Ep 113 How to Keep from Being Misquoted When Your Interview Is Being Translated April 22, 2016

So how do you avoid being misquoted when your interview is being translated from one language, the one you're speaking to another one?

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So I was training last week in Thailand, Bangkok, Thailand, with some United nations officials clients. And they said to me, tj, we've heard you say when people complain about being misquoted, really they're just complaining that they said something stupid. It's not the reporter's fault, it's their own fault for not having good messages. You can't complain about being quoted out of context because every quote is taken out of context. And DJ that's not what happens all the time. And these people let me know that there were times when they knew they had a good message, a good sound bite, but by the time it was translated from the language they were speaking in to another one, it was distorted in a way that it just completely messed things up. This is legitimately a tough issue. I want to give some tips on how to not 100% eliminate this from ever happening, but to just decrease the odds of it happening. I'll share those with you in just a moment.

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There are certain types of messages and sound bites. For those messages that are nuanced, that have subtlety to it, that have complexity. That might work if you're talking to a reporter where the news outlet is not going to translate you. But if they're being translated into other languages, that's often the case for people working in the government world, the ngo, the non government organization world, the United nations world. They're constantly talking to the whole world. They may be speaking in a country where it's not their native language and they're there on assignment and things have to be translated. That is just the nature of the beast. So what do you do to minimize your chances of being misquoted? There are certain sound bites that just open themselves up to being distorted. As you know, I'm a big believer that all quotes come from one of 10 speech patterns. Some of the speech patterns, like references to pop culture or humor, are highly subjective and are relevant, specific to the context of that culture. So what may be funny in one culture is wildly offensive in another. So for that reason, I would generally go way out of my way to avoid humor if I think I'm going to be translated because there's just a Very high chance that it's not going to work. Pop culture references, something again, that can be cute or clever or cool in one country, in one language, maybe offensive, maybe a religious symbol in another country, and it wouldn't work. So be very, very careful about that. You have to be careful about saying things like almost we're going to be slowing it down because that can be interpreted to shutting it down. You've got to be careful about nuance, complexity, shades of gray. Now, as a general rule, anytime you're talking to the media, the more clear cut you can be, the better the sound bites. I find that work especially well if you know that you're talking to a reporter and your words are going to be translated. Emotion, whatever the messages you're trying to communicate, to simply say the positive feelings you have about or the negative feelings about it, usually that can translate and mean the same thing. Absolutes also work. If you say this must never be done, we always had to do that. You can't do this if you're advocating a particular policy, chances are that can translate well. It could be clear cut. What else is really easy as a soundbite to translate? What did I just do now? I put a question mark at the end of my sentence. I asked a rhetorical question that is much less dependent on nuance and subtleties of language. Simply asking it as a question mark makes it more, makes your message more quotable, more interesting. Regardless of how it's translated, it is likely to not be distorted and not to have changed the meaning dramatically. Now, by coincidence, those three soundbite elements I just mentioned to you, absolutes, emotion, rhetorical questions, happen to be the easiest sound bites for anyone anytime, regardless of whether you're being translated. What gets people into trouble quite often with translated stuff is if you use analogies. Again, what works in one country doesn't work with another. That's as simple as using a knife and fork. Well, simple analogy, not everybody uses a knife and fork that goes together like peanut butter and jelly. Simple cliche doesn't work in countries where they are not fond of peanut butter and jelly. So analogies. I would stay away from pop culture references, stay away from humor, stay away from. Use some common sense and think about how can you simplify this. I'll give you some more techniques in in just a moment that can further increase your odds of not being distorted when your words are translated. For a foreign publication or media outlet.

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This next tip is simply not applicable in all situations. I realize that, but I want to give this to you as an opportunity. If you do work for a larger organization that has resources, what you may want to do, even if you're the spokesperson and you only speak your native language and it's being translated, find someone else within your organization who can translate your core messages. I understand if it's an emergency, breaking news, a crisis, you don't have time to be translating three paragraphs. But what you could do is really isolate your three main message points. 2, 3 sound bites for each one, something that really fits on a half sheet of paper. Find someone in your organization to translate it and go over with them and say, are you sure this is exactly what we're talking about? There's no distortion. The more someone who's doing this, truly bilingual and understands all the nuances, the better. What I would then do when you're talking to the reporter is I would say, hey, I'm happy to talk to you, but I did want to be helpful to you. Here's what I have from my own organization, my own office, as a translation for my key points. Hand it out as a piece of paper. Email it to the reporter. The reporter is likely to appreciate that and may pull exactly from that when putting it into the story, even if you say something a little bit different so that can give you some protection. Another thing that I like to do is try to make the reporter more comfortable with you and like you more. This is like anything else in life. If someone doesn't like you, they are perhaps not as diligent about making you come across the way you want. So what I try to do in those situations is I say to the reporter, wow, I'm really sorry. I apologize. I'm so ignorant. I'm sorry I don't speak Spanish. I really should. If I'm talking to a reporter and it's going to be for a Spanish publication. So I set up a dynamic where I'm not telling them, they're not. I'm not saying you're stupid for not speaking my language. I'm telling you that I'm stupid for not speaking the language of your audience. And I find that just goes down a lot better. You come across much less arrogant. You come across more likable when you seem humble and admit that you don't know something. And when you do that, you make it easier for people to be sympathetic to your viewpoint. The other thing that will help is I know this sounds like something from the 1950s, a sitcom where the ugly American is shouting at someone in another country about what they want for breakfast or dinner and everyone's looking around confused. I'm not suggesting that. What I am suggesting is that when you're doing the interview, you speak slower than usual. You speak a little more clearly than usual and just a little bit louder than usual. That way, when someone is listening to you transcribing it or translating it, it's simply easier for them to process it. The easier you make it for them, the harder it is to for mistakes to accidentally enter into the equation. Some translators are better than others, but by pausing more, you're making it easier for them to hear it, process it, catch up, figure out what you're saying, and move on. I would also repeat your main points little more often. Don't be afraid to repeat. And if you're talking to the reporter and the reporter is the one translating it and it's an in person interview, really stop to look at them and make sure that they seem like they're getting it. If not, don't say, hey dummy, are you getting this? Don't put the pressure on them. Put it back on yourself. Say something like, you know, I feel like I'm just not being that clear. Let me give another example and give another example and that's likely to be helpful. All of these are tips that will not completely eliminate your chances of ever being misquoted when translated into another language during an interview, but it will decrease the odds of misquotes. And that's really all you can hope for. I'm TJ Walker. Thanks for spending time with me today. As always, may all of your presentations in life be a huge success.

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