. 3. If your interpreter is in a sound booth, be sure you are talking into the microphone at all times, but not getting too close. If you have a fixed microphone on stage, like behind a podium, and you walk away, the interpreter may not be able to hear you. Likewise, if you suddenly, boom into your microphone, you might knock off your interpreter's ears! 4. If you have a sign language interpreter, do not walk in front of him! You wouldn't believe how often this happens. If you do it, your audience won't see what you're talking about. 5. Speak normally. Don't try to compensate for your interpreter. You have hired a professional whose job it is to keep up with you and work at your pace. If it's consecutive interpretation, than yes, you will need to pause and let your interpreter interpret, but you don't need to slow your speech. Same goes for simultaneous interpreters. They will keep up with you. You need to focus on speaking at a pace that your audience can follow. Professional interpreters will have no problem keeping up. 6. Jokes should be limited, or, as with jargon, you should at least supply your interpreter with your jokes ahead of time. Humor is notoriously hard to convey in a different language. Often the interpreter will have to completely re-work jokes to get the point across. Interpreters, in desperation, have even been known to tell the audience, "he told a joke, you should laugh now," when it's impossible in the moment to appropriately interpret it. If you share your jokes with your interpreter ahead of time, she can adjust it to the foreign language and everyone's amusement. By keeping these six tips in mind, you will be sure to have a great experience with your interpreters. Professional interpreters have extensive training and are great at thinking and reacting to unexpected situations. So relax, concentrate on your audience and on your delivery, and let your interpreters do their job. Conferences draw more and more of their audiences from overseas, and the number of meetings that rotate among at least three countries is up as well. Add in that in March, The Center for Exhibition Industry Research reported the 18th straight quarter of growth for the industry, and you’ll see that in spite of access to conference calls, Skype, and social media, we all really value the chance to meet others in-person and create the deeper connections such opportunities provide. With that in mind, we have a few tips for how to attract international attendees and make sure they go home raving about your conference.
1. Identify your attendees and target them in their language. This seems obvious, but many people don’t think through this carefully enough. In addition to buyers, are you targeting suppliers, partners, or trade groups? Next, market to those groups in their own languages with the content adjusted to reflect what they value and want to learn about. You will come across with much more credibility, plus it will reassure them that your conference really is set-up for international attendees. Bonus tip: check the holiday calendars of your international markets to avoid scheduling your conference when your target attendees are unavailable. 2. Hire an event manager. This is especially important if the conference you’re planning is outside your own country. Event Managers know the local venues and suppliers and can make sure that you get exactly what you need for your conference. If the site you pick is overseas, it may be difficult or too expensive for you to visit more than once before your conference, so an event manager is an essential go-between. Additionally, if there are language barriers, an event manager can help you negotiate contracts and make sure the little details are properly discussed. Your event manager should be local and speak the local language, which means you may find you need to hire an interpreter to work with you and your event manager to be sure you fully understand each other, but in the long run you will save money and reduce your stress level. 3. Offer translation and interpretation services. Although your international attendees are highly likely to speak English, it is not their first language and they may find it difficult to understand all of your speakers and to follow along in fast paced discussions. Think about how hard it can be for you to understand people with heavy accents, even the difference between U.S. English and Irish English can be difficult. Hire interpreters for all your sessions from keynote to breakout in the major languages that are in attendance. If you have interpreters, your Q&A sessions and discussions will be livelier and more inclusive. Depending on your budget, you may also want to offer to translate key handouts, especially for your high profile speakers. And you should consider having signage in multiple languages if you anticipate a large number of international attendees. Finally, if you plan to communicate conference information through a mobile app or Twitter, you should hire a translator to make your communications available in all the major languages spoken at the conference. This will ensure that all of your attendees are in the loop. 4. Consider cultural differences. Think about how the customs of your international attendees may be different from your own. For example, in many cultures, people drink hot chocolate in the morning or during coffee breaks. In China, food is usually served during coffee breaks. It’s relatively easy and low cost to have muffins or fruit available, and if it makes your attendees happier, why not accommodate them? For dinners, you should offer vegetarian alternatives, and talk to your caterer to get his advice about the dietary customs of other cultures. Be prepared for your international attendees to be extremely punctual or perhaps more than fashionably late, based on their own cultural norms. German attendees are likely to be right on time and expect you to be on time too. Japanese are likely to arrive early, while Brazilians may arrive late. If you expect a large contingent from one culture, you should find out ahead of time what to expect and manage speaker expectations accordingly. Getting attendees from other countries to attend your conference will raise your institution’s profile, improve conference networking opportunities, and create exciting business opportunities for your entire audience. By following these four tips, you will ensure that your international audience will return home planning to attend the following year, and even better, they'll spread the word. RABI has opened a new Washington D.C. office!
We are so excited to have a permanent space in the nation's capital. Our full range of services will continue to be offered to D.C. area businesses, with a particular focus on events management. RABI has provided interpreters and technical equipment for conferences and events of all sizes across the U.S. for many years. We have experience working events that encompass multiple venues, and our extensive linguistic network means that we can easily accommodate last minute changes. We also provide localization services for marketing content and video production for product/brand marketing campaigns and event marketing. For international vendors exhibiting at trade shows and conferences, we arrange conference booth services, negotiate sponsorships and event advertising, and coordinate transportation and shipping logistics. We can also help you with localizing your presentations and event literature. The next time you're organizing a conference or plan to attend one, call RABI to help with your localization and interpretation needs. |
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