Take a risk

Take a risk
That’s me in the photo. (Some would say it’s my good side.)

It can be scary to take a risk. But as the saying goes: No risk, no reward.

Last month, I spoke at the 2025 edition of the Summer School of Rhetoric in Hämeenlinna, Finland. My talk was about how speakers can connect with their audiences when speaking.

One of the points I stressed was the importance of audience interaction. Not just asking a quick question or getting a show of hands—but truly involving people in the experience.

I had planned a couple of exercises—which I did, and which worked well—but on the morning of the conference, I had an idea.

𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗶𝘂𝘀

Jacob Collier is a British singer, songwriter and producer. A truly talented young man. I discovered him a few years ago.

One of his signature moves is to turn his audiences into enormous choirs. The effect is truly beguiling. Here’s an example so you can see (and hear) what I am talking about.

So I decided to take a risk.

𝗔 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗿

Inspired by Jacob Collier, at one point during my talk, I invited the entire audience—200 people—to stand up and become a choir. I divided them into groups and conducted them in harmony for about 30 to 45 seconds.

It was a bold move and I was so nervous. I had never done it before.

And Finns aren’t exactly known for spontaneous group singing!

But I wanted to try; I wanted to take a risk. So I did.

And the audience sang, and they were magnificent, and they loved it!

It created a moment of surprise, energy, laughter, connection—and it brought my point home in a way no PowerPoint slide ever could.

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿 … take a risk

In a LinkedIn post, my good friend Peter McKenzie encouraged his followers to “try more things, take more risks, embrace more discomfort”.

Peter couldn’t have been more right. (And if you want excellent tips and insights on leadership and optimal performance, you should follow / connect with him.)

If you want to grow as a speaker, you have to be willing to take a risk. There are many ways to do so, such as:

  • Telling a personal story about a fear, a failure or a moment of doubt.
  • Giving a presentation without slides.
  • Doing an interactive exercise.
  • Using humour or poking fun at yourself.
  • Using a prop.

The key is to step outside your comfort zone in some way.

Because when you take a risk—and it works—that’s when the magic happens on stage.

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Testimonials

John delivered a keynote address about the importance of public speaking to 80 senior members of Gore’s Medical Device Europe team at an important sales event. He was informative, engaging and inspirational. Everyone was motivated to improve their public speaking skills. Following his keynote, John has led public speaking workshops for Gore in Barcelona and Munich. He is an outstanding speaker who thinks carefully about the needs of his audience well before he steps on stage.

Karsta Goetze

TA Leader, Gore and Associates

I first got in touch with John while preparing to speak at TED Global about my work on ProtonMail. John helped me to sharpen the presentation and get on point faster, making the talk more focused and impactful. My speech was very well received, has since reached almost 1.8 million people and was successful in explaining a complex subject (email encryption) to a general audience.

Andy Yen

CEO, Proton Technologies

John gave the opening keynote on the second day of our unit’s recent offsite in Geneva, addressing an audience of 100+ attendees with a wealth of tips and techniques to deliver powerful, memorable presentations. I applied some of these techniques the very next week in an internal presentation, and I’ve been asked to give that presentation again to senior management, which has NEVER happened before. John is one of the greatest speakers I know and I can recommend his services without reservation.

David Lindelöf

Senior Data Scientist, Expedia Group

After a morning of team building activities using improvisation as the conduit, John came on stage to close the staff event which was organised in Chamonix, France. His energy and presence were immediately felt by all the members of staff. The work put into the preparation of his speech was evident and by sharing some his own stories, he was able to conduct a closing inspirational speech which was relevant, powerful and impactful for all at IRU. The whole team left feeling engaged and motivated to tackle the 2019 objectives ahead. Thank you, John.

Umberto de Pretto

Secretary General, World Road Transport Organization

I was expecting a few speaking tips and tricks and a few fun exercises, but you went above and beyond – and sideways. You taught me to stand tall. You taught me to anchor myself. You taught me to breathe. You taught me to open up. You taught me to look people in the eye. You taught me to tell the truth. You taught me to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. I got more than I bargained for in the best possible way.

Thuy Khoc-Bilon

World Cancer Day Campaign Manager, Union for International Cancer Control

John gave a brilliant presentation on public speaking during the UN EMERGE programme in Geneva (a two days workshop on leadership development for a group of female staff members working in the UN organizations in Geneva). His talk was inspirational and practical, thanks to the many techniques and tips he shared with the audience. His teaching can dramatically change our public speaking performance and enable us as presenters to have a real and powerful impact. Thank you, John, for your great contribution!

Sara Canna

HR Specialist, World Health Organization

John is a genuine communication innovator. His seminars on gamification of public speaking learning and his interactive Rhetoric game at our conference set the tone for change and improvement in our organisation. The quality of his input, the impact he made with his audience and his effortlessly engaging style made it easy to get on board with his core messages and won over some delegates who were extremely skeptical as to the efficacy of games for learning. I simply cannot recommend him highly enough.

Thomas Scott

National Education Director, Association of Speakers Clubs UK

John joined our Global Sales Meeting in Segovia, Spain and we all participated in his “Improv(e) your Work!” session. I say “all” because it really was all interactive, participatory, learning and enjoyable. The session surprised everybody and was a fresh-air activity that brought a lot of self-reflection and insights to improve trust and confidence in each other inside our team. It´s all about communication and a good manner of speaking!”

Jon Lopez

General Manager Europe, Hayward Industries

Thank you very much for the excellent presentation skills session. The feedback I received was very positive. Everyone enjoyed the good mix of listening to your speech, co-developing a concrete take-away and the personal learning experience. We all feel more devoted to the task ahead, more able to succeed and an elevated team spirit. Delivering this in a short time, both in session and in preparation, is outstanding!

Henning Dehler

CFO European Dairy Supply Chain & Operations, Danone

Thanks to John’s excellent workshop, I have learned many important tips and techniques to become an effective public speaker. John is a fantastic speaker and teacher, with extensive knowledge of the field. His workshop was a great experience and has proven extremely useful for me in my professional and personal life.

Eric Thuillard

Senior Sales Manager, Sunrise Communications

John’s presentation skills training was a terrific investment of my time. I increased my skills in this important area and feel more comfortable when speaking to an audience. John provided the right mix between theory and practice.

Diego Brait

Director of the Jura Region, BKW Energie AG

Be BOLD. Those two words got stuck in my head and in the heads of all those ADP leaders and associates that had the privilege to see John on stage. He was our keynote speaker at our annual convention in Barcelona, and his message still remains! John puts his heart in every word. Few speakers are so credible, humble and yet super strong with large audiences!

Guadalupe Garcia

Senior Director and Talent Partner, ADP International