The ATA Chronicle - January/February 2023 - 20

Any time you're on the
clock you should be dressed
professionally-suit, tie,
business attire, ironed,
fresh-smelling clothes, you
name it. On several occasions
I've been confused with an
attorney solely because of
the way I dressed. I've also
been treated differently when
people mistake me for one.
I've found that attorneys are
less inclined to use you as a
scapegoat for something you
didn't do if you present a
highly professional image.
2
Use Those Ethics:
If you've received
formal court
How do you
protect your
image, your
brand, and
essentially
yourself?
interpreter didn't interpret
correctly, " " The interpreter
interpreted too slowly, " " The
rendition was wrong, " " The
witness didn't understand
the interpreter clearly, " etc.
Even though you know you
did a fantastic job with your
renditions, this is the verdict.
This entire situation may
seem ridiculous, but in a
very important way it's not.
If you're an interpreter,
you're likely an independent
contractor. This means your
name is your brand, and
your brand is your business.
Even one incident such as
this can ruin your reputation
with that attorney, the other
attorney, their firms, and
their colleagues (interpreters
are often found by wordof-mouth
by attorneys),
and it may not even be your
fault! So, how do you protect
20 The ATA Chronicle | January/February 2023
your image, your brand, and
essentially yourself? I asked
myself the same question.
I began researching and
based on what I found
compiled a list of five key
points we interpreters can
utilize before and during a
deposition to help protect
ourselves. The goal of these
is to facilitate the best flow of
communication so you don't
get blamed for a lack thereof.
1
Dress the Part:
First impressions
are everything,
and so is maintaining that
impression. In the business
world one major aspect of
giving off a professional look
is through one's clothing. No,
clothes don't define a person,
but they definitely influence
others' perception of you.
interpreter training, then
the importance of adhering
to an ethical code has been
stressed. Well, I'm going
to stress it again: use your
ethics. An interpreter who
knows and references an
ethical code in real time
during a deposition shows
how well they know and
respect the standards of the
trade. Used correctly and
confidently, attorneys often
won't hesitate to abide by an
interpreter's ethical protocol.
Ethical codes are tools. It's
easy to memorize them for
training and put them by the
wayside afterward, so revisit
your ethics regularly-
perhaps before each
deposition so they're fresh in
your mind.1
3
Know Objections
Better than the
Back of Your Hand:
A few years ago I attended
an international high-profile
personal injury deposition
as a check interpreter and
witnessed perhaps the best
interpreter I'll ever see in
my life. The deposition was
full of specialized vehicle
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http://www.atanet.org

The ATA Chronicle - January/February 2023

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