Appendix

The professional examination: tips for candidates

(Based on a draft originally prepared by interpreter trainers and examiners at the EU Commission’s
Directorate-General for Interpretation as revised, adapted and used by the authors.1)
The days just before the exam
On the last couple of days before the exam, don’t wear yourself out with excessive practice. Do a
little, but take it easy. You’ve been learning, practising and honing your technique intensively for
two years. Eat well, sleep well, do some yoga, listen to some music, go for a walk…. Going into
the exam, the most important thing is to be well rested, alert, and in peak condition to perform.
Visualization / Mental rehearsal
Picture yourself interpreting confidently, professionally, successfully. Show yourself a vivid men-
tal movie of yourself performing exactly how you want to perform. Imagery is an effective way
to build self-confidence, manage stress, and ‘psych up’ for optimum performance.
On the day of the exam
On the day of the exam, you can warm up by doing a little practice interpreting. Doing one
or perhaps two 5-minute speeches should be enough to get into the peak performance zone,
where you are sufficiently warmed up but not yet tired. Don’t overdo it! Getting up at 5 am and
practising non-stop until your test slot will wear you out.
What to bring into the exam room
Copyright © 2016. John Benjamins Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Bring a fresh notepad and not one but TWO of your favourite writing weapons. If you are a pencil
person, bring several, because pencils have been known to break under duress. Bring a bottle of
water. Dress smartly (it will make you feel more confident and professional) AND comfortably.
Make sure your mobile phone is turned off.
Consecutive
Try to note down the beginning and the end as completely as possible. Getting the beginning
down pat will ensure you get off to a strong start – you can follow the thread from there. Noting
the end down clearly and completely is important as it often contains some important message

1. The exam tips presented here are based on source material from the Interpreter Training
Resources website: http://interpreters.free.fr/misc/examtips.htm (Accessed December 11,
2015).
That original set of exam tips was credited to a number of colleagues, including several who
regularly sit on the juries of these exams and in particular Guy Laycock and Anna Grzybowska
from the European Commission and Parliament respectively. We have adapted and expanded
that base text into the longer collection of tips in the book, but wish to acknowledge that original
set of tips as key source material.

Setton, R., & Dawrant, A. (2016). Conference interpreting : A complete course. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
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 432 Conference Interpreting  A Complete Course

that the whole speech has been working towards. So pay special attention to the ending/conclu-
sion: you may even want to note it in longhand.
If you want to ask a question before you start interpreting, make sure it is clear and specific
(e.g. “Could you please repeat the name of the Mayor of X?”, NOT “What was that bit about the
factory, I didn’t catch that?”). Then, listen carefully and make sure you understand the answer –
don’t ignore it or forget it!
Get off to a crisp start. Look at the first box in your notes, take a deep breath, look up at your
audience, smile, and get to it. (Don’t wait to be asked to start your consec, and don’t keep your
audience waiting while you pore over your notes.)
Put on a good show:
▶ Look at the examiners; eye contact is crucial.
▶ Keep it tidy; be concise and avoid any unnecessary rephrasing/repetition.
▶ Keep an even pace and interpret with momentum. As a rule of thumb, you should take less
time than the original.
▶ Deliver the messages clearly and confidently.
▶ Be businesslike and professional. Think of a swan on a lake: above the water it looks majestic,
in total control; underneath the feet are paddling away furiously.
When you’ve done your bit, get up and leave with a polite smile.
Simultaneous
Make sure you have several pens or pencils and some paper in the booth. Open your bottle of
water before you start. Only turn the mike on for the actual interpreting, not for the introduc-
tory briefing if the speaker gives one.
Sound clear, natural and interested. Don’t umm and err. Speak clearly and finish all your sen-
tences. Your smile should be audible to the jury, not your struggling with the speech. You are
like an actor who has been given his lines at the last minute but still has to put on a good show.
Look up at the jury and the speaker. You are engaged in a communicative activity and eye contact
Copyright © 2016. John Benjamins Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

will help you and your listeners.

Working into your A language, watch the purity of your mother tongue. Phrase things the way
a native user would, speaking freely. Read some good mother tongue prose while you are wait-
ing – it will get you into the right language frame.
Working into your B language, don’t try to be fancy for fancy’s sake. Basic, reliable words and
sentences are better than complicated, convoluted ones that may (a) distract you from listening
and (b) lead you to make dumb mistakes.
Again, be businesslike and professional. You might say things that are less than ideal, and you
may miss out the occasional detail. Don’t dwell on it! Move on and keep going.
Use the cough button if you need to clear your throat, and switch off the microphone at the end.
Simultaneous with Text
As simultaneous above, plus:
When preparing the text, use your time wisely. Your first priority is to read for content, to un-
derstand what the text is about. Don’t do a sight translation and don’t think about how you are
going to translate every little thing, or you’ll get bogged down.

Setton, R., & Dawrant, A. (2016). Conference interpreting : A complete course. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Created from uab on 2022-12-23 20:54:00.
 A Complete Course Appendix 433

Instead, understand the messages, the logic and the structure. If you’ve understood the mes-
sages, your training and your instincts will help you find nice ways to say things when you are
in the booth. If you have grasped the logic and the structure, you will be able to jump ahead and
quickly find your place in the text if the speaker skips something.
Mark up the text in ways that will help you process it in the booth – but don’t spend too much
time on this, because reading for content is more important. While you read, you can insert some
slashes to indicate where to chop long sentences, circle/highlight key information, pre-convert
large numbers, and write in the occasional TL version for things that may be tricky.
In the booth, remember that listening is the key. Give priority to listening over reading. The text
is there to help you, not to distract you, so don’t focus on the written page and stop listening to
the speaker. Listening will help you get the messages out faster, so you won’t fall behind, and
will ensure that you can react to additions and omissions.
General
1. What the examiners are looking for is a reliable interpretation that is clear and communica-
tive. You need to deliver the messages accurately and completely, of course, but it is equally
important to be expressive, confident and professional.
2. Exam nerves are normal, but you can channel that nervous energy in positive directions,
helping you to be keen, alert and focused, rather than allowing it to interfere with your
performance.
3. Think of the exam as an opportunity for you to show the jury how well you can interpret.
The examiners want you to do well.
4. Don’t worry when the examiners start writing. They have to make notes in order to evaluate
you, and it is quite likely they are writing down something like ‘good fluency and momen-
tum’, ‘nice solution’, etc.
5. You do not have to be 100% perfect to pass a Professional Examination. If you missed a
detail or didn’t come up with the best possible way to say something, don’t let it get to you.
Maintaining your momentum and your poise is of the utmost importance.
6. Put yourself in professional interpreting mode, not exam mode. Pretend that you are inter-
Copyright © 2016. John Benjamins Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

preting at a real conference, and the jury members are your customers who do not under-
stand the original and are relying on you to give them a clear and reliable interpretation.

Setton, R., & Dawrant, A. (2016). Conference interpreting : A complete course. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Created from uab on 2022-12-23 20:54:00.
Copyright © 2016. John Benjamins Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Setton, R., & Dawrant, A. (2016). Conference interpreting : A complete course. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Created from uab on 2022-12-23 20:54:00.