{"id":26860,"date":"2026-04-06T20:25:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T18:25:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.speakersclub.nl\/?p=26860"},"modified":"2026-09-01T09:33:36","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T07:33:36","slug":"you-are-never-inspiring-to-everyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.speakersclub.nl\/en\/je-bent-nooit-voor-iedereen-inspirerend\/","title":{"rendered":"You're never inspiring to everyone."},"content":{"rendered":"

You are never inspiring to everyone<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A Blog by Niek van den Adel<\/a>, founder and professional speaker.<\/p>\n

This morning Anna was at breakfast and said:<\/p>\n

\u201cDad, you're the stupidest dad I've ever had.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I think she found me a bit uninspiring.<\/p>\n

What exactly is an inspirational speaker?<\/h2>\n

I notice I still struggle with that word. We use it willy-nilly to announce something that we hope will revitalise our lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd here it is, the most\u00a0Inspiring speaker<\/a>\u00a0from the Netherlands!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I'm backstage and I'm thinking: right then, brilliant. I'll have to see about making that happen.<\/p>\n

Who am I to decide if something is inspiring?\u00a0Inspire<\/em><\/strong>, to give life to, is only possible if the recipient also allows it.<\/p>\n

We're addicted to it. Inspiration porn, I call it.
Unless I often see that speakers quickly head towards\u00a0Expiration<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0gaan, which literally means \u201cto die\u201d.<\/p>\n

How a hall drains you<\/h2>\n

That's often how I feel too, when I'm sitting in the hall listening to the next attention-seeking director who considers their own time more important than the people in the hall.<\/p>\n

The quiet 20 minutes over his time and literally sucks the air out of the room.\u00a0\u201cOh, I completely forgot about that. They liked it, didn't they?\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Yes, pancake. Then you should have prepared yourself thoroughly.<\/p>\n

Speaking is a craft. Just like being a director. As an inspiring speaker, you have the responsibility to add energy, not to drain it.<\/p>\n

Inspiration is a by-product<\/h2>\n

Films can inspire. Conversations. Books. And so on. But how do you become an inspiring speaker?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the trick.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not about what you say, but what you do. The audience is the hero.,\u00a0Not you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So your story serves one purpose: for people in the audience to experience emotion, confusion, or growth.
Not you<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Inspiration is not the goal. It's the byproduct. The byproduct of your vulnerability. Of you believing in yourself. Of how you shake hands at the coffee table.<\/p>\n

And so you go from being an egocentric speaker on a stage to someone who actually makes an impact as an inspiring speaker.<\/p>\n

Stop spewing content<\/h2>\n

Time is a precious commodity. Perhaps the most precious.<\/p>\n

And just whining on that stage, spewing out content because your ego deems it so important to be heard, or regurgitating those slideshows full of bullet points hoping people will remember them\u2026<\/p>\n

Stop doing that. Be as inspiring for your audience as you are for your children.<\/p>\n

Inspiration isn't on the stage<\/h2>\n

Okay, that last one might be a bad example if you ask Anna about it this morning. \"\ud83d\ude09\"<\/p>\n

But be inspiring in the workplace. By talking about your sporting achievements. About a nice conversation you've had. That you've visited your mother-in-law.
Whatever it is.<\/p>\n

As an inspiring speaker, your work doesn't begin on the stage, but in how you live.<\/p>\n

It's about what you make them feel.<\/h2>\n

And then consider that it's not about what you say, but what you make the other person feel. And then, perhaps, you might be inspiring.<\/p>\n

And the next day at work, you're announced at the coffee machine:<\/p>\n

Ladies and gentlemen, here he is! Our most inspiring colleague of 2026!<\/em><\/p>\n

Well, good luck with your decaf latte macchiato with soy milk. That's inspiring too!<\/p>\n

\u00a0
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVIEW MASTER CLASSES
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Would you like support, coaching or to follow a programme. Take\u00a0contact<\/b><\/a>\u00a0with us. You can also take another look at the\u00a0download<\/b><\/a>\u00a0page for your own further development!<\/em><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

So always determine what is inspiring for your audience<\/h2>\n

Have a look at the video. What suits you?<\/p>\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/962eYqe–Yc?si=B0xFebRzY_hqeQK1<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inspiration. Overrated? Or can you actually use it and what is it exactly? And what's the difference between Inspirare and Expirare? You can read all about it here.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":26865,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[127,129,117,119,124,128,122,125,118,121],"class_list":["post-26860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiratie","tag-communicatie","tag-inspiratie","tag-opening-speech","tag-opening-voorbeelden","tag-presentatievaardigheden","tag-speech","tag-spreken-voor-groepen","tag-storytelling-in-speech","tag-team-speech","tag-tips"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speakersclub.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speakersclub.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speakersclub.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speakersclub.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speakersclub.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26860"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.speakersclub.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26885,"href":"https:\/\/www.speakersclub.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26860\/revisions\/26885"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speakersclub.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.speakersclub.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speakersclub.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.speakersclub.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}