Simultaneous interpreting is an intricate cognitive process requiring specialized strategies and competences. Due to the complex nature of the overall process, it can be useful to identify and isolate individual operations, to practice them separately and to automate them as far as possible. Researchers and teachers have therefore developed various preparatory exercises in order to facilitate the initiation into simultaneous interpreting. In the following section these exercises will be introduced briefly, their advantages and disadvantages will be highlighted and their didactic relevance will be evaluated.