Beyond Words: 5 Interpreter Games to Transform Your Communication

You know what’s funny? A joke. So let’s start with one.

Q: How many interpreters does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: It depends on the context.

It’s funny… because it’s true.

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines an interpreter as someone or something that interprets: such as a) someone who translates for individuals or groups conversing in different languages, or b) someone who explains or expounds.

Having a language background, I learned the value of interpreting while I was still at university. While we mostly focused on translation in our studies[1], those rare instances of practicing different interpretation styles proved to be a true eye-opener for me.

I was always impressed by the fact of how much more engaged, motivated, and invigorated I felt while we practiced different interpretation styles. Translating requires focus on language itself and organizing words into compelling or masterful expressions, which depends on the type of the translation, whereas interpreting requires juggling several types of skills, from language, clarity, focus, speed, brevity, timing, fast thinking, and the list goes on.

It was for this reason precisely that I’ve been adapting and incorporating interpreting exercises in different aspects of my work ever since, from teaching to PREXcoaching®. Here are some of my favorites.

The Baseline: The Foreign Language Interpreter

This one is the most obvious, clearly, and you don’t even have to be a future interpreter to participate in these activities. The basic aim is to practice getting by in a foreign language, so any kind of language learning or training context will do.

Here, role-play is the absolute gold standard for learning how to balance the dual roles of “translating” and “coordinating” a conversation, while training active listening, neutrality, and real-time processing.

This can be played out in different forms, from the simplest one (word for word, or a phrase for phrase, timed or not) to the more elaborated ones which include full sentences or short(er) logical units.

For example, pas (HR) – dog (EN); snaći se (HR) – get by (EN); Došli smo kući u 5 ujutro (HR) – We arrived home at 5 am (EN), etc.

A more challenging version is interpreting the same language through paraphrasing or abbreviating/elaborating but keeping it in the same code/style, as in: “This rarely happens” – “This only happens once in a blue moon;” or “I’ll be late” – “I will not make it in time.”

However, we rarely just “translate” or “interpret” the language. Rather, we translate or interpret the meaning, behavior, and intent behind it, which is why we can transfer and apply the same role-play principles to various areas, such the ones we can see in the following examples.

The Sensory Interpreter: NLP Representational Systems

If you’ve ever participated in any Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), chances are you have at least once gone through some sort of a similar interpreting exercise.

In case you’re not familiar with the term, NLP was developed in the 1970s by Richard Bandler and John Grinder. The core premise of representational systems is that people process the world through their senses (Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, Olfactory, Gustatory, or VAKOG). Most people have a primary or preferred “lead” system.

Please note that a similar system/approach as described here can also be applied to learning strategies, which is very useful if you’re a teacher or a facilitator handling large groups of students or participants, so the following example can be easily adapted to the context of education as well.

As mentioned, most people have a primary or preferred system through which they perceive the world. Each of these systems can be expressed through particular sets of words. Recognizing, understanding, and being able to speak “the same words” like someone else helps build deep, unconscious rapport. This ensures that our message actually “lands” and allows us to avoid talking at cross-purposes.

Think of it this way: a foreign language interpreter helps us speak the same language as the receiver of our message, whereas a sensory interpreter helps us speak their preferred mental language.

A basic form of this exercise is the one where the interpreter “translates” different statements from one representational system to another. For example, a statement belonging to the Visual system like “I see what you mean” could be interpreted as “I hear what you’re saying” in the Auditory system, or as “I’m following” in Kinesthetic.

A more complex exercise is where the interpreter translates larger chunks of speech or entire conversations, and an advanced version is when one interpreter reconciles communication among various speakers with different representational systems.

Though NLP is sometimes viewed through a negative lens since some use it solely for manipulation and influence, NLP in itself, much like dynamite, is neither good nor bad – it’s merely a tool, which becomes a handy means of communication in situations when you did your best explaining something, but the message just didn’t get across. This didn’t happen because the other person didn’t get it; rather, the message was simply broadcast at the wrong sensory frequency.

The Behavioral Interpreter: Assertiveness & NVC

We will approach behavioral aspect from two angles. The first one will feature Nonviolent Communication (NVC), and the second one Assertiveness.

In short, NVC was created by Marshall Rosenberg in the 1960s as a framework that focuses on Observations, Feelings, Needs, and Requests. Assertiveness training gained massive traction in the 1970s as a way to navigate between the extremes of passivity and aggression.

We can rely on both of these to de-escalate conflict, regulate high emotions, and learn how to set healthy boundaries without being aggressive or offensive.

In the first, NVC version of this exercise, the interpreter can, for example, focus only on translating the needs. To demonstrate, one person can roleplay an angry boss, and the other interprets their needs to employees. In this case, “You always leave things to the last minute!” can be interpreted as “The boss is feeling anxious and needs predictability and reassurance.”

Likewise, in the assertiveness version, one person can roleplay a difficult customer, while the interpreter translates the message with clear boundaries. This way, a passive-aggressive “Wow, you sure took your sweet time to bring this cold soup!” can be interpreted as “Excuse me, we’ve been waiting a while, and the soup is cold. Could you please replace it?”

An advanced version of these exercises is an interpreter that acts as a mediator or a moderator between two or several opposing or conflicting parties. Needless to say, this is an excellent practice for any role where mediation or moderation skills are a vital part of performance. Once you strip the “story” and the “attack,” you’re left with unmet needs and/or a lack of boundaries, which are then easier to satisfy, build, and/or restore.

The Contextual Interpreter: From One Context to Another

Though this exercise can be applied to virtually any context, like generational, professional vs. personal, direct vs. indirect, we are going to focus here on two aspects. First, we will talk about professional context, and after that, we will focus on culture.

“Corporate speak” often develops as a tribal language to make people sound professional, mask insecurity, or soften bad news by relying on linguistic tools such as euphemisms.

The interpreter role-play can come in handy as highly humorous and engaging, but also very useful in situations such as team building. We can use it to highlight communication barriers, promote brevity, and even break down departmental walls, if we are, for example, translating the IT language into the Marketing language.

The most basic version of this roleplay is to translate buzzword-plagued language into plain English. We have already discussed this in the post From Language to Context: On Repeat: Level 3: Context-to-Context, so you might want to check the whole series, too. This way, a sentence such as “We need to synergize our bandwidth to pivot this paradigm shift” might be simplified as “We need to work together to change our strategy.”

Of course, you can also play this version in reverse, or try a bit more advanced version, where the interpreter facilitates the meaning of two or more participants. Either way, this is an excellent way to stop hiding behind big words and being afraid to just say what we mean.

Likewise, if we switch the context from the corporate speak to multicultural environments, we can practice interpreting various cultural idiosyncrasies. For more information, check out intercultural communication frameworks, such as Edward T. Hall’s High-Context vs. Low-Context cultures, or Erin Meyer’s The Culture Map.

Such roleplay helps develop Cultural Intelligence (CQ) by teaching participants that different communication styles aren’t “wrong;” they are merely different realities that require switching certain codes.

For example, a stereotypical German manager would give a very blunt, low-context critique, such as “This report is bad. Rewrite it.” The interpreter might translate this to a high-context style of a stereotypical British manager as “This is a very interesting first draft; perhaps we could explore a few more data points in the next iteration.”

These exercises are crucial for remote, global teams as they prevent people from taking offense where none was intended and teach adaptability.

The Internal Interpreter: Inner Critic to Inner Coach

The internal interpreter roleplay stems back to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Aaron Beck) and self-compassion research (Kristin Neff). Our inner critic is that little voice that self-sabotages and undermines our actions, thoughts, and dreams, while our inner coach is the voice that provides comfort, compassion, and support to convert our negative self-talk into a pep-talk.

As people, we are more prone to be compassionate and show more understanding to others than to ourselves, so such a roleplay can be an excellent tool for reframing limiting beliefs or imposter syndrome.

This way, “I fumbled the presentation” can be interpreted as compassionate feedback by saying “These particular parts could have been delivered more smoothly. The fact that I noticed this shows that I care about my clients/colleagues, and I want to offer them the best experience. My delivery can be improved through exercise and rehearsals, which is why I’ll pay special attention to these areas next time.”

This exercise is an excellent coaching tool with which we can either practice reframing our own self-sabotaging thoughts or build the mental muscle to do so by practicing translating someone else’s negative self-talk into realistic and objective observations.

And there you have it. Whether you are dealing with a frustrated colleague, a multicultural team, or your own self-doubt, the root of the problem is rarely what is actually being said. The friction almost always comes from the “how.”

By practicing these interpreter exercises, we train ourselves to pause, listen actively, and translate the noise into meaningful communication. We step out of our own reactive patterns and become the mediators of our own conversations. And the best of all – you don’t even need a degree in linguistics to be a good interpreter; you just need the willingness to look past the words and listen for the meaning, the need, or the context beneath them.

[1] When I was studying, we didn’t have specialized courses for translators/interpreters. Rather, our studies involved a more comprehensive approach to language, including both language and literature, and if applicable, teaching.