For this event in Philadelphia, connecting with listeners in their native language proved critical.
The neighborhood was predominantly Spanish speaking and the organizers knew that the limited-English speaking audience members would listen humbly and respectfully to any English, but a true connection might be lacking.
Their options were as follows:
- Present in English only and risk failing to connect with a significant portion of the audience.
- This is NOT ok. If this is your status quo, you’re missing out big time. You wouldn’t buy a novel in a language you don’t understand. Why would your audience members ((ENTER DESIRED OUTCOME HERE)) if they don’t understand you?
- Speak in English then repeat everything in Spanish
- This effectively doubles the length of the event and subjects everyone to hear at least 1 language they don’t understand (except for bilinguals, of course, but they too suffer as a result of the redundancy)
- Hire a group of interpreters and assign them to the limited-English listeners, or groups thereof, to “whisper interpret” the presentation.
- This option disturbs adjacent audience members and is very difficult on the interpreters, causing quality to suffer. The cost is higher and you risk both having too many or not enough interpreters.
“There has to be a better way” -You
Yes, there is. Simply get in touch with GoInterpret and let us help you increase the effectiveness of your event, meeting or outreach effort! We provide quotes and consultations free of charge. Also feel free to flag an RFP for us if you think we might want to propose.
For this specific event we mobilized a single Spanish/English interpreter. He brought all necessary equipment and seamlessly integrated with event’s audio production (microphones, mixers, PA speakers, etc.) The above image shows how the setup looked before the event began.
Here’s a picture of the event underway:
The equipment we used cannot all be seen above but here’s a summary. Using a sound isolation booth, neither the audience nor the presenters are disturbed by the work of the interpreter. The interpreter listened to the presentation in English using a noise-cancelling headset and simultaneously interpreted from English into Spanish into a microphone. The Spanish rendition was then broadcast in real time using a dedicated radio frequency to audience members who were given radio receivers and headphones as they entered the room. They listened in Spanish at the exact same time the event was happening in English. When there was a joke, they were able to laugh genuinely with everyone else. They were included like never before. You will be awestruck by the difference it makes and the appreciation you will be shown.
The end result? More post-event engagement than ever before. The event ran seamlessly, on schedule and English listeners were not disturbed in the slightest.
Here’s a snapshot from inside the booth.
