I was asked this question before I had ever taught a single presentation course in my live.
More than twenty years ago, I was sent to Eindhoven Univerity of Technology for a special assignment. Peter Timmers, the director of Buro Wittenburg, where I occasionally worked as a role-play actor, was convinced it was exactly the right job for me.
And here’s the thing: one of the univeristy’s postgarduate programmes, Logistic Management Systems, attracting students from all over the world, had a problem with there presentations. The programme worked with the university of California, Berkeley, in terms of content the programme was clearly the strongest, but their colleagues from Berkeley were so persuasive on stage that they seemed more knowledgable. So they asked me:”Can you teach us to speak like an American?”
This was a pivotal moment in my life. Although it seemed ridiculous to teach these students to present like Americans – and quite apart from whether I could even do that – I accepted te assignment.
That was the beginning of my development as a presentation skills trainer. I drew on my own training at drama school in Arnhem, combined with the academic knowledge I had gained while studying Architecture at Delft University of Technology.
With a healthy dose of bravado and intuition, I put together a two-day presentation skills course. For years after that, I worked with students from many different cultures at Eindhoven University of Technology on public speaking. Naturally, we also explored the persuasiveness, exaggeration and confidence that Americans can bring to a presentation. But I have always believed that you can only present authentically as an American if you actually are one.