Rolf Schmiel, who has already been extensively covered by the STADTSPIEGEL, is not only a qualified psychologist, but above all a professional speaker.
Now the 42-year-old resident of Hattinger, who lives in Sprockhövel, is once again making headlines: Recently, he won three times at Germany's first Speaker-Slam event at Goethe University in Frankfurt. In chronological order: For three years, Rolf Schmiel has been perfecting his already above-average skills on stage. The current motivational psychologist and former student of Gymnasium Waldstraße is regularly on stage as "Germany's most entertaining business psychologist," as the trade press writes, for companies such as Audi, BMW, VW, Coca-Cola, Daimler, Deutsche Bank, DHL, L'Oréal, Lufthansa, Nokia, Medtronic, Sparkassen, Pfizer ("Viagra"), Provinzial, Siemens, and Vodafone. Nevertheless: He believed he could always improve and decided to enroll at the Scherer Academy. Its "boss," Hermann Scherer, is one of the big names in the professional speaking scene. Rolf Schmiel felt he needed to catch up in the areas of presentation techniques, presentation marketing, and media. Speakers at the academy, which he attended once a month for three years, included figures like TV presenter Michel Friedman or Bernhard Paul, co-founder of Circus Roncalli. And then the first German Speaker-Slam. More than 50 very ambitious and experienced speakers from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland took part. 15 of them made it to the final, but only one walked away with three prizes: Rolf Schmiel was the overall winner, received the audience award, and the one from the speaker agencies, which were also represented by Hermann Scherer, Professor Frank Serr, a successful producer of major stage events, and other scene figures in the ten-member expert jury. Rolf Schmiel: "Each participant had ten to twelve minutes in front of about 100 paying spectators for their speech. I spoke about 'procrastination', commonly known as 'procrastination' - when we keep postponing what we should actually be doing. I humorously illustrated this using my six-year-old son Leonard, who has just started school, and my experiences in college, and how I overcome this blockage of getting things done today."
Speaking is his strength
The jury praised the speech for how he entertainingly and clearly structured a scientifically relevant topic, effectively combining information and fun. "I was very happy about the awards," Rolf Schmiel still beams at the thought, "but I took the competition very seriously. As a speaker, you work alone, it's hard to know where you stand, if you are really good. That's why I was especially happy about the audience award, it even brought tears to my eyes because of the recognition from the 'normal' listeners." However, the awards did not just fall into his lap. He prepared very intensively: "It's simple: the key to success is and remains hard work." Speaking of which: Since the Speaker-Slam, Rolf Schmiel has even more on his plate. Recently, he appeared on Pro7's "Galileo," is frequently seen on ARD and ZDF as a psychologist on TV. The same goes for WDR2 and B3 on the radio, and on Radio21 in Lower Saxony, he even has his own column on current events. Personally, he sees his commitment to the 15th Stuttgart Knowledge Forum next October, alongside celebrities like boxer Henry Maske or footballer Hansi Müller and famous authors, as a "knighthood." But the most emotional highlight for Rolf Schmiel this year was something entirely different: "Achieving the 'Seepferdchen' swimming certificate with my son Leonard. When we received it from the lifeguard at the Sprockhövel outdoor pool, I was more moved than at the award ceremony." [Roland Römer, Lokalkompass.de]
