As stated in a previous blog (What is the Difference Between Translation and Interpreting?), interpreting is the real-time, spoken form of translation that facilitates seamless cross-language communication. Unlike written translation, interpreting involves conveying a speaker’s message aloud in another language, ensuring immediate understanding. Depending on the context, interpreting can take various forms to meet specific needs. Below, we outline the six major types of interpreting: simultaneous, consecutive, escort/travel, whisper, scheduled , and on-demand interpreting.
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In simultaneous interpreting, the interpreter listens to a speaker while translating their words into the target language in real time. Despite the name, interpreters cannot begin speaking until they grasp the sentence’s overall meaning.
While listening to the speaker’s current words, simultaneous interpreters process and recall phrases spoken 5–10 seconds earlier, delivering an accurate translation without paraphrasing. This method is essential for large meetings, conferences, and trade shows—much like interpreting at the United Nations. Typically, interpreters work from a booth, wearing headphones and speaking into a microphone.
Simultaneous interpreters must think quickly and make split-second decisions. They have no time to debate word choices or search for the perfect idiom. Any hesitation risks losing key words—or even entire ideas—from the speaker’s message.
During consecutive interpreting, the speaker pauses every 1–5 minutes—typically at the end of a complete thought—allowing the interpreter to translate their message into the target language.
This back-and-forth style of interpreting is common in smaller business meetings and courtroom proceedings, such as witness testimonies. Since speakers take turns, interpreters must accurately convey each message without losing key details.
Strong note-taking skills are essential in consecutive interpreting, as few people can retain and recall an entire paragraph after hearing it only once.
Escort/travel interpreters serve as both language experts and personal assistants, helping clients navigate business trips or travel experiences. They may accompany clients to a single meeting or multiple engagements, ensuring smooth communication every step of the way.
Beyond interpreting, these professionals act as cultural liaisons, handling everything from ordering meals to facilitating high-stakes business negotiations. Their role extends far beyond language—they bridge cultural gaps and help clients build successful international relationships.
Whisper interpreting works like simultaneous interpreting, but without headsets or microphones. Instead, the interpreter sits next to the individual or group needing interpretation and whispers or speaks softly in the target language. This method puts extra strain on the interpreter’s voice.
Businesses often use whisper interpreting for meetings when only one participant needs translation. It’s also common in courtrooms, where someone seated at the back may need interpretation to follow the proceedings.
Scheduled interpreting (also called OPI or Over-the- Interpretation) can be either simultaneous or consecutive. This form of interpreting is performed during an established appointment where the interpreter does not see both parties in person, but executes the interpreting via .
If the participants of a call are content to hear only the voice of the interpreter, interpreting can be conducted in a simultaneous mode; otherwise interpreting should be conducted consecutively.
If the interpreter does not see the speakers and has no access to extra-linguistic clues to the speaker’s meaning and context, the accuracy of simultaneous interpreting may be significantly lower than for consecutive over-the- Interpreting. Most generally, interpreting is conducted consecutively. Next we’ll outline the last of our six types of interpreting.
On-Demand Interpreting helps individuals and organizations break language barriers instantly. To access this service, a caller selects the required language pair and connects with a professional interpreter. The interpreter then joins the conversation and facilitates real-time communication between both parties.
Customer service call centers, companies, organizations, pharmacies, and medical and legal institutions rely on On-Demand Interpreting to communicate with limited English proficiency (LEP) individuals. This service provides instant access to interpreters whenever needed.
One key advantage of On-Demand Interpreting is its rapid availability, connecting users with an interpreter within minutes. However, because the interpreter joins the conversation without prior context, they may lack essential background information, which can impact the accuracy and effectiveness of the interpretation.
No matter what type of interpreting you need, choosing the right interpreter requires more than just experience—it demands deep expertise in the subject matter. A skilled interpreter must listen intently, think quickly, and confidently deliver messages in another language. They must also excel in public speaking and instantly adapt idioms, colloquialisms, and culturally specific references into statements the audience will understand.
What types of interpreting have you had experience with? What tips do you have when looking for interpreters? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
To learn more about Language Scientific‘s different types of interpreting services click here.
>For the interpreters to hear clearly what is being said, audio of the presenter(s) is to be transmitted directly to the interpreter's station. Find out if there will be a dedicated audio feed from the AV provider so that a direct line can be run from the conference room’s PA system to the interpretation equipment. To perform their job at the best of their ability, the interpreters need to hear the speakers/presenters well at all times during the event. There are four ways to accomplish this.
the presenters or panelists are given individual microphones as part of the venue's sound reinforcement setup and the simultaneous interpretation system provider receives an audio feed from the venue's mixing board.
Best practice calls for interpreters to use headphones, a microphone and an interpreter console from where they can control the sound level during the event and make adjustments as needed. If there is sound reinforcement at the event and the interpretation equipment comes with an interpreter console (portable FM systems do not), the interpreter’s headphones should connect via the interpreter console to the sound system’s mixing board “audio out” (usually via a 3-pin male XLR floor out), which feeds the audio directly from the speakers.
the interpretation equipment provider should coordinate with the sound reinforcement provider and do a sound check prior to the start of the event.
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using a sound system (either the one provided by the event venue – if available – or a rental), the interpreter’s headphones are connected directly to the system’s mixing board “audio out”, which feeds the audio directly from the speakers. If the venue has an AV technician working your event, they will likely be able to do this for you. If not, you will have to set this up yourself.
(coming soon: visual of mixing board with audio out)
this is the best solution to give the interpreters quality audio when using a simultaneous interpretation system without interpreter console (like a portable FM system). You just have to make sure the interpreter’s headphones have a long enough wire to reach from the mixing board to the interpreter booth (or wherever the interpreters are going to be, if you are not using a booth). Take this into consideration while drawing your room diagram.
the downside of this approach is that, without the console, the interpreter does not have a way to control the incoming audio levels and instead relies on the technician operating the mixing board to provide an optimal sound volume. This is why it is important to test the system before the event and make sure the audio level is optimal for the interpreters.
if there is no sound reinforcement, you can rent an additional portable beltpack transmitter and an extra receiver. The presenter will use the transmitter on a separate channel from the one selected for the transmitter used by the interpreter. The interpreter will then tune the extra receiver to the presenter's transmitter’s channel to get a direct wireless audio feed.
for your room setup, you will have to take into account that the transmission range of a portable beltpack transmitter is approx 100 feet, so the interpreter cannot be set up farther than 100 feet from the presenter's transmitter.
in addition, since you will be working with multiple transmitters, you must make sure to leave at least two free channels between each transmitter’s frequency to avoid interference.
this solution can be acceptable for small-scale one-person presentations or if multiple presenters will await their turn to speak using the same microphone.
for scenarios with multiple presenters or panelists using table mics, in a many to many meeting, it is advisable to use discussion units or a wireless conference system that routes the microphones to a system control unit such as Bosch. To buy or rent a conference system, please visit our section AV Rental & Sales.
At times, for budgetary or technical reasons, there is no possibility to get an audio feed to the interpreter. As a last resort, you could have the interpreter simply listen naturally to the speaker - with no headphones and no audio feed.
in this scenario, the quality of the audio heard by the interpreter will be inferior as it is affected by room noise such as: audience members talking among themselves, the sound of people eating during a luncheon or dinner, waiting staff serving or clearing tables.
any extraneous noise might impair the interpreters' ability to concentrate. Some interpreters may be reluctant to accept to work without a proper audio feed. To avoid surprises, it is best to discuss the absence of an audio feed with the interpreter team or interpretation company at booking time.
> The interpretation of the Q&A can be performed in consecutive mode where one of the interpreters steps out of the booth, gets mic’d separately and is seated next to the panelist so he/she can take any necessary notes. Alternatively the Q&A session can be interpreted in simultaneous mode using the interpretation system.
if you are planning to have a question and answer session, you have two options.
the Q&A session is done in consecutive interpretation mode, which will require the interpreter to go sit next to the presenters without the need to use the simultaneous interpretation system. The interpreter will hear the question from the audience, interpret it to the presenter, then listen to the presenter's answer and interpret it back to the audience.
A Q&A session using consecutive interpretation with two language combinations takes about twice the time as compared to simultaneous interpretati
if you want to do simultaneous interpretation during the Q&A session, you will need a roving Q&A microphone to pass around to the members of the audience who want to ask questions or the people asking questions can walk up to a centrally placed Q&A microphone on a stand.
the interpreter gets a direct audio feed from the roving microphone (in addition to the audio feed from the presenter's microphone). The presenters get their own wireless FM receivers [does this apply to every case? if not, how should we edit?] to listen to the interpretation, then give their answers speaking into their microphone. Just like during the presentation, the interpretation of the answer is transmitted to the attendees through their receivers.
example
let’s assume your event includes presenters speaking in English to a Spanish-speaking audience. During the presentation, the interpreters will interpret English into Spanish on, say, channel 1.
after the presentation, you have a Q&A session where the audience asks questions to the presenters. If you are providing simultaneous interpretation for the Qamp;A session, you are now dealing with a second language direction, as the interpreters have to interpret the questions from Spanish into English for the presenters.
the more audience-friendly solution is to have a separate channel (say, channel 3) for the Spanish into English interpretation. This way, the presenters will only hear the Spanish into English interpretation of the questions and the Spanish audience will only hear the English into Spanish interpretation of the answers because you have a dedicated channel for each language direction.
however, if you want to rent only one transmitter, you will have to use channel 1 for both the Spanish into English interpretation of the questions and the English into Spanish interpretation of the answers. This means the audience and the presenters will hear both directions of interpretation, even the one they don’t really need. Their only other option is to take off the receiver’s headsets during the interpretation of their own language.
while we recommend having one channel per language direction, the best solution for you will depend on your budget and the type of experience you want your attendees to have.