Bio

Sue Leschen is a lawyer – linguist based in Manchester, UK. She is the Director of Avocate - a niche market legal and commercial French language services company. She is also an independent trainer (legal terminology) and also a one to one business mentor and guru for just about everything language professionals need to know. Sue is also one of APTRAD’s mentors.

Sue is a member of several professional committees:

Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) – Professional Conduct

National Register of Public Service Interpreters (NRPSI) – Professional Conduct

Regulatory Body for Sign Language Interpreters and Translators (RBSLI) – Professional Conduct

National Registers of Communication Professionals working with Deaf and Deaf - Blind people (NRCPD) –Appeals and Complaints

Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL) – Council

CIOL Interpreting Division Committee (co – opted)

CIOL Ethics, Diversity and Inclusion Committee

Challenging the challenges to our profession

Presentation in:

The last few years have seen unprecedented challenges to our profession and this trend is likely to continue well into the next decade unless we fight back now!

Challenges include:

Downward pressure on rates

Non - premium market - quality not so much sought as speed and cost effectiveness

Undercutting by peers 

Undercutting by non - qualified individuals allowed by system to operate in our roles

Growth of machine translation

Growth of remote interpreting

The talk will aim to inspire colleagues to fight back to challenge these threats by:

Seeking to position ourselves as experts and specialists to reclaim our roles and our rates

Highlighting the differences between ourselves and unqualified individuals such as our professional qualifications and memberships; our codes of practice 

Moving more and more into premium markets 

Highlighting the need for interpreters to be physically present in certain situations; sensitive and culturally demanding emotionally charged negotiations  or high value business meetings

Taking responsibility for our profession and for our own professionalism (professional websites, dress codes, professional values such as integrity).

Valuing ourselves because if we don't nobody else (clients and colleagues both!) will.

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