How many interpreters does my conference need?
Clients often ask us whether one interpreter isn't enough. The short answer: for anything longer than about 45 minutes of simultaneous work — no. Simultaneous interpreting is one of the most cognitively demanding professional activities there is. Cognitive load, quality and concentration drop sharply after 20 to 30 minutes at the microphone. That's why, in professional practice, two interpreters per language and per booth is standard — they alternate in short shifts and support each other with numbers, names and terminology.
The rule of thumb by format:
- Up to about 45 minutes total (short press briefing, greeting, short-form kick-off): one interpreter may be enough, depending on setting.
- Half-day or full-day conference, one language pair: two interpreters per booth.
- Multiple language pairs: two interpreters per booth per language pair. Three booths for three languages means six interpreters — that's mathematics, not sales.
- Intense Q&A, hearings or extremely dense subject matter: three per booth so the "off" interpreter can prep and support instead of resting.
The AIIC (International Association of Conference Interpreters) uses these figures as its baseline — because they protect quality, not just interpreters. Anyone offering one person for a full conference day is either not doing the maths or accepting a quality risk that the client ultimately pays for.
For remote (RSI) events, the same rule applies. The screen makes the job harder, not easier: fewer visual cues, more platform stress, more monitoring. Two per language stays the minimum.
If your budget is tight, it is much smarter to shorten the format or reduce the number of languages than to cut the team. A single interpreter interpreting alone for six hours costs the client something, too — in precision, in wording, in the impression left with the audience.