TRI Webinar 3: Basic Protocols and Professional Etiquette in Remote Interpreting

Summary

The webinar, hosted by Interpretips, focused on the essential protocols and etiquette necessary for professional remote interpreting. With participants worldwide, the session guided attendees through vital practices such as positioning, professional introductions, and handling technical issues, specifically in remote settings like Over the Phone (OPI) and Video Remote Interpreting (VRI). The presenters, experienced interpreters themselves, emphasized continual learning and adapting skills to ensure smooth and effective communication while incorporating an understanding of technology's role in remote interpreting.

Highlights

• Warm welcome to the third TRI webinar, focusing on interpreting etiquette and protocols. 🌍
• Introduction to the importance of professional positioning in remote interpreting settings. 📸
• Discussion on the nuances of professional introductions in varying interpreting fields. 🎙️
• Insight into managing technical issues smoothly during remote interpreting. ⚙️
• Guidance on employing direct and indirect speech appropriately in sessions. 🔀
• Strategies for effective turn-taking and intervention in virtual environments. 🌐
• Emphasizing the importance of professional etiquette and presence in video calls. 📹
• Notable increase in participant engagement and the handling of various queries. 📈
• Understanding the significance of holding times and managing breaks effectively. 🕰️
• Concluding with Q&A, enriching insights, and info on the upcoming interpreter textbook. 📖

Key Takeaways

• Always check your positioning and equipment to ensure clear communication. 💻
• Professional introductions set the stage for effective interpreting sessions. 🗣️
• Be prepared to manage technical issues calmly during sessions. 🎧
• Use direct speech to enhance clarity, switch to indirect speech if necessary. 🔄
• Know the protocols for turn-taking and how to intervene when necessary. 🤝
• Uphold professional etiquette at all times; dress, tone, and conduct matter. 👔
• Understanding the technology and being ready for unexpected challenges is key. 🔧
• Engage with users in a way that respects their comfort and the flow of communication. 🤗
• Continual learning and adaptation are crucial for effective remote interpreting. 📚
• Proper hold time management prevents miscommunication and enhances professionalism. ⏲️

Overview

The TRI Webinar, third in the series, was a dynamic session dedicated to the fundamental protocols and professional etiquette pivotal in remote interpreting. The session saw participation from interpreters across 36 countries and 41 U.S. states, highlighting the growing importance and global nature of remote interpreting practices. Hosts guided attendees through the intricacies of positioning, professional introductions, and established protocols specifically for OPI (Over the Phone Interpreting) and VRI (Video Remote Interpreting).

The webinar provided valuable insights into managing technical challenges, handling varied interpreting modes, and employing both direct and indirect speech. It tackled the strategies for maintaining turn-taking, intervening effectively, and ensuring a professional demeanor through dress, camera presence, and tone in video calls. These elements are essential in fostering clear communication and professionalism in remote interpreting scenarios.

Throughout the session, presenters underscored the importance of continuous learning and adaptation, especially as remote interpreting continues to evolve with technology. With engaged participation, the webinar ended on a high note, answering numerous queries and pointing towards the release of 'The Remote Interpreter,' a textbook aimed at further refining interpreter skills and knowledge, marking a notable contribution to the field.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction and Overview The chapter titled 'Introduction and Overview' begins with a welcome message to a large group of attendees who are settling in for a webinar series. This particular session is the third in a series focused on being a remote interpreter. The organizers, Cross-Cultural Communications, express their excitement about hosting the webinar and plan to provide information about the field and profession of remote interpreting.
• 01:00 - 04:00: Importance of the Webinar The chapter discusses the growing importance of webinars as a tool for international communication and education. It highlights the recent success of a webinar series, noting participation from 36 countries and 41 US states, reflecting high engagement levels. The focus of this particular webinar is on interpreting etiquette and protocols, emphasizing the significance of understanding and adhering to proper conduct in diverse settings.
• 04:00 - 06:30: Introduction of Presenters The chapter introduces the presenters, who are hosting a webinar series on interpretation services, specifically over the phone interpreting (OPI) and video remote interpreting (VRI). It clarifies that while simultaneous interpreting (SI) will be mentioned, it won't be discussed in detail. The presenters represent Cross-Cultural Communications, the only U.S. national training agency for community and medical interpreting.
• 06:30 - 25:00: Key Points and Procedures This chapter introduces the key points and procedures for engaging with cross-cultural communications. Marjorie Bancroft, the director and founder of Cross-Cultural Communications (CCC), sets the stage for a session aimed at interpreting educational materials such as textbooks and training manuals. Before introducing the main presenters, Tatiana and Sarah, she addresses a couple of points on etiquette for the session.
• 25:00 - 35:00: Etiquette and Professionalism The chapter titled 'Etiquette and Professionalism' provides guidelines on using chat features in a professional setting. It highlights the default settings for chat, which direct comments to panelists, and instructs on how to change this setting to include everyone in the group. Additionally, it advises using chat for general comments or questions, particularly those related to TCCC, CCUs, and certificates, as well as for Q&A sessions.
• 35:00 - 40:00: Summary and Conclusion The chapter likely discusses the arrangement and logistics of a presentation or conference session. It mentions the location on the screen where participants can submit questions for the panelists, suggesting an interactive component to the session. There is an indication of a structured time schedule comprising 45 minutes dedicated to presentation followed by a Q&A segment. The speaker intends to moderate the Q&A by fielding and posing the questions to the panelists.
• 40:00 - 60:00: Question and Answer Session The chapter titled 'Question and Answer Session' focuses on providing information regarding certificates for attendees. The session emphasizes that the process for obtaining certificates has been somewhat automated. Attendees who wish to receive a certificate can expect an email approximately 24 hours after the webinar, which will contain a link for certificate download.
• 60:00 - 62:00: Farewell and Book Promotion The chapter discusses a change in procedure for handling certificate requests at CCA. Initially, requests were made via email, but due to the volume—hundreds of requests—the process has now been simplified. The chapter suggests that the updated procedure information will be regularly shared in the chat feature to assist newcomers. The chapter concludes by introducing Tanis's study and Sarah Stock.

TRI Webinar 3: Basic Protocols and Professional Etiquette in Remote Interpreting Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 well good morning everyone as as you all settle in we know is this going to be a very large group welcome to the remote interpreter webinar series we are really excited to be hosting as cross-cultural communications the third webinar in this series about how to be a remote interpreter and information about the whole field and profession of remote
• 00:30 - 01:00 interpreting this is even more exciting for us because in the last one we had attendees from 36 countries and 41 US states and the numbers are very very high so there's a lot of exciting participation this is the webinar that in the series that is devoted to interpreting etiquette and protocols and these are protocols and etiquette
• 01:00 - 01:30 related to over the phone interpreting OPI video remote interpreting RF DRI and although our si will be mentioned we are the presenters will not be discussing it in any detail cross-cultural communications for those of you who do not know we are the ones hosting this webinar series we are the only u.s. national training agency for community and medical interpreting were also the
• 01:30 - 02:00 only publisher in the country dedicated to interpreting textbooks training manuals and workbooks I am Marjorie Bancroft the your host for today and also the director and founder of CCC as we call cross-cultural communications I am absolutely thrilled to present our two presenters to you first just a couple of points of etiquette and then I will be introducing Tatiana and Sarah
• 02:00 - 02:30 with pleasure first of all you have chat feature as you know if there's a default that if you don't change you will be sending your chat comments to the panelists if you want to send your chat comments to everyone in the group then you would change that default setting please use chat for all your general comments or questions TCCC or questions about CCU's and certificates and for Q&A
• 02:30 - 03:00 which you will find at the bottom of your the middle of your screen as well very I mean it's very near the chat if you could please reserve that for questions to the panelist you will have about 45 minutes of presentation and during the question and answer period I will be coming back to actually ask the question on these as many questions as
• 03:00 - 03:30 we have time for two our two wonderful presenters if you have questions about certificates please understand that this time especially for those of you who have attended the previous two we have somewhat automated our our process you could look for an email in about 24 hours after the webinar if you want a certificate there will be a link to the certificate for download and this C use
• 03:30 - 04:00 for CCA chai and a TA will be mentioned on those certificates we were taking emailed requests before but the procedure has changed to simplify it because we're getting hundreds of requests so hopefully that information will be repeated periodically in the chat feature because people join us without any further ado I want to present to tanis's study and Sarah stock
• 04:00 - 04:30 lyrics both of Marty I have had the pleasure of getting to know them extremely well because they are two of our authors as they will be mentioning for the upcoming the remote interpreter textbook which we need now more than we ever imagined that we would be needing it and in addition they work for marty which is an extremely reputable language company very established in the state they will be introducing themselves these are veterans of the field despite
• 04:30 - 05:00 their youthful appearance they they come with extraordinary backgrounds as you as you will be hearing I am ever so excited to be having them as your presenters I will now cede my host position to let them have their precious time with you we look forward to your chat and questions we'll see you again shortly bye-bye all right thank you everyone for joining
• 05:00 - 05:30 today as Marjorie mentioned this webinar is part of a series so this is the third webinar in a four webinar series today we'll talk about basic protocols and professional etiquette in remote interpreting and VRI and OPI specifically and next week tune in for the final webinar in the series with guidelines for remote health care interpreters that one will be presented with Tati as well and our other author
• 05:30 - 06:00 Danielle meter from ulg all right so let's get right into it like we said we're talking about professional etiquette in video remote and over the phone interpreting today so Tati can give us a little bit of background on how all of this came together and why we're doing this webinar yes as both Marjorie and Sarah say well
• 06:00 - 06:30 first of all thank you for being here I haven't even said hi I'm sorry so I'm one of the team members in this wonderful group of authors of the remote interpreter so this is coming soon hopefully this year it will be this year and it's a collaboration of many companies got United and in an effort to
• 06:30 - 07:00 provide appropriate training for remote interpreters and tools such as this book so we have probably been announcing this book during this series of webinars and the author's which you see listed here are working hard on the book but consider it was important to provide you with some of the material that will be in the textbook in a women or form okay so a little bit about us my name is
• 07:00 - 07:30 Tatiana Safari I am a pharmacist and a pharmacologist with a national certification in healthcare interpreting I've had about 8 years of experience as an interpreter and my experience in interpreting has been mostly via video and phone in consecutive mode I've been a trainer educator and mentor to interpreters in health care profession in healthcare and healthcare professionals as well you know teaching
• 07:30 - 08:00 in several universities I previously served as the interpreter education and Compliance Manager at Marty that was for approximately five years and in my current role as director of language service Vica see I help pretty much bring best practices and language access to hospitals and remote interpreters across the United States very humbled and
• 08:00 - 08:30 honored to be part of this writing team and of course to be here with all of you today yes I would have to echo those sentiments so a little bit about myself as well my name again Sara Stockley Rex my background my BA is in Spanish and linguistics and I'm currently pursuing my master's in applied linguistics I hold my national certification in healthcare interpreting and I've been
• 08:30 - 09:00 interpreting for nearly nine years now as a Spanish interpreter starting out face to face then moving to video remote I currently serve as the manager of quality assurance at Marty and I've monitored mentored and trained interpreters since joining the QA team in 2016 alright so before we start talking about protocols and professional etiquette and remote interpreting due to time limitations we are assuming that you
• 09:00 - 09:30 have been fully trained in basic basic aspects of interpreting and that you have some experience in non remote interpreting or maybe you know you have had some experience in remote interpreting already and that's okay we just want to make sure all of you who are listening to us right now understand that we cannot cover everything during this time okay
• 09:30 - 10:00 all right so we have our first question and please follow Marjorie's instructions and tell us what you think is different and remote interpreting regarding protocols and etiquette so we want to see some of your answers tell us what you think is different in remote interpreting regarding protocols and etiquette all right we're gonna we see
• 10:00 - 10:30 some answers mm-hmm seeing some answers that there's no difference same as in person use of technology background noise see introduction requires a savvy use of technology missing nonverbal cues okay and there's so many people here the answers are flying in but it seems like some themes are technology and possibly
• 10:30 - 11:00 that there are no differences that they're very similar at least okay well we're gonna go over many of these and yes some of the the answers you have given us are correct okay but we're gonna go over some of these and discuss them during the webinar so regarding the modes of interpretation it is possible to do both consecutive and simultaneous and remote interpreting
• 11:00 - 11:30 however the modes you're able to use will depend on your technology so namely the platform you're using will determine this so this is important to know ahead of time so if you're used to working in face-to-face and being able to switch to simultaneous and now you're on a platform where you can only do consecutive you need to think through some scenarios and how you might have to handle them differently so here's an
• 11:30 - 12:00 example you know think about the fact that you can only use consecutive mode you can't switch to simultaneous your platform doesn't allow that what would you do if you're interpreting for a parent-teacher conference with a mother and father who are divorced or both present mother and father start arguing about how to address some of the teachers concerns with their child and they ignore your attempts to ask them to take turns speaking so let's see if we have any answers for these pause sign
• 12:00 - 12:30 okay now remember we can't switch to simultaneous this is on a platform we're assuming that we cannot switch to simultaneous can mute them okay well that's an interesting point so in this scenario mother and father are both in the same location so if you're muting them if you have that capability or
• 12:30 - 13:00 muting all participants set the ground rules at the outset yes I like that raise your hand as for pause you summary if they won't stop okay we have some good answers here so although we are saying you know they're ignoring your attempts to ask them to take turns it is important to take that as a first step to remind them to speak one at a time and remind them of the reason for that so remind them that you know as the
• 13:00 - 13:30 interpreter I need you to speak one at a time so I may interpret accurately right reminding them of that reason is helpful be firm and assertive while still professional you may need to interrupt them and just start interpreting and kind of manage the flow that way very last resort is someone mentioned in the chat summarize and we'll talk more on turn-taking later on in the presentation alright so interpreting like all
• 13:30 - 14:00 professions requires those who practice it to always be learning ways to enhance the skills needed as well as following certain protocols to meet goals efficiently and safely so this webinar as we said before will focus on protocols which are different from skills so let's define these two terms and apply them to a different field so a protocol as it says here is defined as an accepted or established way of doing
• 14:00 - 14:30 things so in soccer there are many protocols or rules that we need to follow so you see some of those in here it's just certain protocols that you know we have to know okay now regarding interpreting well we have guidelines to introduce ourselves we have protocols on how to position ourselves to request clarification to mediate and
• 14:30 - 15:00 many others right these are defined typically by professional organizations or the companies we work for okay where we work with so in this context a skill which is the other side of that refers to an ability or expertise so you may know all the rules in soccer but if you don't develop the ability to control where the ball is going or kick it the right way in the right direction you
• 15:00 - 15:30 will now be able to perform well so in interpreting for example we have to develop skills such as message transfer memory how to problem-solve assertiveness all that so also if you have great skills but you don't follow the protocols you may be out okay so that's you have to make sure you work on both and you learn both alright so we
• 15:30 - 16:00 will be briefly touching on these protocols that we are showing right now as they apply to remote interpreting so positioning professional introduction direct speech and indirect speech turn-taking intervening in whole time all right so let's start with positioning I think we all agree that positioning in face-to-face interactions may affect the
• 16:00 - 16:30 flow of the session well believe it or not our positioning of some components in a remote interpreting session is important as well so for users and interpreters who would be signing you know using any type of sign language they should be in front of the camera you know with nothing blocking the camera so as you see here for example in this little window you see the patient so you see not only the face but also
• 16:30 - 17:00 the signing space of that patient which is this whole area okay and here you see an interpreter and in this case we're capturing the signing space of the sign language interpreter the device must be in front of the end user in this case I mean and user the patient pointing at their signing space has said before and in an area in the room with the best internet connection
• 17:00 - 17:30 this is typically missed when we don't know about this these things it's important to be in an area in the room whether it's a hospital room or a school room or a court room that has the best internet connection and facing away from bright light or windows otherwise you'll only see silhouettes okay regarding the interpreter as I said before must be in front of the camera
• 17:30 - 18:00 and facing the camera you know center in the view field and including the whole signing space and always always close to the microphone and speakers okay now for sessions that involve spoken language interpreters in video remote interpreting it's very useful if users are in camera view it's not as strict as with you know users
• 18:00 - 18:30 that sign but it's very important to have the users in camera view or very close to the interpreting device again in an area where they have the best internet connection and away from bright light and windows the interpreter must be in front of the camera facing the camera and centered in view field as well okay for over-the-phone interpreting the most important part is
• 18:30 - 19:00 to be close to the microphone and the speakers but not too close that you would cause some feedback or noise feedback or that others can hear your breathing so I'm gonna I'm gonna show you how that could happen if I this is my microphone if I get my microphone closer to my mouth or my or my nose you may hear my breathing okay so we want to avoid that that's why
• 19:00 - 19:30 we want to have you know a good microphone and speakers or a headset that has both but we don't want the microphone too close breathing and you may be causing some noise feedback so you know I was thinking about all this and you may be wondering why we're telling you all this you know how to position the device or how to position
• 19:30 - 20:00 the users when you may not be the one making those adjustments in this case typically the user that's making those adjustments well you as the professional facilitating communication may have to request that some adjustments are made before the interpretation starts and that's why we're talking to you about these things so based on what I mentioned in the previous slides you can request users to position themselves and
• 20:00 - 20:30 the units appropriately okay so know that you know these are some of the requests you can make you know not only positioning the users close to the device maybe they have to position themselves close to a speakerphone if they are using one again finding the best area of internet connection camera
• 20:30 - 21:00 facing all the users and if it's a user who signs specifically in front of that and user in this case and user I mean when I say an user I mean a patient a mother a student your neighbor okay and what other thing that you could request if you're in video is that they show you some of the tools that they are using to explain individuals in the session for example you know if they're
• 21:00 - 21:30 doing physical therapy exercises to show how to do it that will help you with the interpretation or if they're using any illustrations to explain a point you can also request that you they're able to show you those illustrations now it is very important to understand and to note that sometimes it's not possible to accommodate our requests okay and an example of that is during emergencies if
• 21:30 - 22:00 you have many you know if they just start the call starts and they tell you this is an emergency we have patience so as though we need you to interpret you go right ahead and start interpreting okay there are other cases as well where we don't we don't really ask for many other positioning requests but that it's definitely one of the most important ones all right so another protocol and
• 22:00 - 22:30 professional is professional introductions so this is something that varies per specialty in remote interpreting and based on our sources and of course there might be some exceptions professional introductions are commonly used in educational interpreting so that's what I have up here may or may not be used in business
• 22:30 - 23:00 interpreting it depends on the business the type of business okay it may not happen in legal interpreting but what I mean is that there's not an official protocol for a professional introduction as we have developed one for community interpreting but there are definite protocols for how to interpret how the interpreter should speak including any introduction which is to
• 23:00 - 23:30 address the judge and the official first you know there are certain variations to to these it doesn't really or it doesn't typically happen in cumference interpreting I have here may or may not apply but oftentimes the speakers in a conference may acknowledge the interpreters and then us interpret interpreter end up interpreting your own introduction okay
• 23:30 - 24:00 and regarding healthcare interpreting professional introduction has become very important basically this is the only chance do you have to to gather information so you know use that time to to make sure you you know a little bit if possible of course that's if this is not an emergency that will give you a little bit of time to know what's coming next or you know what kind of vocabulary
• 24:00 - 24:30 you have to organize in your and your mind already okay now don't push it as I said before if there's a real emergency very very important during the introduction and also during the remaining of the session never assume that you see all the people in the room okay I have had many surprises as a reader Road interpreter interpreter thinking that I'm I have let's say a
• 24:30 - 25:00 patient and a doctor or a mom and a teacher in front of me and all of a sudden there's a third or a fourth or a fifth voice behind the camera and I had no idea they were there okay so be careful with that and very important extremely important in health care never read patients information to the same provider you had earlier because they may be with a different patient for
• 25:00 - 25:30 example don't say things like is this patient Julie's shoe or nurse are you still with patient tulaja medical record number blah blah blah blah blah please please don't repeat any information to the providers and because you might be breaking some loss you may get in trouble okay now professional introductions may vary
• 25:30 - 26:00 okay here we have an example of a professional introduction with briefing what we call briefing and it's very similar to the one our colleague Caroline showed us last week it has the name of the interpreter the interpreting number and the language pair of this interpreter but we added certain other components that we can you know vary
• 26:00 - 26:30 depending on the situation some of the things we added here is you know I'll be interpreting everything that is said please speak to each other and not to me not to the interpreter speaking of loud and clear tone pausing often everything will remain confidential this is very important for some of the parties not necessarily all and before if you have a chance when you introduce yourself to
• 26:30 - 27:00 the person who placed a call if there's enough time and so before you can say things like is there anything I should know before we begin at that point they can tell you oh this is just a parent-teacher conference or we're only gonna be addressing a B C and D or mommy's in labor and delivery we need to start now she's about to start pushing you know so that you kind of get a picture a sense of what's coming okay if
• 27:00 - 27:30 time permits if you have even more time because you can say this in few seconds you can also ask who all is participating in the session today and what are their roles ok many times you see three or four individuals in front of the camera you may want to know why they're there and if they're you know multiple participants present ask them
• 27:30 - 28:00 to remember to speak one at a time allowing time for interpretation if this is a form of consecutive interpreting and if you're aware that this session involves some users who speak the same language for example an english-speaking student english-speaking teacher and an Arabic speaking parent give them specific guidelines during the introduction remind them to pause frequently in order
• 28:00 - 28:30 to keep everyone in the loop to avoid the risk of having those who speak the same language like when I applies the conversation ok so it's always important to tell them pause not only for me to interpret to this other person for this other person but also so that that other person can you know give an opinion or ask questions this one okay yes thank you for that and I would add
• 28:30 - 29:00 Tati and OPI the surprises happen too you may hear two voices the whole time but come to find out they're on speakerphone another person chimes in so it's really important if you have that time to clarify that upfront absolutely mm-hmm all right so moving on to our next protocol direct speech or indirect speech as you all know interpreters
• 29:00 - 29:30 should use direct speech or first-person to interpret the messages into the target language interpreters use indirect speech in certain situations indirect speech or third person when intervening for example which we'll discuss more later but in addition to intervening interpreters may have other situations where they need to switch to indirect speech to facilitate understanding so this need maybe slightly more frequent and remote interpreting due to some
• 29:30 - 30:00 users who may be confused by the modality or not used to the modality especially in video so another example of this we see is for I'm sorry when we see this it could be children it could be elderly individuals it could depend on their mental status so knowing upfront that you have that ability to switch to indirect speech if needed if you sense that confusion and
• 30:00 - 30:30 this may happen like I said slightly more frequently in remote another example of switching to indirect speech that may be needed is when interpreting for multiple parties in a session so face-to-face interpreters may use a gesture to indicate who said what but a remote interpreter is usually better off switching to third-person just due to the limitations of not being physically present so you may need to do some
• 30:30 - 31:00 reported speech and managing challenges for turn-taking we had some of this mentioned in the chat earlier I believe so depending on your interpreting background you may have heard of managing turn-taking or managing the flow no matter what it's called the goal is the same to be able to address parties speaking too fast speaking over one another or not giving
• 31:00 - 31:30 you adequate time to interpret as remote interpreters we have to be prepared for emotional situations that make managing turns even more challenging so this could be someone who's crying and extremely upset shouting and anger speakers interrupting each other the list goes on so if you're a video interpreter you may still employ a gesture to request you know a pause or a timeout but you may find this could be less effective than other strategies
• 31:30 - 32:00 depending on how much visual attention you are being given as the interpreter so sign language remote interpreters rely on service users to tap on signers shoulder to get their attention or for the service user to get into the signers field of vision and redirect them by waving or pointing to the remote interpreter screen some alternative strategies to manage turn-taking and flow more frequent note-taking jumping
• 32:00 - 32:30 in at a natural pause or when the speaker takes a breath and just setting the tone using a calm steady rhythm and your own interpretation can really help as well okay so this is one that's similar to face-to-face intervening a lot of people were saying earlier they think you know it's about the same as face-to-face so we just want to point out a few added scenarios that may require intervention
• 32:30 - 33:00 so if you're intervening this means you're speaking in your own voice to address a communication concern this protocol is very similar to face-to-face interpretations but one scenario we want to point out as others mentioned earlier is technical issues they do happen when you're working remotely whether via video or via phone so just remember we can't interpret what we don't hear or if you're a sign language interpreter you can't interpret what you don't see you
• 33:00 - 33:30 know if the video is pixelating or something like that so never guess at what is being said just remember to ask for that repetition go ahead and intervene another challenge you may face when interpreting remotely is more diversity than you're used to in your working languages so since your interpretations are now likely reaching beyond your immediate community you'll likely start hearing new words new accents so take the time to clarify
• 33:30 - 34:00 these terms but also note them down so you remember them for next time alright next protocol we want to review is hold time so those just starting and remote interpreting this will be a little new for you but as interpreters all of us encounters sometimes when there is downtime between communication and in remote interpreting these down times include times that we may be asked
• 34:00 - 34:30 to hold we may be asked to stay on the line so if you're left alone with just one user make sure you pause your video mute your audio to avoid the possibility of side conversations another approach some interpreters take is to ask that the interpreting device actually be taken out of the room while you're waiting and the time you're able to wait will be defined by the company or organization you work for but be
• 34:30 - 35:00 proactive about communicating hold times with both parties so they know what to expect this is a really common complaint that we hear that the interpreter hung up when really they just reached the maximum hold time and they had to disconnect it just wasn't clearly communicated upfront so remember to communicate this in a positive way you know there's a difference between saying I can only wait five minutes and the interpreter can hold up to five minutes we just kindly ask that you call back
• 35:00 - 35:30 just set that expectation upfront but it's also worth mentioning it is extremely important to always use your best professional judgment with sensitive situations so sometimes you may need to wait longer than is typical if getting a new interpreter would be more detrimental to this session
• 35:30 - 36:00 all right so now we're shifting from protocols to etiquette professionalism matters because you are representing the profession so you will represent all interpreters to your users and you'll also be representative of the modality your culture the user's culture in every encounter and this is a huge responsibility but we can ensure that we represent all of these stakeholders well by following our standards our
• 36:00 - 36:30 guidelines and professional etiquette which is what we'll focus on for the remainder of this presentation so according to University of Colorado's career center professional etiquette is an unwritten code of conduct regarding the interactions among the members and a business setting when proper professional etiquette is used all involved can feel more comfortable and things tend to flow more smoothly so we'll briefly touch on these elements today dress etiquette body
• 36:30 - 37:00 language camera presence and proper backgrounds for video interpreters call readiness and tone of voice so let's look at some examples of what not to do so interpreters need to answer calls only when they're fully ready with their headset on note-taking supplies ready if you need them not chewing food or finishing a sip of water also be mindful of your body language in this second
• 37:00 - 37:30 image we can see the interpreters becoming irritated and rolling her eyes at the collar and you'll notice for body language I didn't indicate that this is specifically for video because actually even if you're just interpreting over the phone and no one can see you this body language can come out through your tone of voice and in this last example we see the interpreter has become so engrossed in her notes that the users can only see a head of hair so while looking down at your notes and face to
• 37:30 - 38:00 face is acceptable in video interpreting it comes across as being disengaged or distracted so you can still look down at your notes for VRI you can still take notes just be sure to look up camera frequently to show engagement okay a few more examples of improper camera presence so the interpreter is leaning back with a water bottle texting
• 38:00 - 38:30 distracted on his phone the bottom pictures have items that should not be in the view such as the hallway a window and his bag and he's also not centered in view or looking directly at the callers but it's worth pointing out for these past two examples don't want to throw these interpreters under the bus too much that they are dressed professionally so they're both using solid colors they just need to work on a few things and that brings us to our
• 38:30 - 39:00 prepared interpreters well before you get there Sarah I wanted to also mention that due to the current situation the pandemic you know certain you know we know that many interpreters have had to let's say face-to-face interprets have started to work remotely many interpreters who work from language
• 39:00 - 39:30 centers or call centers are not working from home and that also you know I think we all understand that it's maybe we don't have the best situation when working from home or the best background or the best you know camera presence but there are many things we can do to make that a little better or appropriate yes
• 39:30 - 40:00 agree all right so here we have all the elements of professional etiquettes as you can see these interpreters demonstrate professional camera presence dresses professional with solid colors nothing too flashy or distracting the body language is good they're sitting up straight looking into the camera smiling and welcoming neutral background or backdrop with no clutter windows or
• 40:00 - 40:30 anything showing in the view that shouldn't be and the ASL interpreters camera view shows her entire signing space so although we can't hear these interpreters we can imagine that they both use a courteous tone of voice when speaking as the interpreter and they are both ready to begin all right so as a conclusion before we get into Q&A we want to do a brief poll with all of you so in which area covered
• 40:30 - 41:00 today did you learn the most and you can select more than one option as they apply give you a little time to take that poll you see let's there we go you you
• 41:00 - 41:30 you while they're all staying relatively even this is interesting looks like just creeping over half of
• 41:30 - 42:00 the participants have taken good people a few more moments and again remind you to take the poll in the actual poll pop up rather than writing your answers in the chat because most of them are just getting kind of lost there you you
• 42:00 - 42:30 currently looks like cold time is in the lead a lot of votes for positioning intervening body language to avoid camera presents background
• 42:30 - 43:00 you you you you excellent I know the votes are still rolling in for me it's it makes sense that that hold time has gotten the most
• 43:00 - 43:30 votes it seems since that is one thing that is pretty different in remote versus being face to face like I said we have those down times when we're interpreting no matter what but this is kind of a different ballpark being asked to hang on the line and knowing that balance having to learn you know when to disconnect I think we can and the poll now
• 43:30 - 44:00 anything else you want to comment on the poll answers Sara so it looks like we ended up with hold time being first followed by direct versus indirect speech closely followed by positioning which was closely followed by intervening body language to avoid then camera presence and background so pretty
• 44:00 - 44:30 much all of them very close looks like people learned multiple things in different areas so that's good that's what we wants very exciting yeah that's helpful excellent thank you everyone we can't end the poll now oh it looks like I may have the option to show the poll results I'm being asked let's see if I click ok there we go share results yeah
• 44:30 - 45:00 so now everyone can see the results sorry about that yep hold time isn't the lead dress etiquette was a little lower call readiness was a little lower so that's good that means that people are already know how to dress professionally and already know how to be ready to answer calls that's good all right excellent and if not we'll have a lot more
• 45:00 - 45:30 information about that in the book for sure I'll go ahead and stop sharing those results and we can open it up to our question and answer time meant to reset some things no she's been gathering your questions throughout so maybe if nothing else we
• 45:30 - 46:00 can have her share those with us via chat you know yes yes perfect I apologize to you the presenters and all of you for that delay I was actually trying to say that I can assure you you have more questions and you can possibly answer so without further ado I have to
• 46:00 - 46:30 say this is going to surprise you perhaps but the biggest question that came up again and again and again again is not protocols and etiquette so we'll just ask it briefly and it has to do with do you recommend a particular headset and what is Sara's headset because apparently heard the sound is very favorable for her and then we'll get on to the protocols and etiquette questions my headset brand is a Jabra that's J ABR a and I think Tati is using the same one do you actually recommend
• 46:30 - 47:00 that I do I like this one a lot mm-hmm I've used a couple different ones I don't have too much experience with you know more than probably two or three brands of headsets I've used for interpreting but I do like this one excellent all right well let's let's get on with the protocol questions and this is sort of technical but it is protocol to get started how do you check microphone positioning so is asking I
• 47:00 - 47:30 can take that one so I think Caroline talked a little bit about that in her webinar last week it kind of depends on the platform you're using so certain platforms have self check features to check your audio check your video before logging in before actually accepting the calls and if they don't have those features built-in then many times your
• 47:30 - 48:00 computer settings will so you can go to your computer settings to check your microphone test that sound is actually being picked up that you have the headset microphone turned but if there's a microphone built into the computer that that is turned off for example that's pretty important because if it's turned on it will pick up on quite a bit of background noise and to piggyback on that I would say that if you want to test if people could hear
• 48:00 - 48:30 your breathing try just breathing without talking and see if the bar or the you know the test sound sound test bar whatever however that's called depending on your computer if it's moving that means that they can hear your breathing so you know that way you can figure out how to adjust it very interesting thank you
• 48:30 - 49:00 here's a question about backdrop is ocean blue backdrop a must-have or optional for VRI video remote interpreting I know that blue is recommended and best practice for ASL interpreters on a video and it's pretty common to see it does look very professional it will depend on your language company what specifically is required thank you a couple of people
• 49:00 - 49:30 were asking what you meant when you refer to recorded speech sorry about that that was reported speech so if you're switching to third person or indirect speech when there are multiple participants in the conversation as a remote interpreter you may have to switch to third speech and report what was said so interpret the question he answered da-da-da-da-da this is
• 49:30 - 50:00 especially important in those situations that Totti mentioned when the Thera multiple users may be using the same language they take a full conversation turn and then you have to interpret that to the other party does that make sense I hope I answered the question I think I think you answered it perfectly thing okay so what language do you prefer to use to intervene is another question well I
• 50:00 - 50:30 can't answer that well actually in theory you should be using both not at the same time of course you can't do that even if your sign language interpreters it's hard to keep up with both at the same time but if someone is chocolate so my two languages are English and Spanish if I hear something in Spanish and I need to request clarification from the
• 50:30 - 51:00 person speaking Spanish my tendency is so if I hear Spanish my next action will be to interpret in English but if I have a question for this person I still need to address the person who speaks English so I would if I hear something in Spanish I go in English and say this the interpreter speaking I need to clarify something with let's say a patient or mom or and then I go back and I say in
• 51:00 - 51:30 Spanish the same thing I'll interpret their you know this the interpreter speaking what do you mean with bla bla bla and as soon as this person the spanish-speaking person is telling me the answer to that I can start interpreting again so it honestly when it comes to transparency it's important to let both parties know that you're
• 51:30 - 52:00 intervening at that moment or requesting clarification however you want to call it this is a question related to Sarah's whole time section why would an interpreter request for interpreting equipment to be removed from the room that's a good question so even when you mute yourself let's say you're an OPI
• 52:00 - 52:30 interpreter you turn the sound off your VRI interpreter you mute your audio and you pause your video when you're the room as the devices in the room with the patient there's still that opportunity to overhear things possibly depending on the platform and the technology or for them to try to engage you in side conversations so having one of the users remove the device from the room until they're ready to resume the
• 52:30 - 53:00 interpretation just eliminates that possibility it's kind of the closest we can get and remote to walking out of the room as if we were an on-site interpreter yeah that's always exactly what I was thinking when you're talking about that thanks Sarah to either of you what challenges to interpreters encounter when interpreting for children I think the protocols might change and they specify for children who might not understand the interpreting process I know that when they're younger than eight especially that could be a
• 53:00 - 53:30 challenge so yes what protocols and etiquette might change I can I can share an example direct versus indirect speech is one that you know can be different typically I and this happened to me actually I was interpreting for a physical therapy session and the child was about three or
• 53:30 - 54:00 four years old and the physical therapist said throw me the ball well the child started throwing the ball at the morning yearning so at that moment I understood that I was not getting far with him so I had to switch to third person and say throw the ball to them you know at that moment it was
• 54:00 - 54:30 therapists so throw the ball at the therapist and you know how to accommodate for that it's it's it's very interesting it is a little different you have to check those things make sure that well you may not know for sure that the kid understands your role but if it possible if it possible you should explain it you know in the beginning of the of the session what you're gonna be doing there in simple terms something like I'm gonna
• 54:30 - 55:00 be helping you when you say words in your language I will be saying the same words in this other language so that you took in committee yes things like that so that they understand but it's it's very interesting but many kids are now used to remote you know technology so sometimes it's actually very easy to work with them so it depends that is fascinating thanks Sara
• 55:00 - 55:30 this is a very timely question someone says I read about some healthcare interpreters having to interpret for end-users who are wearing masks which I could well imagine would deteriorate the audio quality so are there have you had seen instances when the interpreter actually had to say something to address that or is the sound quality good enough that usually it's not a problem I'd say this is something we're pretty used to already you know if it's a pre-op call
• 55:30 - 56:00 or different kinds of calls we're somewhat used to provide health care providers wearing the masks so I personally haven't seen any instances where that's really impeded anything too much you might have to ask them to speak up a little bit or move closer to the unit but other than that things tend to go pretty smoothly I don't know if Tati has a different experience no very similar you know here there some devices have had to be adjusted like the
• 56:00 - 56:30 depending on the the device the technology in some hospitals or in some schools they have added additional speakers or you know something that helped them or they move to a quiet room because they know they are wearing a mask and it's hard to to hear them so it varies but now nothing I think well in healthcare this is very common
• 56:30 - 57:00 I can understand you know it's not as common in other specialties or environments thank you that was a very timely question and some helpful answers this is an interesting question so should we ask is there anybody else in the room you definitely can so if there is time for that and you know it's not an emergency you don't have to just get
• 57:00 - 57:30 started with things you know have a script ready ok the interpreter is ready to begin may I ask before we get started are there any other parties present in the room they say oh yes actually the dad is right over here he steps in ok you know just to have in mind who's all in the room mm-hmm do you have a script for how to remind participants to pause for the
• 57:30 - 58:00 interpreter when doing consecutive yes I think I don't want kids we do I like to not only remind them to pause often or frequently but to tell them why otherwise they won't stop doing it or they won't necessarily understand what you're asking you know over and over again to pause
• 58:00 - 58:30 often so I like to say something like please pause often so that I can interpret everything completely and accurately or you know I've heard many versions maybe please pause that I can convey the message completely or please pause so that I can you know there are many variations of that but mainly telling them why you need them to pause
• 58:30 - 59:00 otherwise you know a lot of the information can get lost and I would say as a remote interpreter if you're noticing that that's a trend with your users maybe giving a little extra emphasis in your briefing in the introduction you know so really emphasizing that part please remember to pause so that I may interpret your message accurately pause often speak
• 59:00 - 59:30 slowly you know whatever points that you realize may be a struggle and your interpretations you can emphasize those in the briefing super practical advice this will be our last question if you are asked to do an interpretation with Apple Time is it appropriate to ask who the participants are their roles and the topic we would have hoped they would have that information but obviously not always yeah I would advise keep it as
• 59:30 - 60:00 succinct as you can something that I have noticed with remote you know we don't see everything that happens before so we know that the users may be rushing to do things get from one patient to the next or from one conference to the next or whatever the case may be so they may sometimes be a little rushed so try to keep your request like that succinct and brief and just be able to move things
• 60:00 - 60:30 along efficiently while still gathering the information that you need well I am afraid I'm sad to tell you that and to tell everyone that we have no more time for questions this has been an extraordinarily rich and as I said substantive discussion we are as we know from chat as we know from the plenitude
• 60:30 - 61:00 of questions that we couldn't answer it's it's been a very very appreciated one as well - Jana and Sarah have kindly agreed to share the the the PDF of the PowerPoint presentation so you will within 24 hours get a link to the recording and to the PowerPoint if you've attended this webinar and in the meantime when we sadly bid farewell to Tatiana
• 61:00 - 61:30 and Sara I will remain in case there are administrative questions or questions about cross-cultural communications but first with huge things all I thinks and warmest thanks to Tatiana and Sara for the wonderful presentation thanks so much it's been an honor for us thank you for having us and we hope you like the book later this year we will be publishing
• 61:30 - 62:00 this amazing text book the remote interpreter so we can't wait to see it published thanks again have a wonderful day Tatiana and Sara thank you everyone thank you goodbye