'Ums' and 'ers' in interpreting - can they be eliminated?

Hi! Welcome to the Complete Interpreter podcast by the Interpreting Coach.

Why 'Complete Interpreter'? Because you're not just an interpreting or translation machine, you're also a person and a business owner, and I hope to help you take a 360 view of yourself and share some great tried-and-tested strategies to improve your interpreting skills, mindset, and marketing.

In this episode, I talk about the dreaded 'ums' and 'ers' that can interrupt the flow of our interpreting.

Quick summary:

To increase your awareness of 'ums'

• record yourself audio/video
• get a friend to listen and hit the table or hold up a paper
• tap your own leg
• use a rubber band whenever you say ‘um’

Why do you 'um'?

• habit
• anxiety/nerves
• trying to remember what to say (consec)
• trying to find the right word (retour) - say sth generic
• keep the attention of the audience, signal that your sentence isn’t fnished
• being overwhelmed by speech & density (simultaneous)

Tips for reducing 'ums':

• slow down (consec)
• pause (we think faster than we speak. We think pauses sound huge. We sound more confident with pauses. Pauses don’t sound long in sim - you think they do because you have the other soundtrack as well)
• put your tongue behind your teeth instead of saying um
• LOOK UP - it’s harder to say um while looking at someone
• use sticks to shape sentences
• Consider your interpreting technique (salami; pauses in different places; plan chunks; improve your note-taking; improve your stress management)

Hope you found it useful.

Let me know what you'd like me to talk about next!

Sophie (aka The Interpreting Coach)

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