- You and your video participants have the right to withdraw your speech from the site at any time. Please contact us and we will do so.
- It is crucial that your speech has good sound and picture quality. Please
try and use a headset with a built-in microphone to record your speech. You
will need to turn your webcam on. We will not accept speeches without a video
of the speaker delivering the speech. - You will need a YouTube account. Please record and upload your speech to your
account, then please submit your speech to the Speech hub! - Your speech can be as long or as short as you like, but our suggestions for
length are as follows:- Consecutive without notes: 3-4 minutes
- Intermediate consecutive: 5-6 minutes
- Advanced consecutive: 7-8 minutes
- All simultaneous speeches: 6-15 minutes
Speechmaking Guidance
If you are not an interpreter and need further guidance on speechmaking and understanding which speeches are suitable for consecutive or simultaneous interpreting, please see below
General guidance
Please do not prepare a written text and read it out. This will usually result in material that is very dense, and therefore difficult to interpret. Of course, in a professional context, interpreters have to deal with this type of speech, but it is not usually the best pedagogical material. Prepare brief notes on what you want to talk about, with the key information, and delivery them at a normal speaking pace. If you make a mistake, please don’t feel that you have to re-record your speech, just correct yourself and move on. Interpreters have to be able to cope with this.
Modes of interpreting
Most speeches are suitable for both modes of interpreting, but here is some guidance on which speeches are better suited to which mode.
Consecutive
Consecutive interpreting involves giving the interpretation after the speaker has finished speaking. Interpreters are trained to make concise notes and use their memory to reproduce their speech in the target language. When interpreters start training, to practice listening, analysis and memory skills, they generally work with simple speeches of up to four minutes in length. Hence the category “consecutive without notes”. Other consecutive speeches can actually be slightly faster, denser, and more redundant than speeches suited to simultaneous interpreting. This is because the interpreter listens to the entire speech before giving their rendition, and therefore has the opportunity to select the most important information, generalise, and remove any redundancy.
Simultaneous
In simultaneous interpreting, the interpreter is usually in a soundproofed booth, and interprets into the target language whilst the speaker is speaking. For pedagogical purposes, simultaneous speeches are slightly less dense, with less redundancy, that those designed for the consecutive mode.