What if I tell you that inexperience, difficult accents and machine-gun fast speakers are not your worst enemies in the booth? While they’re undoubtedly scary, there’s something else that can bring down even the most knowledgeable interpreters: stress. When stress hormones come into play, our attention span and memory are immediately impacted. Stress intoxicates and shrinks your brain. In other words, stress makes you pretty damn stupid. Therefore, if you want to be a great interpreter, you’ve got to keep your calm. Otherwise, all the money and time you’ve spent in training courses might have been a complete waste.
Meditation
Meditation has been scientifically proven to increase levels of dopamine and serotonin (the I-feel-awesome hormones) and decrease cortisol (the I-feel-like-shit hormone) in your brain. Meditating regularly not only induces relaxation, but also makes you super-focused and gives you a badass brain. The technique you choose is secondary as long as you cultivate silence and observe your thoughts without getting too attached to them.
Sleeping Well and Arriving Early
Simultaneous interpretation is inherently stressful due to its fast pace and need for instantaneous, high-quality response. So, why add insult to injury? Taking sleep for granted and leaving late for assignments will make your stress level soar. Arriving early for assignments will only benefit you. You’ll have more than enough time to settle in, discuss terminology, meet the speakers, test the audio and grab some water, among other things. Lately, one hour before start time has been my magic number.
Breathing
It sounds pretty obvious, right? After all, if you stop breathing you’ll quickly check out of Planet Blue. However, most people don’t breathe properly and don’t even realize it. And because the results of breathing properly are effective immediately, you can use it right before you start interpreting. Breathing deeply calms down the nerves. Just a couple of minutes are enough to unclench your sphincter.
The Art of Letting Go
Fact for interpreters: you WILL eventually miss a word or two. Whether because you truly don’t know it or because the speaker’s accent is indecipherable. Whatever the case may be, I guarantee it’ll happen sooner or later. Looking at the bright side, it’s a perfect moment to practice the art of letting go. If you’re too attached to your loss, you’ll end up losing more and more information from then on. As Queen Elsa wisely sang at the top of her lungs: “Let it go, let it goooooo..”.
Presence and Awareness
From Eckhart Tolle to Deepak Chopra, all of the great spiritual leaders expound on the importance of being present and aware. Why should awareness be less important in the booth, then? When we are interpreting, there’s a myriad of distractions that inadvertently come our way: people walking or standing in front of the booth, attendees who enter the booth talking loudly, the German booth’s interpreter banging on the side window for whatever reason…you name it! In order to maintain presence and awareness in such a hectic working environment, it’s key not to add distractions to the ones that are unavoidable. Think about what’s really necessary while interpreting. Do you need fifty-seven open tabs for terminological support? Do you absolutely need to LOL at that Whatsapp joke while you’re interpreting? Can your online game wait or will the world end if you don’t line up some gummy bears?
Study, Study, Study
When you study, you gain confidence and resourcefulness for interpreting. And if you feel at ease with the topic you’re going to interpret, you’ll push away the negative emotions of feeling unprepared, insecure and nervous.
What about you? Do you have a routine to calm you down before interpreting? How do you kick Stress right in the S?
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