Following a relaxing summer – yes, we did need to rest after all of our editions in the Americas – we thought it was high time we returned to Russia, and so the third Moscow Edition of Know Your Worth: Understanding Marketing and Negotiating for Interpreters took place this past weekend, on 30 September 2018. And since it just happened to coincide with the International Translation Day we thought we’d start by wishing you a happy belated St Jerome’s Day!

It was the third time that the seminar was held in Moscow, and the second time we teamed up with the Cosines International Contest for Conference Interpreters, as our instructor Julia Poger joined the jury of this all-Russia turned international competition, and gave a talk on Seeing Structure and the role of analysis in conference interpreting as part of their three-day conference.

We also thought it was time to experiment, to shake things up a little bit, so we decided to revert to our original, one-day format, and the results were as interesting as they were exciting. We still focused in great detail on marketing and negotiating, and we covered such questions as branding, position, and client relations, but this time the speed was slightly different. True, this meant that everything had to go faster, and was considerably more intense than usual – even though some of you might say it’s hard to imagine things getting even more intense – but that also meant a new rhythm, new dynamics, and a much livelier discussion after the event.

We started by talking about the mindset necessary for successful marketing, and covered some general principles (as well as a number of highly practical aspects) of pricing and negotiating, all necessary steps in building a more sustainable and much more successful interpreting business. We were also able to devote some time to looking into how the interpreting profession is perceived from the outside, all in order to better understand our potential and existing clients.

The seminar covered all the bases for me. From reaffirming some practices I had tried out tentatively or providing applicable insights into “something that had felt reasonable to do somehow maybe,” to being an eye-opener.

Fedor Makhlayuk

Despite this edition being held in a special one-day format, we still wanted to see our participants brainstorm at least a couple of new cases together, as this often leads to them finding new and exciting solutions to different marketing and negotiating problems. It also means that they are more likely to start implementing the new principles and ideas sooner, and in a more direct manner. And once again we were not disappointed. On the contrary.

We were particularly happy with the way this edition’s participants responded to the new information, and how they took to the format, and all the commentary and remarks showed that they had come prepared, and with a solid understanding of their respective markets, but with an open mind and a desire to learn more, and to figure out how to navigate it better and more efficiently.

It was super helpful and I’ve already used some of the techniques today trying to ask a client some questions rather than blindly giving them my rates.

Natasha Kharikova

We always say that it’s best if people come prepared, and with a well thought through agenda, and with this group this was clearly the case. Perhaps that’s why the one-day format didn’t seem as daunting as we had feared at first, and why it seemed that everyone had found answers to at least some of the questions bothering them, and for that we are immensely grateful.

Notwithstanding my already considerable experience on Russian interpreting market, I’ve learned a whole number of new insights from Julia regarding the principles of self-promotion among prospective clients, psychology of negotiations, ways to convince the customers of the value of interpreting services and the need to pay for them adequately.

Alexey Prokhorenko

It’s become a tradition of ours by now that we devote considerable attention to the general atmosphere we create at the seminar, and we were extremely lucky – and very grateful – to be able to return for the second year running to the truly incredible Impact Hub Moscow. We would like to thank their team for all their help in the run-up to the seminar, as well on the day, and for making sure our participants had a wonderful time and nothing to worry about, except getting to the seminar, and getting the most out of it.

Last year we thought that we’d found our perfect Moscow location, and that we could not have possibly wished for a better place to hold the seminar. This time simply proved us right:  a beautiful location in the heart of Moscow, wonderful atmosphere, and lovely people to help along the way – in all honesty we could not have wished for a better place.

If you would like to hold a Know Your Worth seminar in your area, please contact us via this website, or by contacting the seminar organizer Tatiana Kaplun at kaplun.tatiana@gmail.com.