Dr Jonathan Downie

BP18 Translation Conference speaker Dr Jonathan Downie

Dr Jonathan Downie is a consultant interpreter, researcher and author on interpreting. His first book, Being a Successful Interpreter: Adding Value and Delivering Excellence was published by Routledge in 2016 and won Best Interpreting Book at the ProZ.com Community Choice Awards. He has also written for several client-facing magazines and publications such as Flybe’s Flight Time magazine, the Conference News and Eventopedia blogs, Executive Assistant and Executive Secretary magazine.

For business’ sake, get off your butt

BP18 Translation Conference Jonathan Downie For business sake get off your butt

This session has a simple theme: if we want to grow our businesses and improve how people perceive our work, we need to get into the worlds where our clients live. From meeting giant events agencies at tradeshows to sharing a nice cup of tea in a Convention Bureau, this talk tells the ongoing story of what happens when one interpreter decides to go from passively waiting for jobs to plunging headlong into meeting potential clients on their turf.

With more and more work platforms for translators and interpreters being created every day and thousands of marketing experts telling us that we can gain great clients without ever getting out of our pyjamas, in this talk I will argue that face-to-face meetings (and cups of tea) will always be a vital part of any growing business and I will share stories of the expected and unexpected results of being committed to leaving the house to find clients.

This session is scheduled for Thursday, 19 April 2018.

Pitching for people who hate sales and marketing

BP18 Translation Conference Jonathan Downie Pitching for people who hate sales and marketing

If there is one thing that strikes fear into many translators and interpreters, it is marketing and selling their own services. Yet, if there is one thing that many translators and interpreters love, it is writing and talking about their work. This hands-on session will show how our love of writing and speaking can be turned into pitches that clients love and which make them want to hire us,

Based on the simple example of pitching to client magazines, the workshop then extends the techniques out to price quotes and contacting potential clients. At all stages, the emphasis is on talking about our services in terms of the value they bring to clients, using terms that clients are familiar with.

This session is scheduled for Friday, 20 April 2018.