Simultaneous interpretation is the most difficult type of translation today, and even those who are the very best in the business cannot perform for very long before they need a break to mentally rest. Those who are able to do this type of translation are very highly in demand all over the world, and everyone from everyday people to business partners and world political organizations use the talents of these professionals to get jobs done and get progress going in the world today.

Why is simultaneous interpretation so difficult? Someone has to be able to listen in one language and at the exact same time in their brains translate it into another language as they simultaneously speak in that other second language. Most people of course have great difficulty just talking and listening at the same time in one language! Whenever an event calls for a need for these professionals, there must be several who are sent for the job at a time because the mental fatigue is very quick to set in. On average, a professional at the top of their game with years and years of experience can only translate for about 15 minutes before someone else has to take over for them.

The key to successful simultaneous translation is not only the caliber of the professionals that the world relies on, but it lies also in the equipment that is used for the job. Without excellent equipment that delivers crystal clear sound, the process falls pretty to misunderstandings, missed words and garbled sounds. Think of the United Nations meetings and how those might fall apart without the talents of good translators and excellent equipment that relays everything that people are saying clearly. The equipment that is used is basically the same, but it is the quality of the equipment that makes or breaks communication. A speaker makes his speech in his native language to another person or to an entire group of people. A professional translator listens to what is being said in that language through an earpiece or a head set.

At the same time that they are listening to this, they speak the message in a different language to the person or people who are listeners in that second language. This happens through another microphone that the translator wears, and the listener hears what is being said by that professional through another earpiece that they are wearing. There is so much equipment involved with simultaneous interpretation that it is critical to the success of communication.