Albl-Mikasa (2012) found that the answers from the interviews can be easily fit into Kalina’s model of the interpreting process (Kalina, 2006). Kalina divides the interpreting process into pre-, peri-, in-, post- and para-process dimensions, and Albl-Mikasa integrates elements of interpreter competence into this framework (Table 2.1). Pre-process skills are skills interpreters acquire throughout their life, and include the high-level command of working languages, general knowledge, terminology management and assignment preparation. Preparation for assignments requires the subskills, among others, of fast orientation, fast overview, and selection.

The second group of skills are peri-process skills, which are basically the interpreter’s personal skills. Based on the interviews, Albl-Mikasa identifies four groups, including teamwork and a cooperative attitude, unimposing extrovertedness, intuitive competence, together with pressure resistance and frustration tolerance.

The third group of skills making up interpreter competence are the so-called in-process skills, which are connected to the processes of source language comprehension, transfer, and target language production. In the comprehension stage, interpreters aim at a process-related analytical and/or synthetic understanding (Albl-Mikasa, 2012, p. 75). In addition, the role of contextualization is of crucial importance in SI, in other words, interpreters have to understand who exactly is speaking and from what perspective (Albl-Mikasa, 2012, p. 76). As concerns transfer skills, the most important factors mentioned are the ability to cope with the simultaneity of tasks, and the skills to take capacity relief measures. Interpreters interviewed mentioned the following production skills that are needed for SI: striking a balance between simultaneity and an appropriate EVS, and reducing the speaker’s input, which seems to be an integral part of SI. Repetitions and redundancies are eliminated, and interpreters do not make every ST item explicit, instead, they express them through intonation, later integration or competent phrasing. Another important subskill in the production phase of SI is keeping the balance between speaker fidelity and audience design. A major point here is the intention of the speaker, this is an aspect that needs to be considered by interpreters. In today’s world, interpreters also have to acquire the subskill of English as a lingua franca accommodation when interpreting into English, in other words, adapting their style and register to the listeners.

Performance skills are summarized by Albl-Mikasa (2012, p. 84–85) in the following way:

to remain calm and at ease; to keep one’s body at some distance from the booth desk and in an upright position so as to allow room for breathing; and to concentrate on a pleasant voice, felicitous prosody, neutral accent, syntactic and articulatory fluency, and a balanced décalage. Another component is to improvise rather than to keep correcting oneself and to avoid hesitations and breaks.

In addition, interpreters think that it is important to make sure that the listeners don’t notice any signs of stress, exhaustion, nervousness, and to make sure that listening to the interpretation is non-imposing and as untiring as possible for the audience (Albl-Mikasa, 2012, p. 84).

The forth group of skills belongs to post-process skills, and includes updating terminology databases and glossaries, together with quality control.

The fifth group of skills is referred to as para-process skills, such as business know-how, customer relations, professional standards, lifelong learning predilection and meta-reflection.

Table 2.1 summarizes the skills and subskills mentioned by Alb-Mikasa (2012).

Albl-Mikasa (2013) addresses the ways of developing and cultivating interpreter competence, based on interviews with practicing conference interpreters. Certain skills, such as lexical and grammatical knowledge in a foreign language, enterpreneurial skills, preparation skills, oral production skills and fluency, together with interpreting strategies can all be learnt, however, a sine qua non of becoming an interpreter is an eagerness or wish to communicate, and a joy in dealing with languages (Albl-Mikasa, 2013, p. 20–21). Interpreters interviewed agree that the necessary language competences should be acquired before the start of their interpreter training, while interpreting competence itself is acquired during interpreter training, and business competence is acquired during work.