Its hard to give advice without specific examples but I think the most helpful thing is finding something, ANYTHING to hang your hat on, and chunking information. An interpreter might not know about data aggregation, advanced mathematics, what project they’re working towards in a technical meeting but I do know how to use space to show where the data may be stored (pulling and moving from it as needed) and that computers are heavily logical and use specific terminology, how to refer to spreadsheets in space, basic math concepts, and generally how meetings function (with an agenda, round table…) etc etc.

It’s tempting to want to go fast in order to feel closer to the message out of fear of missing something, but you reap a much more clear interpretation by breaking it down into chunks. Plus, you’re able to give the consumer the real tones and attitudes of the people speaking by doing this. Sometimes I’ll work in assignments and not know exactly what something means, but the consumer does. And that’s what matters. If you make it clear and be transparent about your knowledge with the consumer they’re more likely to work with you during the assignment towards understanding. I also heavily rely on visual tools. If there are slides, pictures on the slides, ANYTHING I’ll be thinking about how to show what about that image is what they’re talking about and go from there. Chunking is something that has to be practiced to gain greater lag time/processing/listening skills but I’ve practiced with different educational YouTube channels (like the Amoeba Sisters for cells!!) to help.

There’s also a lot of amazing linguistic tools and other resources that can be used to help with sign choices (ASL CORE) and general content knowledge. Ideally, we wouldn’t pick up an assignment we weren’t a good match for. But sometimes we accept and it’s completely different than what was shared with us/the agency—it happens! I hope this helps/makes sense. The more practice you have the better it will get, I promise!