IW 200: InterpreTips-10: It's Not Me. It's You. - Get In. Get Out.

Hey, look at me! - I am, just not how you think.

In our minds, the world revolves around us, EVEN when we know it's not true. Today's tip is that clients don't really care what you do, or what happened. Let's break it down in 10 minutes or less.

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Transcript

IW 200: InterpreTips-10: It's Not Me. It's You. - Get In. Get Out.

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[ROCK INTRO MUSIC STARTS]

00:00:02 Tim

Good morning, good evening, good afternoon. Wherever you are, this is the Interpreter's Workshop podcast. I'm Tim Curry, your host. Here we talk everything sign language interpreting the ins, the outs, the ups, the downs, the sideways of interpreting. If you're a student, a new interpreter, experienced interpreter, this is the place for you. If you want to know more, go to interpretersworkshop.com.

00:00:28 Tim

Let's start talking... interpreting.

[ROCK INTRO MUSIC ENDS]

00:00:34 Tim [ONLY TIM SPEAKS IN THIS EPISODE]

And now, InterpreTips, 10 minutes or less.

00:00:39

Let's talk a little bit about imposter syndrome, stage fright, self-esteem, interpreter confidence.

00:00:50

All of that kind of mixed up together, not in an in-depth way of, well, how does imposter syndrome affect our work?

00:01:00

How does it affect burnout?

00:01:02

Not in that way.

00:01:04

Let's talk about...

00:01:06

Well, let's talk about us not talking about us.

00:01:11

Stop looking at yourself.

00:01:14

Stop looking at yourself as though the world is looking at you.

00:01:20

Let's get started.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

00:01:26

Whhaaaaaat?!

00:01:28

The world's not looking at me?!

00:01:29

What do you mean?

00:01:30

I'm the one on stage.

00:01:32

I'm the one there.

00:01:33

I've worked so hard on this interpretation.

00:01:36

I even looked at the songs, and I did this in-depth research about who the composer was, what he was feeling, why he did that, his notes about it.

00:01:47

I've gone through every single PowerPoint, and I've looked at the quotations, I researched the person who said the quotations and the context in which they did it.

00:01:58

I've talked with the speakers, I've gotten all their goals, all of their twists, their “aha moments” that they want to have during this presentation.

00:02:07

I've done all of this work.

00:02:09

And look what I can do.

00:02:11

I can process things, what feels like simultaneously in my head while listening and producing something that's already been processed.

00:02:20

And I look cool in black.

00:02:22

Yeah, sometimes we do feel as though we put so much effort into it.

00:02:28

I think that's why the Interpreter Appreciation Day was developed, to give us something of a nudge to our egos, to our feeling of self-worth.

00:02:41

But sometimes all of that can be detrimental, can have a negative impact on our work, our energy, how we feel, because sometimes we don't feel confident in the situation.

00:02:58

No matter how much preparation we've done or how much experience we have, sometimes something in that situation makes us feel less confident, definitely nervous, because we're human.

00:03:14

And so, my point today, my one tip, is to stop taking yourself seriously.

00:03:21

Stop taking your work as “serious” as you think it needs to be.

00:03:25

Yes, we have to make ethical decisions, moral decisions.

00:03:30

Yes, we have the power to change things without anyone really knowing in these conversations.

00:03:37

However, think of it from the client's point of view.

00:03:43

The hearing people, they're worried about their event, their organization.

00:03:48

They're worried about everything going off as planned.

00:03:52

They don't think about the one person doing the interpretation for those one or two people.

00:03:58

They think about everything else.

00:04:00

This speaker, the next speaker.

00:04:02

They're worried about the snacks, the coffee.

00:04:04

Is it all going to be on time?

00:04:05

Is the lunch going to be prepared?

00:04:07

Is this going to happen?

00:04:08

Is that going to happen?

00:04:09

Are they going to like this?

00:04:11

What complaints are they dealing with?

00:04:14

Or it may be as simple as, the person's sick and they're going to see the doctor and you're interpreting for this situation.

00:04:22

Yes, they want you there because they need the interpretation.

00:04:25

So, they can understand this, or they can ask these questions, or they can get the medicine.

00:04:32

Whatever it is, they're in there for themselves.

00:04:37

And half the time they're not thinking about your clothes.

00:04:40

Most of the time they're not worried about whether your clothes are a certain way or not.

00:04:47

If you look decent, they ignore it, especially in specific situations where it's just one room and there's three people.

00:04:56

Them talking, you interpreting.

00:04:59

When you're done, the doctor, his mind is on the next patient.

00:05:04

His mind is on what's next.

00:05:07

I need to finish this paperwork so I can get to the next patient.

00:05:10

The nurse, same way.

00:05:12

She's like, okay, this one's gone.

00:05:14

Phew, we got that over with.

00:05:15

Okay, next. Next. Next.

00:05:17

And the patient, “Thank you. Okay, great.”

00:05:21

And in the back of their mind, they're thinking, okay, I need to get home.

00:05:23

I gotta run some errands.

00:05:25

I need to get this on the stove and get ready for lunch.

00:05:31

Oh, I need to go pick up so-and-so from school.

00:05:34

All of those things running through their minds, their day-to-day routines, their errands that they have to do during the day.

00:05:41

They're not worried about, oh yes, you used that one sign.

00:05:45

That's interesting.

00:05:46

Yeah, but they don't care.

00:05:48

The majority of them don't care if you used the wrong sign or if you used an interpretation and you flubbed it and you fixed it.

00:05:57

They don't care.

00:05:57

They understood.

00:05:58

Yeah, they had to use a little bit more energy and effort to understand, but the main point is they got what they needed and now they have to get back to their day.

00:06:09

In their world, this moment is not about you interpreting or the interpretation or how you're doing or whether or not you're good or not, whether they saw that you messed up or whether they know all the decisions you had to deal with or the noise from the other room.

00:06:26

They don't care about all that.

00:06:29

The majority of them, they just want to get on with their day.

00:06:32

So why don't we?

00:06:35

Every other service that we deal with, they don't worry about these things.

00:06:40

The plumber comes in, fixes the pipe, they're gone.

00:06:44

And we don't think, oh wow, he did this, he did that.

00:06:47

He had great soft skills.

00:06:50

He explained everything to me.

00:06:52

Oh, he messed up there, but then he fixed it.

00:06:54

We don't care.

00:06:55

The service is done.

00:06:56

We got what we needed.

00:06:57

He's gone.

00:06:59

Most interpreters need to come into the situation, do the job, and get out.

00:07:05

You're done.

00:07:07

Don't worry about it anymore.

00:07:09

Our clients, the majority of them, they - don't – care - about us and what we're doing, when we're doing it.

00:07:19

Most of them don't.

00:07:20

They just want to get on with their lives.

00:07:22

They have things in their mind that are more important than what the interpreter is thinking or feeling.

00:07:28

They're there just to get the information.

00:07:32

So, let's take that into account.

00:07:34

We're not the center - of - attention.

00:07:39

In our minds, we're still thinking in that mode of, okay, I remember I learned this or that.

00:07:45

Oh, wow, when I processed this, that was beautiful interpretation.

00:07:49

That was great.

00:07:49

They don't care.

00:07:52

They don't care.

00:07:52

If they understood it and it was wonderful and it was pleasant and it felt like we weren't there because they just communicated, that's what they want.

00:08:03

Yes, we don't get the recognition.

00:08:06

Yes, we're not going to get all the “thank you”s or the applause for, wow, that was beautifully done.

00:08:10

This was that, this was this.

00:08:12

No, we have our teams for that.

00:08:14

We have our partners for that.

00:08:17

We have other interpreters to talk with about that.

00:08:21

But I'm giving you the permission, giving us all permission to just ignore what we did and move on.

[SHORT TRANSITION MUSIC]

[ROCK EXIT MUSIC STARTS]

00:08:34

Yes, learn from the experience, learn from the mistakes.

00:08:37

But in the long run, just do the job.

00:08:40

Get in and get out.

00:08:42

If you dwell on it too long, you start needing that attention and you're not going to get it.

00:08:50

Most of the time, you're not going to get it.

00:08:53

So don't look for it.

00:08:54

Don't need it.

00:08:57

It'll be a lot easier if you do this.

00:09:00

All right, that was hopefully 10 minutes or less.

00:09:04

The one tip.

00:09:05

Chill.

00:09:06

Be cool.

00:09:08

Relax.

00:09:09

It'll be okay.

00:09:11

Until then, keep calm, keep interpreting, and leaving.

00:09:17

I'll see you next week.

00:09:19

Take care now.

[ROCK EXIT MUSIC ENDS AT 00:09:54]