What are the five most important things you should consider when planning to do remote simultaneous interpretation? Here we go.
1. Real Time video and audio transmission for interpreters
Simultaneous interpretation is supposed to be, well, simultaneous. So, interpreters who work remotely need to see and hear what is going on at the location in real time. Therefore, it does not make sense to provide them with a YouTube stream or similar “live” stream, because they usually have a delay about 20 seconds or more. What you need is to send the signal with a real time transmission tool – like our built in LiveVoice video stream, or with a video conferencing tool like Zoom or Teams. The advantage of using LiveVoice directly is of course that interpreters have only one tool to open and not juggling several tools at once.
2. Provide clear audio signal
Interpreters depend on understanding what is happening on site clearly. So make sure they get a very good audio signal. No built in compupter-microphones or so, because with that surrounding noises are also transmitted. Normal participants might be fine with that, but for interpreters who have to work in a very concentrated way, every word counts.
3. Send video signal with speaker and slides
Interpreters do not only need to hear what is going on, but also need to see who is coming on stage, see lip movements and especially they need to be able to read what is shown on slides. Imagine, there are a lot of numbers on a slide, like sales figures or statistics. Interpreters need to see them in order to get them across to their audience.
Therefore, there are three ways to do that:
- Position the camera in a way that both speaker and slides are in the picture. Be aware that this might be challenging in many settings, and it might be hard to read the slides on a video screen for the interpreters.
- Use picture in picture mode: This is a great solution, because you need only one video stream, but still the interpreters can see both. We recommend to make the slides the big picture, and show the person in the smaller one.
- If you don’t have a video mixer that can do picture in picture, you can also use two video channels: With LiveVoice you can create two Floor Channels, each a video channel, and interpreters can play them next to each other.
4. Communicate well with the interpreters
Before the event starts, agree with the interpreters on the communication channels you will use together. Maybe a WhatsApp group makes sense for you. Maybe you want to use the built in chat in LiveVoice. Whatever you use: It is crucial you are connected during the whole event and can quickly react, for example if the audio for interpreters is not loud enough, or if you need to let the interpreters know something.
5. Rehearsal and Tech Check
Never start an event without testing before! With people not being on site, this is even more important, because there are many factors that need to be checked: Does the microphone sound well? Do the interpreters see the video in the way they need it? Does the internet work well on site and for the interpreters? We recommend to do a rehearsal at least one day before the event, so you still have time to fix things in case you need to. And we find it a good practice to meet 30 minutes before the actual event starts for a final tech check.
With all of that, your RSI event should be a great success. If you need any further advice, feel free to contact us and book support service.
