Why Preparation is Key: Behind the Scenes of Professional Interpreting

Most of what I do happens before I say a single word. The interpretation you hear during your meeting represents the visible portion of a much larger process, one that begins days or weeks before the event itself.

Clients often wonder what interpreters actually do to prepare. Here’s an honest look behind the scenes.

The Invisible Hours

For every hour of conference interpretation, I typically invest several hours of preparation. A two-day technical conference might require a full week of advance work. A routine business meeting might need only a few hours. The ratio depends on subject complexity, material availability, and how familiar I am with your industry.

This preparation isn’t optional. It’s what separates competent interpretation from excellent interpretation.

Building the Glossary

The glossary is my most essential preparation tool. Research shows that around 70% of professional interpreters build glossaries for most or all of their assignments, and for good reason.

What goes into a glossary:

• Technical terms and their precise equivalents in both languages
• Company-specific terminology and product names
• Acronyms with full meanings
• Industry jargon that doesn’t translate literally
• Names of key people, places, and organizations

Building a glossary isn’t just about translation. It’s about understanding. When I research a term, I’m learning the concept behind it. Why does your industry use this word? What does it actually mean in practice? What related terms might come up?

This process transforms unfamiliar vocabulary into active knowledge I can deploy instantly during interpretation.

Studying Your Materials

When clients provide documents, I don’t just skim them. I study them.

What I look for:

• Core themes and arguments
• Technical concepts I need to understand deeply
• Terminology patterns
• Speaker styles and communication preferences
• Potential challenges or sensitive topics

I read presentations multiple times. First for overall comprehension, then to extract terminology, then to anticipate how ideas connect. If I understand where a speaker is headed, I can interpret more fluidly and accurately.

Context matters enormously. Knowing that your company recently acquired a competitor, or that this meeting follows a difficult negotiation, changes how I approach the work.

Research Beyond What You Provide

Client materials form the foundation, but they’re rarely the complete picture.

I supplement with independent research:

• Industry publications and news
• Company websites and press releases
• Technical references and academic papers
• Previous similar events, if publicly available
• Cultural background relevant to participants

If you’re meeting with Japanese executives about automotive supply chains, I’m reading about both: your industry context and the cultural dynamics that shape Japanese business communication.

This research often uncovers terminology the client materials didn’t include but that speakers are likely to use.

Mental Preparation

Interpretation is cognitively demanding work. The night before an important assignment, I review my glossaries, visualize the event flow, and ensure I’m well-rested.

On the day itself, I arrive early. I check equipment, review key terminology one final time, and give myself time to settle into the right mental state.

Stress management isn’t a luxury, it’s a professional requirement. An anxious interpreter makes more mistakes. Preparation breeds confidence, and confidence enables performance.

When Clients Don’t Provide Materials

This happens more often than you might expect. An event is booked, the date arrives, and I’ve received nothing beyond a brief agenda.

Here’s what changes:

More guesswork: I research the topic broadly, but I’m working blind. I don’t know which aspects you’ll emphasize or which terminology you prefer.

Higher risk: Unfamiliar terms may appear without warning. I might pause to ask for clarification, or I might render a term in a way you wouldn’t choose.

Limited depth: My understanding remains surface-level. I can interpret the words, but I may miss nuances that better preparation would have caught.

Extra research time: Without guidance from your materials, I spend more time on general industry research, time that could have been spent mastering your specific content.

I can still deliver professional interpretation without materials. But you’re getting my skill, not my full potential. The difference is tangible.

What This Means for You

Understanding interpreter preparation helps explain several things:

Why I ask for materials early: I’m not being difficult. I need time to transform your content into interpretable knowledge.

Why more context is always welcome: Even information that seems tangential might clarify something important.

Why terminology preferences matter: If you have preferred translations for key terms, telling me in advance prevents inconsistency during the event.

Why preparation improves with repeat clients: Each engagement builds on the last. My glossaries grow, my understanding of your business deepens, and the interpretation quality compounds over time.

The Preparation-Quality Connection

Professional interpretation isn’t just linguistic facility. It’s preparation meeting performance.

When you hear an interpreter deliver technical content smoothly, without hesitation, that fluency was built in the hours and days before the event. When terminology flows naturally and context is grasped immediately, that’s the dividend of thorough preparation.

The work you see is enabled by the work you don’t.

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Want to know how you can help with this process? Read the companion piece: How to Prepare Your Interpreter for Success.

Explore my simultaneous, consecutive, liaison, and whispered interpreting services, or contact me to discuss your next event.