Adapted from “Negotiation in translation,” by Jeswald W. Salacuse, first published in the Negotiation newsletter.
“The language of international business,” a British executive once said to me, “is broken English.” Fortunately for American negotiators, who usually don’t speak a foreign language well, if at all, much of global business is conducted in English-an English with a profusion of accents, cadences, and syntaxes.
Because translation complicates negotiation, executives should manage and plan for it as they would any other tactical element in deal making. Based on his book The Global Negotiator: Making, Managing, and Mending Deals Around the World in the Twenty-First Century (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), Jeswald Salacuse has developed seven simple rules that can help you negotiate more effectively in translation.
1. Hire your own translator, and make your choice carefully. Except in cases where special reasons for trust exist, such as when you’re negotiating with a longtime partner, do not rely on the other side’s interpreter unless someone on your team understands the language and can check the translation. Before hiring an interpreter, try to determine her skill and experience from independent sources, such as the U.S. consulate or the local branch of a multinational bank. In many countries, the linguistic ability of people who call themselves “professional interpreters” varies considerably. Hiring a mediocre interpreter can wreak unintentional havoc. Several years ago, an American negotiating team in China was astounded when its simple request to bring three typewriters into the country was rejected by government officials on the other side of the table. Only after an hour of wrangling did it become clear that the interpreter had mistranslated the English word “typewriter” as the Chinese word “stenographer.”
2. Brief your translator before negotiations start. Translators may be experts in languages, but they will rarely be experts in your business. Context gives words their meaning, but interpreters seldom will know the business context of your deal. For this reason, you should brief your interpreter beforehand on the background of the negotiation: the nature of your company, its business, and the deal you hope to arrange. You should also explain what type of translation you expect. For example, if you want a word-for-word translation rather than a summary, make that requirement clear.
3. Stay on guard. Some interpreters, because of personal interests or ego, will try to take control of negotiations or slant them in a particular way. This risk may be especially high if the interpreter also works as a middleman, agent, or business consultant and is hoping for future business opportunities from your deal. You need to guard against such power plays by learning enough about your translator to determine potential conflicts of interest and by staying alert throughout talks to ensure that your translator is not adding in personal business advice.
4. Be sure to “chunk” it. When you negotiate in consecutive translation, speak in short, bite-size chunks, pausing after each one to give the interpreter a chance to translate your words. Inexperienced negotiators can become so engrossed in delivering their message that they forget to pause, or do so only after making a very long statement. This can confuse the interpreter and contribute to inaccurate translations. When planning your presentation, remember to pause frequently.
Janine Libbey /
"Interpreter" and "translator" are not interchangeable. The former works with spoken words and the latter with written texts. This article is about interpretation and the practicers of that craft, not about translation.