O NATAL ESTÁ A CHEGAR - Crossingwords

Christmas is coming? That’s right...so it is. We may not have realised it yet, but we’re only about two away months from sitting down to Christmas dinner and its already time to take a look back at the year’s performance. I’m not sure where the time goes, or who’s to blame for the weeks and years that fly by, but I do know that this blurring of the seasons doesn’t really give us time to mentally prepare for the next season, that always seems to hit us by surprise.

So, what am I getting at, with all this talk of the seasons and Christmas? Just to remind you that the festive season is a good opportunity to score points with a (potential) client, to show them how we really do try hard to get to know them a little better, especially in the case of direct clients or small businesses. We have this custom of sending Christmas greetings, in mass proportions, over the holiday period. Now there’s nothing wrong with this gesture, but we could go a step further, because the concept could have very different meanings than we may give it credit for. We could, in some situations, wish a Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate it, or be mindful of a time when another client celebrates Ramadan; or be aware that your client in China may be less available during the first days of February 2019, due to the Chinese New Year. These are some examples of showing commitment, care and a genuine interest for those you work with, and with whom you establish a business relationship.

There is effectively an (insurmountable) barrier between our professional and personal lives, but when we have access to information that is public, it’s in our hands to show them we’re thinking about them. Above all, it’s about respect for others.

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Tina Duarte

Tina Duarte graduated in Translation (Interpreting branch) at the Instituto Politécnico de Leiria, and she has been working as a freelance translator since 2006, under the Boreal Translations brand. Before that, she worked in the export area, was a trainer, was (deeply) involved in the foundation and promotion of an organization related to the defence of the natural and built heritage. She is Vice-President of APTRAD – the Portuguese Association of Translation and Interpreting Professionals, where she has, among other activities, actively participated in the organization of face-to-face and online training events and international conferences in the field of translation and interpreting. She loves the beach, but lives in the countryside. She loves to read and even more to write. She finds it funny when people describe her as being an incorrigible talker and she continues to believe that she would make a good storyteller.

CHRISTMAS IS COMING!

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