Interpreter-trainees are often given advice similar to the following: listen more closely to what you are producing: keep one ear uncovered when interpreting simultaneously; if you cannot think of a word sit back and think about the meaning; avoid making mental comments and reflecting on the quality of interpreting. Despite the differing value of such advice, all of the suggestions are based on one common premise: monitoring processes, or the control of speech production, are involved in interpreting and there is a necessary balance between the division of tasks, i.e. listening, monitoring and speaking, which must be attained to guarantee high-quality interpreting. Accordingly, the tasks must be controlled by capacity managing skills to ensure that they are not carried out to the detriment of one another. This paper attempts to concentrate on the monitoring processes governing interpreting to increase the understanding and, in turn, facilitate the establishing of this balance.