Learn how EzDubs can transform your meeting space, allowing for multilingual translation every time.
Virtual meetings are the new norm across nearly every industry. While the global pandemic undoubtedly accelerated the widespread adoption of remote meetings, their simplicity, and convenience ensured that this approach to collaboration was here to stay. Today, attending virtual meetings is a part of everyday life, allowing people to work together regardless of location. With the ubiquity of platforms like Slack, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and more, it's easy to communicate with people across the globe. With increased global communication and collaboration comes a new challenge: Multilanguage meetings.
Whether partnering with another branch of a multinational organization or working with clients in another country, multilanguage meetings are more common than ever. Facilitating multilingual meetings comes with many unique challenges. There's no denying that language barriers can get in the way of productivity. However, they don't have to. In this guide, we'll give you many valuable tips on how you can successfully host a multilanguage virtual meeting where everyone can participate and show you how tools like EzDubs make a difference.
A multi-language meeting is an event that includes participants who speak different languages. Increased globalization makes international collaboration a vital part of modern business, and it's important to foster strong communication among people who don't share a common language. Traditionally, hosts had to take extra steps to break down language barriers, including hiring interpreters and utilizing complex phone systems that allowed all attendees to hear information in their native language.
While those old-school methods got the job done, they had severe limitations. Those who didn't speak the same language as the host or speaker couldn't contribute to the conversation without an interpreter or phone keypad prompts, restricting the flow of information and cooperation across languages.
Modern virtual meeting apps simplify communication, allowing people to attend events even if they're thousands of miles away. However, even the best productivity platforms don't have native real-time language translation features. Therefore, hosts must plan and prepare accordingly, accommodating the needs of all participants to ensure that language differences don't get in the way of collaboration.
There are many benefits to hosting multilingual meetings. The biggest is to increase productivity and boost the bottom line. While many companies see success in their home country, going global creates market expansion and growth opportunities. Going beyond the borders of your country naturally requires communicating with those who aren't fluent in your language. Failing to take steps that ensure success during a multi-language meeting could lead to missed opportunities and mistranslations that cost a business big.
More importantly, facilitating multilanguage meetings helps to promote inclusivity while empowering everyone to contribute on their terms. One problem with monolingual virtual meetings is that participants who don't speak the chosen language may hesitate when it comes time to collaborate. A lack of fluency can create confidence issues in even the most successful professional. Forcing someone to collaborate in a language they can't speak doesn't do anything to help productivity. Things get lost in translation, and people will struggle to articulate their thoughts clearly.
A multilingual meeting encourages participation. It allows people to work and communicate in a way that's most comfortable to them. It's only then that ideas can flow freely. Hosting these meetings can unlock the most creative ideas and strategies, ensuring that participants don't have to hold back for fear of misunderstandings or embarrassment. It's how you allow people to reach their full potential while taking productivity to new heights.
Successful multilingual virtual meetings hinge on how well you prepare. Because these events have greater challenges, you must plan to ensure every participant can attend without issue. Follow these tips, and you can easily smash goals, maximize productivity, and encourage everyone to contribute to their fullest.
First, inform all potential attendees of multi-language availability, especially if this is your first time hosting a meeting like this. Many people assume that meetings will be monolingual. Some will arrange for an interpreter independently. Others will opt not to attend immediately because they feel that language barriers are too much to overcome in real time.
Informing everyone that this meeting will be multi-language can compel those who typically don't attend events to participate. Give people plenty of notice to decide what they want to do and how they want to prepare. Those who have skipped out on previous monolingual meetings may see this new approach to collaboration as a real paradigm shift. It may pique their interest, and you may see more attendees than meetings of the past due to this new openness to work with those who aren't fluent in your language.
If you're providing language interpretation services, provide instructions on accessing them. There are many ways to break down walls and encourage participation across languages. Whether you hire an interpreter or lean into visual aids that deliver information across languages, you must make all attendees aware of their availability.
Language interpretation services can be hit or miss. The best thing you can do is provide clear instructions on how to take advantage of what's available and what forms of assistance are available should participants run into any problems. Provide those instructions well before the scheduled meeting to allow the group to familiarize themselves with how the services work.
Slides can pack a punch when it comes to communicating across languages. They're a powerful tool for multi-language meetings, conveying the core information provided during the event in visual form. Utilize them often. Not only do slides help to deliver crucial information, but they also make it easy for everyone to stay on track. They pair nicely with language interpretation services, increasing understanding across the board.
Provide slides in every preferred language of those present. Start with a great welcome slide in all languages to let everyone know they can refer to those visual aids throughout the meeting. It's a nice touch that goes a long way in establishing inclusivity from the jump.
You want to ensure everyone can hear speakers clearly during a multilingual meeting. That means investing in high-quality sound and audio gear. You don't need studio-level microphones, but your mic should offer clear frequency response and good noise-cancellation features. A high-quality mic will minimize noise bleed-through and improve clarity, making it easier for participants to hear and understand what you're saying. It's also important to have good speakers or headphones to avoid mishearing others.
All attendees need good sound and audio gear. While you can't control what people use, it's wise to encourage them to utilize equipment that helps maximize clarity. Have attendees test their sound and microphones before the meeting begins. Many platforms have testing features, allowing people to understand how their gear affects the rest of attendees and fine-tune settings for the best results.
Slides and interpreters go a long way. However, consider using a real-time language translation service to facilitate seamless and authentic communication during a multilanguage virtual meeting. Real-time translation is a game-changer that transforms how people collaborate during these meetings. Instead of relying on a live interpreter or outdated translation service, attendees can hear live translations in the moment. That means no delays, no awkward pauses, no mistranslations, and no worrying about things getting lost in the mix.
Platforms like EzDubs provide real-time language translation to more than 30 languages. EzDubs works smoothly, using artificial intelligence to interpret spoken words nearly instantly. There's no need to wait on slower translation technology or copy-and-paste transcriptions in third-party software. It works effortlessly, making it feel like everyone speaks the same language while maximizing mutual understanding.
In addition to choosing a great real-time language translation service, you must decide which virtual meeting platform will connect all attendees. There's no shortage of options today, including Zoom, Slack, Google Meet, Microsoft Team, etc. Keep in mind that these apps don't support native translation. However, they can facilitate quick and easy communication. They can become the perfect setting for multi-language virtual meetings when paired with the right interpretation systems or translation apps.
Consider your needs, namely, how many people will attend. Each platform has its limitations. For instance, Slack Huddles can accommodate up to 50 participants. Meanwhile, anyone with a Google account can host meetings with up to 100 people. Meetings with even more attendees will require more premium accounts, which come at additional costs.
Good communication goes beyond language. When hosting multilingual virtual meetings, you must ensure that people can read your facial expressions and physical gestures. Non-verbal cues can provide greater context, increasing understanding across languages. Invest in a great camera setup to ensure everyone can see those non-verbal cues.
The higher the quality, the better. Additionally, consider factors like lighting. Position your camera to provide a clear view of your face. Avoid backlighting that could hide your face. Instead, opt for natural lighting when possible or use lamps to ensure your face is fully visible.
Speaking at a meeting can be scary. Even those with public speaking experience may fall victim to the pitfalls of stress and anxiety, speaking too quickly or rushing through points. Rushed speaking is never good in any meeting, but it's detrimental in multilingual meetings. Rushed speaking can make it difficult for people to keep up, especially when relying on interpreters or translation software. Real-time language translation services can make up the difference.
However, the best approach is to keep a steady speaking pace. Adopt a normal conversational pace. You don't have to slow things down to a crawl, but you should avoid rushing at all costs. Consider practicing controlled breathing. It can help you avoid speeding through your words while making maintaining a natural, easy-to-understand rhythm easier.
Finally, practice good mic etiquette and encourage everyone attending to do the same. When several people attend a virtual meeting, things can get chaotic quickly. The last thing you want, especially in a multi-language meeting, is for the event to devolve into a speaking free-for-all. You don't want people to talk over one another or for background noises to bleed through.
Mute your mic whenever you're not speaking to maintain order and avoid an overabundance of excess noise. You can also take advantage of hand-raising features in your meeting software. This feature alerts hosts of those who want to talk, allowing you to "call" on someone when it's their turn to speak.
Establish mic etiquette rules early. Provide information before the meeting and provide a quick reminder when it starts. Before the meeting begins, familiarize yourself with mic controls and platform features. Encourage attendees to do the same to prevent accidents and faux pas.
EzDubs is a live translation app that seamlessly interprets communications via phone, voice message, text, and virtual meetings. EzDubs uses AI to deliver instant, authentic translations in real time. Best of all, EzDubs doesn't do simple word-for-word interpretations. It digs deeper, taking note of emotional tone, context, cultural nuance, and more to provide more accurate translations.
During virtual meetings, EzDubs can provide real-time language translation to ensure everyone stays on the same page regardless of their native language. EzDubs offers end-to-end translations that feel natural. AI dubbing recreates voices accurately and with near-zero latency, allowing people to hear and comprehend translations on the fly. The dubbing is also realistic, preserving everything about a speaker's voice to recreate it in another language for easy interpretation.
EzDubs is available to use across your meeting platforms of choice. EzDubs integrates with Slack, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and Webex. These platforms don't have real-time audio translation. EzDubs adds that capability, turning your favored tools into powerful multilingual virtual meeting platforms for strategizing, collaborating, sales calls, and more. Another huge benefit is that only one person needs to have EzDubs for all to benefit. As a host, you can use EzDubs to provide multilingual real-time language translation to all attendees, creating a truly multilanguage experience!
Multi-language meetings don't have to be difficult or confusing. Everyone deserves the chance to contribute to group meetings and conversations. Whether they're for creative collaborations, multinational partnerships, global client meetings or cross-border sales pitches, EzDubs ensures every participant can understand and engage. EzDubs is changing the face of multilingual communication in the business world, and it's time you experienced the power of end-to-end real-time language translation.
Don't let language barriers prevent you from doing business successfully. Download EzDubs today to turn every virtual meeting into a productive multilingual affair.
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