1. Note-taking can reduce stress

Even the most experienced interpreters would feel stressed at the beginning of a conference, considering the possible unknown factors they’re about to cope with: new terms, speakers’ accents, technical issues, etc.

2. Note-taking can assist short-term memory

During consecutive interpreting, information is mostly processed and retained as short-term memory, or working memory.

However essential it is, short-term memory is far from enough when required to process a certain amount of information within a limited time.

3. Note-taking can facilitate logical delivery

You can’t always expect all speakers to present ideas clearly and logically. Also, certain languages convey ideas in a more implicit manner, such as Chinese, Japanese and Saudi.

Under such circumstances, which happen quite often, note-taking can actually save an interpreter from the pitfall. How?