Nerves are information.
Your heart rate goes up, your voice goes thin, and the sixty seconds you knew by heart this morning are gone. That is not a flaw in you. It is your body treating a pitch like a threat, and the first module of the day is about putting that to work.
What nerves do to sixty seconds
You speed up, so the one line that matters goes by before anyone has heard it. Filler words fill the pauses you were afraid of. Your eyes go to the floor, the screen or the exit sign, and the room reads that before it hears a word. None of it is about what you know. All of it can be practiced.
What the day does about it
You pitch before we teach anything, nerves and all, so everyone in the room starts from the same place. Then module 01, Nerve: why your body reacts the way it does, and how to use the energy instead of fighting it. Then you pitch again before lunch, and once more at the end.
Saying it out loud three times in one day, to a room of founders standing up for the same sixty seconds, does more than reading about nerves ever will. By the third round the room is no longer a stranger.
The night before
Do not rewrite the pitch. Say it out loud twice, standing, and stop. Fix your first sentence word for word, because the start is where nerves are worst and a fixed line gives you something to stand on. Sleep does more for you than one more run-through.
Five things to do in the corridor before you go on
Four modules, one pitch.
Four modules. The rest of the day you practice: you pitch before we teach anything, again before lunch, and once more at the end.
About nerves.
Is this a public speaking course?
No. It is a pitch training for startup founders: one day, one sixty-second pitch, four modules and three rounds to practice in. Nerves are the first module because they decide how the other three land.
What if I freeze in front of the room?
Then you stop, take a breath and start again, and the room waits. It is a room of founders practicing the same thing, not a jury. Freezing in a training is how you learn what to do when it happens somewhere that counts.
Is one-to-one coaching better if I am very nervous?
You can start there. But nerves are about being watched, and a room of founders is closer to a demo day than a room with one coach. You can also do both: the day first, then an hour or two before the pitch that counts.
Is the training in English or Dutch?
The training is in English, because most rooms in Amsterdam have founders from several countries. The trainers are Dutch and switch to Dutch for a one-to-one session.
What does it cost?
A seat in the open training is €750 excl. VAT, as a founding price, invoiced once your date is set. One-to-one coaching is €199 per hour excl. VAT, with no minimum.