Being able to cater to an international, multilingual clientele greatly widens the scope of your market. This level of international reach provides you with varied opportunities, serving your long-term strategy well. Since March of 2020, virtual meetings and conferences are a necessity. The circumstances have changed the way in which businesses operate. Yet, virtual working does pose a unique set of challenges.
International virtual meetings can often pose linguistic or accessibility barriers which could prevent your message from reaching its desired target audience. At Global Lingo, we specialise in professional solutions which enable organisations to support virtual communication during these trying times. We help our clients with their virtual conferences, whether they’re recurring, project-based calls or international townhalls and conventions. Each company has a unique set of needs which we are careful to cater to. Here are some proven solutions to engage your audience and make your international virtual meeting a success.
1 – Interpreting
Having one or more interpreters join your event can be crucial in those situations where your message must be received by a diverse audience. If those participating do not speak your language, you need a professional who can convey the information in an efficient, crystal-clear manner whilst also being mindful of the cultural nuances which must be employed, for your audience to enjoy a truly enriching experience.
Depending on the type of event you’re hosting, its location and its scope, you can choose between multiple types of interpreting available today. An on-site event stretching multiple days might benefit from on-site interpreters, whilst a shorter online event can be fully catered to by a remote interpreter, at an even lower cost. Interpreting can be performed simultaneously, with very little delay between the original version and the translated one, or consecutive, allowing the interpreting specialist to take longer portions of the speech and translate them in an optimal manner once the main speaker pauses. The same applies to sign language interpreting, which facilitates communication for so many individuals around the world.
Regardless of your choice, our interpreters have years of experience in your area of interest, be it medical, legal, or engineering, and spend ample time becoming well-acquainted with your organisation and event before they get to work from their soundproof interpreting booths.
2 – Live captioning
Inclusivity is the hallmark of any great organisation. If your message is truly important, you will certainly ensure that it can reach everyone in your audience. Just like sign language interpreting, the live captioning service was initially brought on to ensure that those who may have trouble hearing can also join the conversation. In its purest form, live captioning provides a web-supported written transcription of what is being said, within seconds of it being said.
Live captioners have different specialisms and apply different methods to conduct their activity; they can use their rapid typing skills, like those of a court stenographer, or they can use the sound of their own voice, in conjunction with speech recognition technology, to ‘re-speak’ what they hear. The primary objective is to ensure those who suffer from hearing loss understand the message, so the written output will not follow the speech word-for-word, but instead focus on conveying the important ideas being discussed – much like a tidied-up transcript.
With the use of ever-evolving speech recognition engines, machine live captioning is becoming a strong alternative, at a much lower cost and increased availability. Additionally, these options can be combined with a machine translation solution, enabling your viewers to toggle between languages as they please.
Having your audio content transcribed as it’s being conveyed has many other applications, as well – it ensures anyone experiencing audio connection issues can still be engaged, it shortens the Q&A sessions, since participants can always double-check previous statements without requiring further clarification, and it allows for faster sharing on social media for members of the press, or marketing teams.
3 – Translation, transcription and minute-taking
The fact that our work lives have suffered major changes in the past year is not news. Working from home and staying productive in an environment which poses many distractions requires an increased amount of focus, which is difficult to maintain unless you have succinct information delivered in an engaging way.
Global Lingo has helped organisations stay focused and on point. Whether it’s taking notes for your conference call, ensuring your presentation slide deck is visually pleasing and translated in all the languages your audience is fluent in, recording your webcast for users in opposite time zones, localising your school course or providing on-demand captions for your marketing videos – we have done it all.
It’s paramount for audience members to remain engaged, and visual aids are the simplest way of ensuring the information they need stays with them long after the event concluded. From agendas and attendance lists, all the way to action points and feedback forms, clarity and speed are equally important, and we can help you achieve both.
When it comes to your organisation’s efficiency and diversity, language barriers should never be a deterrent.
Global Lingo’s international team
Diverse teams provide a wider, richer, and more objective perspective and foster meaningful communication. International teams are also statistically more innovative, enabling growth and adaptability. However challenging it may seem to bring all individuals together and convey a clear message, from one member of your collective to the next, everyone can and should be included.
This is why we, here at Global Lingo, are passionate about diversity. We support companies with a portfolio of language-based solutions, a blend of automated precision and human expertise. Our services are highly customisable, and our dedicated teams are available to cater to your needs around the clock.
For more information, have a look at our professional translation services. Please also feel free to have a look at our case study section, to see how we have supported clients in the past.
We look forward to you contacting us to widen your global reach.