Do you need to translate Powerpoint slides for an Arabic-speaking audience? We have translated tens of thousands of slides between English and Arabic for top consulting firms. Our Arabic Powerpoint translation service blends speed, quality, and an eye for detail to make your slides stand out.
But what makes Arabic PowerPoint translation different? Isn’t translating bullet points and charts easier than more complex documents? Unfortunately, it’s not so simple. Translating slides presents several problems.
The Unique Challenges of Arabic Powerpoint Translation
1) Compact Style. PowerPoint writing tries to convey as much information as possible on each slide. This leads to a punchy, telegraphic style in English. The usual rules about what makes up a full sentence are discarded. Instead, the goal instead is to fit as much information as possible into a small package. Unfortunately, good Arabic style does not lend itself to the abbreviation. Full names of ministries, business terms, and complete sentences are still preferable in Arabic PowerPoint writing. This can lead to a mismatch between a piece of text and the space available for it on the slide. Careful translators must strike a balance between these competing demands.
2) Business Terms and Acronyms. Consultants often assume readers will be familiar with English business and economic jargon. This can create several issues for translators. Arabic readers might be used to seeing the term in English but unfamiliar with how it is translated into Arabic. Or Egyptian business readers might be used to seeing one term while Saudis expect another. Thus, good translators must be aware of how the audience is used to seeing individual terms in the specific business context.
3) Formatting. Arabic is a right-to-left (RTL) language. This means that all tables, graphs, and slides with a horizontal orientation must be flipped to have the correct flow in Arabic. While there are some tricks to speed things up, this often requires a complete re-formatting of the slide. Inexperienced translators either skip this step altogether or don’t know all the formatting tricks to flip slides quickly and neatly.
4) The Need for Speed. Business and government move fast. Presentations are usually completed the day before a meeting and must be translated overnight. This leads to a time crunch that amplifies the other challenges described above. There is often little time to research a difficult term or formatting trick. The translator must know enough to do it right the first time because there’s no time for revision.
Our Approach to PowerPoint & Consulting Translation Projects
1) Custom Regional Glossaries. Our team has developed a list of common yet confusing terms that occur in government and consulting projects. We have particularly deep experience in the GCC states, Saudi Arabia, and UAE. We adapt to client style preferences and use custom glossaries to keep all linguists on the team aligned.
2) 24/7 Team for Big Jobs Done Fast. We have a team of linguists in strategic locations around the globe so we can provide overnight and super-rush Powerpoint translation. How fast? Up to 1,000 pages in a week. See our detailed case studies below.
3) Powerpoint Formatting Expertise. We’ve developed an internal library of PowerPoint tips and tricks to help linguists mirror slides in a fraction of the time. This means that your Arabic decks will always look neat and professional for clients.
Case Studies
- 1,000 Page Slide Deck into English in One Week. The client needed a strategic plan translated from Arabic to English on a super-rush basis. With a team of 20 linguists, we delivered the priority sections overnight and finished the full PowerPoint document in one week.
- GCC Regulatory Support. Translated regulations impacting clients’ products in GCC states. Translate PowerPoint briefings and correspondence for cabinet-level officials and above.
- Gulf Governmental Affairs. Translated graphics-heavy PowerPoint slides for consulting firm supporting a GCC organization. Our team ensured all slides were formatted to match Arabic’s right-to-left orientation and conformed to the project glossary and style guide.
- Read our full list of industries and case studies here.
Need to Discuss a Project?
To discuss an Arabic PowerPoint translation project, call +1 202 753 9834 or get in touch here. We respond outside normal business hours.
