Experience of the ones that went before you
Texts were kept in the original state and language.

Thank you once again for your fantastic guidance throughout your course. From all the additional courses I took at the UT this was by far the most beneficial one for me and if I had any say in it, it would be part of the curriculum for all grad students.
- Lars, PhD student at University of Twente -

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 -

The enthousiasm of Gerben is intoxicating. He knows how to play his audience in a positive way, making them feel comfortable and uncomfortable when needed.
- Anonymous student at University of Twente -

Just wanted to thank you again for all the knowledge you imparted throughout these 4 sessions. It was wonderful learning from you, I feel more confident than ever before regarding speaking in public, and the toolbox you provided me with will help me keep improving. The whole experience was truly transformative for my entire approach to presentations and talks. I can’t imagine gaining the same skills from any other medium than I did through your course.
- Abhyuday Aditya, PhD student at TUDelft -

This course was beyond my expectations and has changed my outlook on presenting. During the first day of the course you learn that presenting is a form of sharing information and that the main thing is to advance the conversation with the audience about this information and that this information is not something 'that is yours'. This view on presenting has changed a lot for me because this mindset also makes me less nervous about presenting. [...]
At first I thought the course days were quite long, but you didn't notice that during the course and the time flew by. There was a good balance between theory and practice/exercise.
The teacher created a safe atmosphere in which everyone dared to practice and be honest about their barriers in presenting. The teacher is really concerned with your learning curve and gives quick and constructive feedback and is encouraging in his attitude. In addition, the teacher is very approachable and also shares his own experiences about presenting, which helps.
I learned lessons about presenting for the rest of my career, so I would definitely recommend this course to someone else.
- Anonymous PhD student at Erasmus University -

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 Agbana, PhD student at TUDelft -

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 found 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 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 -