Asked by... Manuela Schmied-Wolfsbauer

You were a finalist at the 1st International Speaker Slam in Dresden. Please tell us about it...

The event is similar to a poetry slam, where lots of people come together and talk about a topic in a given time. In this case, we were able to choose the topic ourselves. You stand on stage and present your topic briefly and crisply, full of heart and passion. It was very exciting.

And what was your topic?

My topic was 'Stumbling blocks for young managers - when you take over as team leader for the first time'. There are many stumbling blocks on the path from specialist to manager. This is a topic close to my heart, which I also advocate as a coach and mentor. I talked about how I became a manager myself at the age of 23 and how the couch and a bag of potato chips became my favorite friends because I came home in the evening so exhausted and exhausted. But I only had 120 seconds to speak. So I had to be brief. But getting to the heart of the matter is exciting. What's more, it wasn't just me on stage. There were 240 speakers from 20 countries. There was a live broadcast from Canada and a top-class jury of speakers and authors. When you stand in front of an audience and a jury like that, you get stage fright - despite all the experience I have.

What were the other participants' contributions about?

There was a lot about leadership and corporate management. One contribution came from the financial sector and addressed investments by young people who want to secure their pension in old age. Or the presentation on how to find the right online store for your wedding. A photographer talked about the best way to present yourself. And the topic of women's sexuality also came up.

How were you able to convince people in such a short time?

I'm a fan of storytelling, as you already know from my contributions to Galvanotechnik. I don't want to tell a dry technical story, I want to tell my own story. And I think that's where this passion came in, because I know what it's like for a young manager who is taking over as team leader for the first time. I interwove that quite well with my own story. You have so many of your own ideas as a young manager and there is a risk that you don't take the team with you. Or you don't yet know your own decision-making framework and then don't dare to make a decision because you don't understand the far-reaching consequences. These were things that went down really well.