Speaking in front of over a 1,000 people: How Passion overrules Stress

Recently, my fellow advocate in education transformation, and former head of Google for Education and Workspace, and VP at LinkedIn Jonathan Rochelle (JR), announced a new chapter in his career.

It reminded me of our days together in Roermond and Amsterdam. 

When I invited him to visit our school he met Baruch, Ruben and Rafael —three 15- and 16-year-old students building an online learning platform for schools like ours.

Inspired by their passion, curiosity and dedication, JR offered them personal mentorship, even giving them his phone number—a rare gesture that showed how much he believed in the values of curiosity and learning.

He even took it a step further, he invited them to join him during a presentation at The Next Web Conference titled: How can school raise innovators? 

Together, they demonstrated our approach to fostering young talent.

Imagine this: Three Dutch teenagers, about to give their first presentation ever, on stage at The Next Web Conference, in front of more than 1,000 people. And they’re speaking in English. 

Nerve-racking, right? 

But instead of nerves, their focus was elsewhere.

Yet, for Baruch, Ruben, and Rafael, this was their very first presentation. Dutch kids speaking English on a big stage for the first time—surely they’d be nervous. But they weren’t.

Their focus was entirely elsewhere.

Even in the last minute before they went on stage, they were still asking JR questions about product development and running an IT business. They weren’t thinking about the audience; they were absorbed in learning from him.

Their success wasn’t just in delivering a great presentation. It was the start of something bigger: 

- Building an online platform 

- Establishing Egodact, a business with clients worldwide

- Securing a spot on the HundrEd Innovation List for Education

All while meeting key academic goals and passing their national exams. Opening doors to university.

By pursuing their passions - software development, product design, team management - they discovered new passions within their project, which they continue to grow at university.

That’s why I believe: education shouldn’t just prepare students to pursue their passions later; it should start with and from their passion now! 

Passion fuels focus, motivation, persistence, and growth. When we support students’ self-driven paths, we keep them in a mode of continuous self-development.

That’s how we raise future innovators.

So, if you’re in education, ask yourself: Are you preparing students to pursue passions later, or are you starting with and from their passions now?