International practice recommends that 2 or even 3 interpreters be engaged concurrently for intense assignments. Certainly for conferences, three to four is the norm. The demands on an interpreter - memory, concentration, note-taking and voice are unrelenting; he keeps working even when the presenter pauses. In effect, he is working twice as hard as the presenter and usually, at an event, there are a number of speakers. It would be like sitting through an important academic lecture where you write down everything you hear and then read it back on the spot, not to mention transforming it into another language en route! Even at lunch the interpreter is the meat in the sandwich.

Speak in the first person to your audience pausing frequently (two to three sentences maximum) for consecutive interpreting. Do not look at the interpreter. If using microphones, ensure the interpreter has one too. For conferences, ensure that any papers or slide presentations that are ready be made available to the interpreters as soon as possible.