Rules of the Floor

Multilingual events rely not only on AI technology or interpreters, but also on how speakers and hosts structure and manage the conversation. A small amount of structure can significantly improve AI speech translation accuracy and interpretation quality — ensuring nothing important gets lost.

These “Rules of the Floor” are designed to help hosts and speakers create the best possible conditions for accurate voice translation, consistent interpretation quality, and a smooth multilingual experience for all participants.

1. One Speaker at a Time

• Please wait a few seconds after the previous speaker finishes before you begin speaking.

Clear handovers prevent voices overlapping and help interpreters and AI capture every voice separately.
Using clear handover cues makes turn-taking obvious for everyone. For example:

• “What do you think?”

• “Over to you.”

• “That’s all from me.”

2. Speak at a Steady, Natural Pace

• Speak naturally, at a steady speed, and pause briefly between sentences.

Having a clear agenda prepared will help you maintain a natural pace and a structured speech, rather than short or fragmented phrases.
This is especially important for AI speech translation and closed captions, providing enough time to process and deliver accurate translation.

3. Mute When Not Speaking

• Keep your mic muted when you are not speaking.

This will prevent creating background noises interfering with the meeting audio. Even subtle sounds can distract other participants and make the sound of current speaker unclear, affecting quality of AI speech translation and interpretation.

4. Quality Microphone

• Use a plugged-in microphone or headset instead of built-in microphones from your device.

Sound quality directly impacts AI speech translation accuracy and interpretation quality.
To provide better sound quality, keep approximately 3 cm distance from your headset microphone - to avoid distorted sound, or breathing into the mic. When using a directional microphone, keep it at approximately 15 cm distance, speaking directly towards the microphone.

5. Stable internet connection

• Use a stable internet connection throughout the meeting.

We recommend using wired Ethernet connection when possible, or a strong WiFi signal.
Close unused applications, tabs and downloads to keep connection stable and your audio uninterrupted during the meeting.

6. Change Floor Languages Predictably

• If your meeting includes more than one floor language, language changes should be handled clearly and predictably to give the AI system and interpreters enough time to adjust accordingly.

When speakers switch languages unexpectedly or too quickly, parts of the speech may be processed in the wrong language when using AI speech translation. To prevent this, avoid changing languages mid-sentence and pause briefly between speakers to ensure the previous speech is fully processed before continuing.

7. Use Clear, Structured Speech

• Speak in full, complete sentences, in your native language — or the language you are most comfortable with — whenever possible.

Incomplete sentences, unclear grammar, or inconsistent pronunciation may reduce recognition accuracy for AI speech translation.
Strong accents or unclear delivery can also increase the cognitive load for interpreters and affect interpretation quality.
Clear, confident speech helps both AI systems and interpreters deliver accurate and reliable service.

Best Practices for Any Meeting or Event

These practices apply to any meeting or event and help enhance clarity, engagement, and collaboration.

A structured meeting flow, a clear agenda, quality audio equipment, and a stable internet connection create the best conditions for accurate and consistent AI speech translation, closed captions, and remote simultaneous interpretation.

Thank you for supporting these Rules of the Floor and helping create a smooth, inclusive, and reliable multilingual experience for all participants.