Multi talent Mark Robinson shares his presentation skills

19 juni 2018

“I think it is important to feel free to speak fearlessly in front of a group”, TMC’s Employeneur Mark Robinson says. “During one of my first presentation skill training sessions, a woman broke down crying while giving her presentation. By the end of the day she was confidently speaking in front of the group. This was a breakthrough moment which highlighted exactly why I’m doing this: to empower people to get their ideas across clearly to groups and, in so doing, to fill them with self-confidence.” Although Mark has just started his company ‘Mark Robinson Training’, his talent of making people more confident in their presentation skills has been gathering a lot of attention.

“I want to empower people to get their ideas across clearly to groups.”

Mark is an Englishman and studied Pure and Applied Mathematics. He has been giving presentations for over 20 years as part of his work as a software consultant. “When I was a child, I stood in front of my class, trembling, while giving a presentation”, Mark says. He wanted to improve his public speaking skills. “I followed a course given by an excellent presenter named Remco Claassen. During the training course, Remco had the full attention of all the participants.” Mark then applied and practiced the techniques he learnt there in his presentations.

“The way we (particularly technical people) present messages
is usually very boring.”

At ASML, Mark works as an Agile Scrum Master. “In 2016, I shared some presentation skills tips to 150 of my co-workers at ASML.” A few months later, and after a successful pitch, he fulfilled an ambition to speak at a TEDx event on the topic, “How to present to keep your audience’s attention”. Mark continues: “I wanted to show that the way we (particularly technical people) present messages is usually very boring. So I used the speech of Martin Luther King to prove how even powerful messages can be destroyed using PowerPoint. In this way, I could give the audience a laugh and simultaneously help them understand that even though the message may be great, the way you present it can spoil it.”

TMC supported Mark in his ambitions. “I was so impressed that CEO Thijs Manders made time for a coaching session for me, so that I could discuss my ideas with him and learn from his entrepreneurial wisdom. TMC offered me a location, where I started presentation skill training evenings for my TMC colleagues.” Last year, Mark started his own company so that he could give a full day training course, “Powerful Presentations!” to a wider Eindhoven audience. “Next month, in addition to my work at ASML, I am going to start giving regular training courses. I am very happy with all the encouragement and support I received from TMC colleagues. And my wife Annelies has been my greatest supporter. She is naturally a talented presenter and gives training courses as well. She is my toughest competitor!”, Mark laughs.

Mark’s next Powerful Presentations! course is on Friday 21 September 2018. Go to markrobinsontraining.com to sign up.