Celebrate the Season of Growth

To celebrate this season of growth, I’m excited to offer a special 10% discount on all my translation and interpretation services for the whole month of April.

Whether you need a certified translation or interpretation for personal or business needs, my high-quality services are designed to meet your expectations and deliver the results you require.

Don’t let language barriers hold you back from reaching your business’s full potential. Unlock global opportunities with human language interpretation and translation services for in-person, virtual and hybrid events.

Don’t miss this exclusive offer to take advantage of my professional translation and interpretation services at a discounted rate!

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The Secrets of Sardinia’s Centenarians

For the last few months, I’ve been participating in ZOE, a science-backed personalised nutrition plan developed by the epidemiologist Professor Tim Spector.

It’s not always easy to stick to the programme, especially when I’m travelling, but it works wonders for my energy levels when I do.

If you’re interested in healthy living, I thoroughly recommend the ZOE podcast.

A recent episode on Blue Zones – regions where people live longer than average – piqued my interest because the first Blue Zone to be discovered was on the Italian island of Sardinia. Sardinia has nearly ten times more centenarians per capita than the US.

This is partly due to genetics, but the traditional Sardinian lifestyle is also crucial. Here’s what I learned:

• Sardinians prioritise family and friendship (like most Italians!), reducing the damaging effects of loneliness.
• They eat a healthy diet of wholegrain bread, beans, vegetables, fruit, and pecorino cheese high in omega-3 fatty acids—all washed down with a glass of flavonoid-rich Cannonau wine. Meat is reserved for special occasions.
• They get plenty of ‘incidental exercise’ from growing their own vegetables, hunting, and walking up and down the island’s mountainous terrain.

Personally, I’m doing pretty well with the first two, but I need to work on getting more incidental exercise – it doesn’t help that there are not very many mountains in London or Cambridge, where I split my time!

P.S. If you want to try ZOE, sign up here to get 10% off

Lessons in the art of negotiation

Spring signals the start of a busy season of European Work Council (EWC) meetings. I’ve been interpreting for EWCs since 2011, working with more than 250 different companies, many of which have become long-term clients.

If you’ve never heard of EWCs, they are forums where the management of large companies can inform their employees of their plans and consult them on decisions affecting their employment.

Under European law, companies with more than 1,000 employees in the European Economic Area must establish an EWC if their workers request it.

When those discussions concern redundancies or other major changes, they sometimes become heated. Occasionally, I must find a polite way to convey a string of Italian expletives!

The ideal outcome is when both parties reach a compromise, but this involves hours of intense negotiation. Over the years, I’ve noticed successful negotiators often exhibit two key behaviours:

• Staying calm – This might seem obvious, but when participants maintain a composed demeanour, it puts everyone at ease and helps prevent disagreements from escalating. This also applies to my role as an interpreter. I must convey the speaker’s emotion while remaining emotionally detached. When I feel the tension rising, returning my attention to my breath for a moment helps me stay focused.
• Being culturally agile—EWCs can involve employees from ten or more countries with distinctive communication styles. Some nationalities are very direct, while others are very animated and expressive. Understanding those cultural nuances can help ensure the conversation gets off on the right foot and allows you to tailor your approach to the negotiation.

FIND OUT ABOUT HOW I CAN SUPPORT WITH EWC MEETINGS