Experience of the ones that went before you
Texts were kept in the original state and language.
Last week I won the best start-up pitch award presented by Dutch Optical Centre and I really feel indebted
to say thank you for your self-presentation course I followed. The award is an indication that you are a very good teacher
I must say. Thanks once again Gerben. [...] I actually applied all the principles you taught me and they worked perfectly.
The feedback I got from the audience was amazing and I mean I will feel guilty if I don’t say a thank you to you.
- Tope, PhD student at TUDelft -
Often, presentation trainers work from their own specialty. Maybe they are a natural example on stage,
or they can quickly relate to the challenges their trainees face or they teach from a clear and compelling method.
The great thing about Gerben is that he can and will do all these things, depending on what the group needs. I have
observed this with groups we trained together and experienced it when he trained me and my team. Great combination
of skills with matching results!
- Stijn Cornelissen, founder of Analytic Storytelling -
Ik heb diep respect voor hoe je met die eindpresentaties voor letterlijk iedereen spot-on een persoonlijk
advies op maat fabriekt, petje af. Ik heb door je humorvolle begeleiding en oprechte interesse de lol en de ruimte in
het presenteren weer teruggevonden (en die waren ver, ver te zoeken). Heel erg bedankt!
- Mariëlle Rietkerk, PhD student at TUDelft -
I first became familiar with public speaking skills through Gerben in a workshop organized by TU Delft AI
Initiative. Highly inspired, I took the "Public Speaking Training" course afterward in March 2023. I gained a lot of
knowledge and experience through the content of this course and felt like my presentations will not going to be the
same as before. Recently, I gave a presentation to a large and knowledgeable audience in the AI domain. For the actual
first time, I used the 4th focus point (learned through the course!) and let my audience "imagine" my research story.
I was confident enough to step out of the presentation format of others and let my inner presenter get out and tell her
story in a way she founds more interesting! So I told the audience to close their eyes and imagine my research storyline.
Of course, I was nervous before and during the presentation, but I got very positive feedback from the audience,
my supervisors, and other PhDs. Now I truly know that it was really worth it to "float"!
I sincerely thank Gerben for the amazing course and I'm sure that I'm gonna benefit from the course content and
experience more in the future. It was just the beginning!
- Fatemeh Mostafavi, PhD student at TUDelft -
Ik ken Gerben als een gedreven professionele trainer en acteur die altijd bezig is om zijn trainingen
te vernieuwen. Hij is betrokken bij de mensen waar hij mee samenwerkt en traint en wil ze echt verder helpen met hun
presentatievaardigheden en met name op het gebied van hoe zij zichzelf beter kunnen presenteren en het publiek kunnen
meekrijgen. Het is prettig samenwerken met Gerben!
- Maddy Peters, coordinator Graduateschool Tudelft -
My first in-person conference talk went very well and I was so excited when many attendees came to tell me
that they enjoyed my presentation a lot. Many thanks to Gerben, without his help from the public speaking training
course in TU Delft, I wouldn’t have achieved this. I will definitely recommend this training course to my fellow PhD
students at TU Delft. Thanks again!
- Lijun Lyu, PhD student at TUDelft -
I don't know if the trainer had any experience on online presentations before, but I was really surprised
to see how easily he could switch the course, that was mainly taught for offline presentation, to give it online.
He was able to give specific advices for online presentations, besides of presentations in general. I really like the course.
- Anonymous, PhD student at TUDelft -
Gerben has impressed me by showing the strong impact of simple techniques on the way you present.
In an approachable and relaxed manner he pushes you to the boundaries of your comfort zone, where he
shows you how a set of basic exercises can greatly improve the way you present yourself to others.
- Diederik, Consultant at BCG -
Door praktische, leuke oefeningen maakt hij je van de verschillende aspecten van communiceren zelfbewuster.
Zijn enthousiasme en onfeilbare gevoel voor lichte confrontatie zorgen dat je 'live' vooruitgang boekt.
Kortom een efficiente en leuke manier om veel over presenteren, en over jezelf te leren.
- Alexander, Marketing Consultant -
