Maarten leyts

Wij, West-Vlamingen, niet verstaanbaar? Grapjes dat we de 'g' en de 'h' niet uit elkaar kunnen houden? Opmerkingen dat we onze woorden inslikken? Goedkope kritiek lijkt ons, want toppolitici en -bedrijven smeken om West-Vlaamse woordvoerders. En dat is niet toevallig, zeggen ze.  Barend Leyts is mogelijk de belangrijkste woordvoerder van het land. Immers, de gewezen journalist is de Nederlandstalige spreekbuis van premier Charles Michel, die zelf aandrong op de komst van de Pannenaar. "West-Vlamingen kijken met een open blik naar de wereld, gebruiken hun gezond verstand en staan met beide voeten op de grond. Dit zijn belangrijke troeven voor een woordvoerder", zegt Barend Leyts. "West-Vlaams is trouwens een goede basis om je standaardtaal te verbeteren. Dat weet ik als germanist. Het is een zeer homogeen dialect: je kan het spreken van De Panne tot Knokke-Heist, van Roeselare tot Kortrijk. Dat zorgt voor een sterk gemeenschapsgevoel.

A good keynote speech should inspire and unify an audience with a common purpose. He or she should also provide direction for the conference purposes and goals. This sets the tone for the event; which can launch a conference with clarity or, at its worst, move it forward with non-existent or muddled ideas.

Some say it is the port to Asia, but last week Singapore was definitely the port to the Future as LaFutura hosted their annual trend event in the vibrant city. While the first participants flew in over the weekend, to discover the city and their co-participants, the real party started first on Monday afternoon. A bus full of enthusiastic future addicts , that could not wait to get their forthcoming journey going. That is how we kicked off LaFutura in Singapore, a trend journey hosted by TrendONE & Klubhaus , mainly organized by Brian Tiong  from B-side . What a journey it was, from a lecture regarding smart cities and smart resource systems at the Future Cities Laboratory – Create Centre , to meeting human robot Nadine at the Nanyang Institute for media Innovation , it was a day full of highs that is for sure. Talking about highs, before a lovely traditional Singapore diner, the journey led us all up into the sky with the famous Singapore Flyer, the second highest Fer

If you want to start a  consulting business , it's best to start planning a year or two ahead if you can. Build relationships with your current work environment with colleagues, suppliers, competitors—anyone who will be a good contact for you when you head out on your own. Below are six steps to take before starting a consulting business of your own. Build up Your Rolodex Use professional networking websites like  LinkedIn  to connect with others in your industry. It can be a great way to stay in touch with key people and seek introductions. The best rule is—if you meet—connect. You never know who you may want to reach out to later, and online tools make it easy to find people from many years prior. Find Your Niche What service needs are missing in your industry? Where do people struggle the most? It is where your biggest opportunities can be found. List your strengths and areas of specialty. Who can benefit the most from this knowledge? It is your ideal client.

Meetings are as diverse in their purpose and structure as the speakers who are on the platform at these meetings. They can be international, national, or regional. They can be internal meetings, external meetings, sales meetings, client conferences, annual conferences or leadership retreats. Once you have determined the purpose, theme, and structure of your meeting, then comes selecting and hiring the perfect speakers for your event. There are two types of speakers you may want to hire and retain for your event. There are keynote speakers and plenary speakers. Both add value to your meeting, but for different reasons. Read on to learn about the difference between these two types of speakers. What is a Keynote Speaker? A Keynote Speaker ’s main purpose is to reiterate and drive home the meeting’s main idea or theme. In public speaking, the word keynote refers to the principal and underlying theme of a larger idea hence why a Keynote Speaker addresses usually re