Lisa Burke Show

RTL Today
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Society & Culture

A place for conversation that spans life in Luxembourg and beyond. Each week an international guest list will reflect on the week’s news, plus a whole host of other topics: politics to pollination; education to entrepreneurship; science to singing. Luxembourg sits in the beating heart of Europe and its diverse population provides a global perspective on a number of world issues.

  1. 3d ago

    The €8.3 trillion question: Can Luxembourg build the talent to match its money?, 13/06/2026

    ALFI's Serge Weyland and McGill's Patrick Augustin on funds, Europe's pension time bomb, and why financial literacy may be its most urgent lesson. Luxembourg is known to many as the heart of European finance, yet the story of how it earned that title is one we rarely hear told plainly. On this episode, I sat down with two guests perfectly placed to tell it: Serge Weyland, CEO of the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI), and Patrick Augustin, Associate Professor of Finance at McGill University and Director of the new McGill Luxembourg Centre for Finance. The conversation ranged from the founding milestones of the fund industry to the looming pension challenge facing the entire continent, and landed somewhere unexpectedly personal: how few of us were ever taught to handle our own money. The scale of what Luxembourg has built is genuinely difficult to picture. As Serge explained, the industry traces back nearly 40 years, to 1988, when Luxembourg became the first EU Member State to transpose a directive that let an investment fund created in one country be sold across all the others. That foresight attracted the world's major asset managers, and the result today is staggering. The fund industry now employs roughly two-thirds of the 50,000 people working in Luxembourg's financial services sector, an industry that accounts for a quarter of the country's GDP. "Luxembourg today is home to 8.3 trillion. So that's a lot of money." Serge Weyland, CEO of ALFI Serge described the European Passport as one of the great commercial successes of the bloc, and one of its quietest. Of the 25 trillion euros in funds domiciled in Europe, around 6 trillion belongs to investors outside the continent who trusted its regulatory safeguards. It is, in his words, a success story we simply do not hear often enough. For Patrick, the foundation under all of it is not capital or regulation but people. Luxembourg has long held the operational infrastructure, what some politely call the back office, but as markets shift toward private equity, tokenisation and digital assets, the bottleneck changes too. "Talent is the infrastructure of the financial industry. If you don't have good talent, you're at the risk of failing in the longer run." Patrick Augustin, McGill University That is the gap McGill has come to fill. The Centre is a joint initiative with the Ministry of Finance, the banking association ABBL and ALFI, and its flagship offering is a two-year, part-time Master of Management in Finance, taught on weekends by McGill faculty in Luxembourg. Its standout feature is that students manage a real, regulated fund through Desautels Capital Management, filing compliance, executing trades and defending their investment pitches to outside investors who can scrutinise them hard. Patrick put the case for learning by doing with a simple question: if you wanted to learn tennis or the piano, would you watch videos, or would you play? What both guests kept returning to was the ecosystem itself, the close dialogue between academia, industry and policymakers that Luxembourg's flat hierarchy makes uniquely possible. "The secret sauce is the closely knit community. When there is a need for the industry, we know we have a direct line into the legislator." Serge Weyland, CEO of ALFI The conversation then turned to the issue closest to both men's hearts: pensions, and the financial literacy that underpins them. A joint ALFI/McGill study examined how Europeans save, and the numbers are sobering. European households sit on roughly 14 trillion euros in cash and savings, around 41 to 42 percent of household savings, against just 14 percent in the United States. That cash quietly loses value to inflation year after year. The study's counterfactual was striking: if France and Germany alone reformed their pension systems along the lines of Sweden or Denmark, they could unlock an additional 10 trillion euros over time. Sweden, Serge noted, went from funded pensions worth around 12 percent of GDP twenty years ago to roughly 120 percent today, a tenfold rise. Yet none of this works without education, and education, both guests agreed, has to start far earlier than the lecture hall. "Personal finance essentials should be mandatory, bottom up, from an early age, of course in an age appropriate way." Patrick Augustin, McGill University Serge made the point personally. After 40 years in finance, he reckons that had he invested regularly from the start, he would have five or six times the money he has today, simply because no one ever taught him how. The encouraging note he ended on is that the barrier to entry has never been lower. Through tokenisation and fractional fund units, investing can now begin with 30, 40 or 50 euros a month, held in a digital wallet at a fraction of the traditional cost. The technology is still niche in Europe, though already mainstream among retail savers in parts of Asia. We agreed that crypto, stablecoins, the digital euro and tokenisation each deserve a show of their own. For now, the message from both guests was clear: Luxembourg has the capital and the regulation, and with the right talent and the right financial education, it has every chance of future-proofing both its industry and its citizens. Links and further reading McGill Master of Management in Finance, Luxembourg: https://www.mcgill.ca/desautels/programs/mmf/luxembourg McGill Luxembourg Centre for Finance on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/mcgillluxembourgcentreforfinance/ Contact the MMF Luxembourg programme: mmfluxembourg@mcgill.ca Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI): https://www.alfi.lu ALFI's investment in higher education: https://www.alfi.lu/en-gb/pages/about-us/what-we-do/investment-in-higher-education ALFI/McGill study, Europe's productive capital gap (2025), and the ALFI Blueprint for Savings and Investments: available via https://www.alfi.lu

    56 min

  2. Jun 6

    Beauty entrepreneur puts Luxembourg on the business map, 06/06/2026

    Henrietta Orosz reveals how beauty became her business, moving from service-provider to judge, author and inventor. It was a genuine pleasure to host Henrietta in the studio. Her story is a reminder that the most interesting careers are usually the ones that require courage, and that Luxembourg is slowly becoming a place for beauty businesses too. “Beauty is not just surface. It is psychology, communication, self-care and business.” Beauty entrepreneur Henrietta Orosz challenges the idea that beauty is superficial. For her, the beauty industry is not a simple story about lashes, make-up or appearance, but a world of hard business, psychology, precision, communication and self-worth. In Luxembourg, a country better known for finance than beauty, Henrietta is helping to prove that this fast-growing industry deserves to be taken seriously. Born in Hungary and now also Luxembourgish, Henrietta originally trained in economics and worked in marketing. But the traditional nine-to-five path never felt like the right fit. Her entry into beauty began with a personal desire to learn make-up for herself, which opened up an entirely new creative world. “The biggest shift in my career happened when I stopped seeing myself only as a service provider.” Henrietta’s journey has taken her far beyond the service provider model. She is now an international judge, educator, conference speaker, author, competition organiser, app founder and creator of her own CURLx technology. She recently won gold at a major beauty competition in Düsseldorf, representing Luxembourg on an international stage and helping place the country on the beauty map. Luxembourgish make-up artist Luca also won first prize in a different category at this event. Henrietta knows that beauty professionals must never forget the person behind the treatment. In lash artistry it is not enough to focus only on the millimetres in front of you, technique or trends. The work begins with understanding the client’s lifestyle, facial structure, personality and needs. In that sense, beauty becomes a highly personal form of care which can give people confidence and a rare moment away from the visual overload of modern life. Henrietta’s resilience is also deeply personal. Having lost her mother to cancer as a teenager, she speaks about turning pain into power and choosing to live with courage. That same courage shaped her move from employment to entrepreneurship, her decision to compete again after years as a judge, and her willingness to create new methods rather than simply follow old rules. “Creativity requires risk, but staying in the comfort zone can cost even more.” For anyone dreaming of building something of their own, Henrietta’s story is a reminder that niche expertise can become global influence. Beauty may still be underestimated, especially in finance-focussed Luxembourg, but Henrietta shows that with skill, originality and courage, a beauty professional can become an innovator, educator and international voice.

    49 min

  3. May 30

    How do we educate people for a future that no one can predict?, 30/05/2026

    AI, Talent and the Future of Europe: Why Universities Matter More Than Ever As AI reshapes jobs, health and society, University of Luxembourg Rector Jens Kreisel explains why universities matter more than ever. The future belongs to people who can learn, adapt and think critically. That was the central message from University of Luxembourg Rector Jens Kreisel when he joined The Lisa Burke Show for a wide-ranging conversation on artificial intelligence, education and Europe's future. As AI transforms almost every aspect of life, Kreisel argues that universities have never been more important. Their role extends far beyond delivering degrees. They educate future generations, drive research and innovation, connect knowledge with society and increasingly provide lifelong learning for people whose careers will evolve multiple times throughout their lives. "The future challenge is not knowledge alone," he suggests, "but wisdom, ethics and contextualisation." One of the most striking revelations concerns Luxembourg itself. The University of Luxembourg attracts students from more than 100 nationalities and retains around 70% of its graduates after they finish their studies. In a country facing the same demographic challenges as much of Europe, the university has become a powerful engine for attracting and retaining global talent. "We bring them in, and Luxembourg makes them stay." The discussion also explored AI's extraordinary potential in medicine and biology. Kreisel points to breakthroughs such as Nobel Prize-winning AI systems that can predict protein structures at unprecedented speed, potentially accelerating drug discovery and transforming healthcare. Yet he warns that AI also raises profound questions around trust, manipulation, democracy and truth. As machines become more persuasive, the ability to question information may become humanity's most valuable skill. "Universities are not just educating students - they are shaping the future of a country." That is why Kreisel believes the humanities are becoming more important, not less. Historians, philosophers and social scientists are trained to analyse sources, understand context and challenge assumptions: skills that may prove essential in an age of synthetic media, misinformation and algorithmic influence. "Welcome to the club," one historian told university leaders when ChatGPT emerged. "We've been questioning sources for 400 years." "The ability to question information may become humanity's most valuable skill. Humanities may become more important, not less, in the age of AI." Ultimately, Kreisel believes the university of the future must combine deep expertise with intellectual curiosity across disciplines. In a world where careers are no longer linear and technologies evolve at digital speed, success will belong not simply to those who know the most, but to those who know how to learn, think and adapt. For Luxembourg, Europe and the next generation, that may be the most important lesson of all. "Success will belong not to those who know the most, but to those who know how to learn."

    57 min

  4. May 23

    Europe's quiet banker is now buying rocket launchers and bridges, 23/05/2026

    The man who helps finance Europe's defence: Robert de Groot, vice president of the European Investment Bank There is a particular kind of power that comes with someone who decides, quietly, which ideas get funded and which don't. Robert de Groot, and his team, holds that power over an extraordinary range of things: military bridges in Poland, rocket launchers in Spain, satellite-to-smartphone startups in Luxembourg, drone intelligence software in Estonia. As Vice President of the world's largest multilateral lender, the EIB sitting on the Kirchberg plateau, his brief covers security, defence, space, and innovation. It is, as he puts it with characteristic understatement, "quite a new direction" for a bank that, not long ago, wouldn't touch defence at all. That has changed. Dramatically. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the EIB has rewritten its mandate, opening five distinct financing pillars across the defence and security ecosystem, from large-scale infrastructure to venture equity for startups building things that didn't exist five years ago. De Groot has spent the last two years touring every European capital, sitting down with defence, finance, and interior ministers, and asking “What does Europe actually need, and can we finance it?” "The urgency I hear in private is far greater than what you see in public." What he found on the road was a continent with a perception gap. The Baltic states are operating in a different psychological reality from much of western Europe. For Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the threat from the east is not geopolitics but geography. However, de Groot is cautiously optimistic. Germany has made a near-complete reversal on defence spending in three years. The Nordics have joined NATO. Ministers of Interior are now showing up to defence finance meetings, because the boundary between military security and civil security has dissolved. Cyber attacks, compromised energy grids, sabotaged undersea cables are happening now. The physical problems, meanwhile, are startlingly concrete. Bridges that cannot carry battle tanks. Ports unable to defend against unmanned underwater vehicles. Roads along NATO transit routes from Antwerp through Germany deep into Poland that haven't been maintained to handle today's military hardware. "It sounds absurd," de Groot says, "until you realise it's a multi-billion euro problem." The financing exists. The fixes are underway. But getting three countries to agree on a shared corridor before one of them goes its own way remains the harder challenge. For innovators and entrepreneurs building the dual-use technologies that now sit at the heart of European defence strategy, de Groot offers a map through the financing ecosystem. Early stage? Venture capital funds backed by the European Investment Fund. Series A and B? Venture debt, a product barely known in Europe five years ago, now scaling fast, with Luxembourg companies OQ Technology and Artec 3D among its beneficiaries. Series C and beyond? The European Tech Champions Initiative, designed explicitly to stop European unicorns from decamping to California. And for defence tech specifically, a new Defence Equity Facility of up to one billion euros: real, patient, European capital, with no American relocation clause attached. "The companies I meet across Europe mostly want to stay. We need to make sure the financing is there when they do." On the day of interview, a loan was signed for the Luxembourg Fire Brigade's logistics infrastructure. Security exists at multiple scales simultaneously, from orbital launch capability to the speed at which a fire engine reaches a crisis. Both matter and both require investment. Both represent the same underlying bet: that Europe, if it chooses to move with enough conviction, is more than capable of defending and financing its own future. De Groot, for his part, seems to believe it. The question, as ever, is whether the institutions can move as fast as the moment requires. Robert de Groot is Vice President of the European Investment Bank, responsible for Security, Defence, Space and Innovation Finance.

    49 min

  5. May 16

    Stop Shouting. Start Whispering, 16/05/2026

    From entrepreneurial burnout to authorship on realignment, Pascal Wiscour-Conter shares his learnings You know that feeling when someone speaks and every single word lands? Not because they're loud or made slick slides or rehearsed an elevator pitch to death, but because you sense they mean it? Pascal Wiscour-Conter calls this alignment and has spent three years building the science to prove it. Pascal is back in the studio: author, entrepreneur, strategist, and the kind of person who once convinced government ministers in a landlocked country to register mega-yachts. His new book, The Culture of Purpose: How to Communicate in the Age of Intelligence, is out now. "Shouting louder does not work anymore. The secret is learning how to whisper: clearly, meaningfully, and with impact." We are drowning in noise: more channels, content, AI-generated everything. And yet, nobody feels more heard. Pascal's counter-intuitive argument, backed by neuroscience, Havas research, and decades of entrepreneurial scar tissue, is that the answer is not volume but authenticity. Specifically: the alignment between what you believe, what you say, and what you do. It sounds simple. Of course it's not quite that simple. The Noble Cause Why do you do what you do? Before there's a pitch, a mission statement, or a marketing budget, there's a why. Pascal calls it the Noble Cause: the thing inside you that, when unfulfilled, leaves you hollow. Pair that with an Aspirational Goal: something that makes you want to get up every morning, and you have the roots of purpose. Here's the twist: you can't think your way to it. Your neocortex, the rational brain, is not where decisions are actually made. That happens in the limbic system, the emotional centre, the part that knows you love someone but can't explain why. "Ask 'why' seven times," Pascal advises. "Keep going deeper. Very often, the real answer takes you back to your adolescence - something that made you suffer, something you've been trying to solve ever since." "People think they rationally made a decision. What really happened is the brain decided emotionally and then rationalised afterwards." The Business Case Purpose isn't fluffy - it's financial. For the sceptics, and Pascal has met plenty, here are the numbers. Havas research shows that purpose-driven, meaningful brands are 100% more effective than their counterparts. On the stock exchange? A 133% premium. The Edelman Trust Barometer maps trust against competence and ethics. Deloitte can now measure it in five specific parameters. This is a competitive edge. Pascal's model, the Tree of Business Life™, maps it visually: roots (your vision), trunk (mission and value proposition), the prism of culture, and two ecosystems in the crown: outward communication to clients, inward communication to teams. When both ecosystems are aligned and self-sustaining, he calls it Comusynthesis™: converting the energy of ideas into the energy of communities. Just like photosynthesis. Just as essential. On AI & Being Human The beast is yours to harness. Pascal is not afraid of AI. He is, however, precise about what it cannot do. Curiosity? An LLM can't wonder. Transcendence? It cannot transpose one idea onto an entirely different domain the way Newton did when an apple fell on his head. Wisdom - the ability to use lived experience to make the right call in a new situation? Distinctly human. "Use AI as a tool," he says. "But harness it. Push the limits further. The questions just get harder, like the day you were allowed a calculator in a maths exam. The test didn't get easier. You just got to solve bigger problems." His term for this? Creative AI, as opposed to Lazy AI, where you prompt, copy-paste, and call it done. One of these will make you obsolete. The other will make you extraordinary. "The next ten years will compress an Industrial Revolution and a Renaissance into one decade. Step out of the comfort zone, or someone will do it for you." Physicians lack of self-compassion? Physicians in the USA have the lowest self-compassion of any workforce. That statistic, shared at a Stanford medical roundtable that Pascal sat on, is the kind of detail that stays with you. People who enter medicine to heal others, hollowed out by a system that forgot to ask why. It is, Pascal argues, the corporate culture problem in its starkest form: the gap between the values on the wall and the values in the room. Luxembourg, by the way, has one of the highest rates of active workplace disengagement in Europe. Numbers from the annual Gallup Quality of Work Life study don't lie, even when they're uncomfortable. The Culture of Purpose: How to Communicate in the Age of Intelligence Pascal Wiscour-Conter · Pascalogy · Published March 2026 · Available in ebook, audiobook, and paperback · https://pascalogy.me/

    56 min

  6. May 11

    Eurovision is never just a song contest, 11/05/2026

    Boycotts, soft power, and sequined bodysuits - the definitive guide to Eurovision 2026 with two of Luxembourg's sharpest voices If you think Eurovision is nothing more than glitter, key changes, and strategic voting between neighbours, think again. Seventy years in, Europe's biggest song contest continues to be fun alongside the loaded messaging and controversy. Five countries are boycotting. The bookies are watching Finland. And Luxembourg's own Eva Marija is about to take a violin to the stage in Vienna and remind the world exactly why this small country has returned. This week, on The Lisa Burke Show, we sat down with two guests who between them know Eurovision inside out: Dr. Dean Vuletic, the world's leading academic authority on the history of the Eurovision Song Contest and author of the definitive book on its political and cultural significance; and Sarah Tapp, RTL Today presenter, graduate student in music business at Berklee College of Music, and the voice behind RTL's Eurovision commentary for the last two years. In this conversation we talk about contest and about what it tells us about the world we're living in right now.

    59 min

  7. May 9

    What’s the capital of Europe - where does Europe live?, 09/05/2026

    A film about bureaucracy, jazz, and the story of how three cities:Strasbourg, Luxembourg & Brussels, became the unlikely home of a continent's big idea. It's the founding question nobody thought to ask. Six nations sat down after World War II, determined never to fight again, and forgot to decide where they'd actually meet. In the middle of the night on July 23rd, 1952, exhausted negotiators gave up trying to agree and said: let's just start in Luxembourg and see what happens. That glorious act of improvisation is the beating heart of Europe: Three Cities, One Roof, a new documentary by Luxembourgish director Donato Rotunno that lands just in time for Europe Day. And on this special Friday show, Lisa brings together three brilliant guests to dig into what Europe actually means right now, and what it should mean for the next generation. "We structured 70 years of European integration with a tone closer to a thriller and a crime drama than an institutional film." Donato Rotunno, director The film is extraordinary because it explains European institutions through the story of people who actually built them. Jean-Claude Juncker, Colette Flesch, Louis Michel, Catherine Trautmann: these are political titans, speaking freely now that the cameras of official duty have gone, mostly. What comes out is funny, candid, and unexpectedly moving. And the music? Pascal Schumacher locked himself and his musicians in a studio for three days before a single frame was shot. The jazz score came first: a deliberate choice, because jazz, like Europe, is built on improvisation, risk, and the hope that something beautiful emerges from the chaos. "For once, the music came before the images. Perhaps that is what creates this synergy - a process of trial and error, sometimes haphazard, spanning seventy years." Donato Rotunno On the show, Anne Calteux, Head of the Representation of the European Commission to Luxembourg, unpacks what the EU is actually doing right now, and why this year's Europe Day heads to Wiltz, in the rural north, as part of the campaign Hei & an Europa doheem! (Home here and in Europe). It's a bold, co-created initiative: five graffiti murals spread across the Grand Duchy, from Esch to Dudelange to Bissen, built on a simple truth: Europe isn't just a Brussels thing. It's everywhere, including in the places that rarely make the headlines. And Ellen Spencer brings a brilliant opportunity from the Rotary Club Luxembourg Hearts ( https://lu.linkedin.com/company/rcl-hearts). She coordinates Europe 4 Europe ( https://europe4europe.com): a remarkable EU Rotary youth initiative that brings 27 young people - one from every EU member state - on a shared journey through the founding EU countries. The programme fosters connection, intercultural awareness, and civic participation in ways that no policy document ever could. Rotary Club Luxembourg Hearts has been a quiet but powerful force behind this kind of grassroots European engagement for years, and Ellen's work is a perfect example of why. The friendships formed along the way, she says, are the most powerful outcome of all. "European identity isn't abstract, it's something young people experience very quickly when they meet, live, and travel together." Ellen Spencer, Europe 4 Europe coordinator, Rotary Club Luxembourg Hearts Meet the guests Donato Rotunno - Director & Producer, Tarantula Born in Luxembourg in 1966, Rotunno founded Tarantula Luxembourg ( https://www.tarantula.lu) in 1995 and has produced over 50 feature films. A politically engaged filmmaker, his work on immigration, identity and European politics has twice represented Luxembourg at the Oscars. Anne Calteux - Head of the Representation of the European Commission to Luxembourg One of Luxembourg's most authoritative voices on EU affairs, Anne leads the European Commission's Representation here in the Grand Duchy. This Europe Day she's taking the celebrations somewhere unexpected - to the countryside - to prove that Europe lives in every corner of the country, not just the capital. Ellen Spencer - Rotary Club Luxembourg Hearts · Europe 4 Europe A global citizen living in Luxembourg for nearly 20 years, Ellen coordinates Europe 4 Europe ( https://europe4europe.com) through the Rotary Club Luxembourg Hearts network — sending 27 young Europeans, one per member state, on a journey through the founding EU countries. Her mission: reach the young people who don't yet see themselves as part of the European conversation. This is Europe Day as it should be celebrated - a living question. What are we building? Who gets to be part of it? And why does it still matter? Tune in, follow along, and bring a friend who questions Europe. Listen & follow — The Lisa Burke Show RTL Play: https://www.rtlplay.lu RTL Today Website: https://today.rtl.lu Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/lu/podcast/the-lisa-burke-show/id1598518705 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/the-lisa-burke-show RTL Today Radio: https://today.rtl.lu/radio

    1h 7m

  8. May 7

    Stop hiding behind your slides, 07/05/2026

    Dirk Daenen, the man who brought TEDx to Luxembourg, reveals the science and the secrets behind becoming a truly confident speaker. You'd think the man who coaches Luxembourg's most compelling public speakers would have been born fearless on stage. You'd be wrong. Professor Dirk Daenen, communication expert, TEDx Luxembourg organiser, and the person quietly responsible for some of the most-watched talks ever delivered on Luxembourgish soil started out as an introvert dreading the spotlight. In this candid conversation on The Lisa Burke Show, he opens up about fear, failure, the science of self-confidence, and why one talk filmed in front of 75 people in Wiltz went on to rack up 13 million views. If you have ever frozen in front of a room, gone blank at a podium, or quietly vowed to avoid public speaking for the rest of your life, this one is for you. TED vs TEDx: What's the Difference? Most people have heard of TED Talks. Far fewer know what the differential for TEDx is, or how accessible it really is. A standard TED conference ticket starts at around $20,000. You'll be sitting next to the world's most powerful minds, but the barrier is enormous. TEDx events, on the other hand, are independently organised under strict licence from TED, run entirely by volunteers, and designed to bring big ideas to local communities. Here in Luxembourg, that licence belongs to Dirk Daenen, and he has been running it for years. "I'm used to being the smartest person in the room as a teacher," Dirk says with a grin. "And then suddenly I'm surrounded by the most impressive people I've ever met: graffiti artists, photographers, scientists, a Belgian pop star. No money could pay for that.” "Luxembourg is a small country. But the ideas we spread are HUGE. Over 20 million views and counting." The Fear Is Real — and It Starts at School Up to 80% of people report some fear of public speaking. The academic figure sits closer to 40%. But according to Dirk, the number is almost beside the point, because wherever you land on that scale, the roots are almost always the same. "We are doing a quantitative survey right now," he explains, "asking people about their childhood experiences. And what we are finding is that most people who identify as having a fear of public speaking can point to a specific moment at school where it all started.” A teacher who snickered or a classroom that laughed at you. A presentation that went badly and was never properly supported. These are not trivial memories. Dirk calls them out for what they are: trauma. "If you do it badly, you end up with people carrying post-traumatic stress disorder because of something that happened in front of a classroom.” It is why his PhD research [yes, he is also completing a doctorate] focuses on finding the most effective way to teach public speaking to 16-year-olds, with the minimum possible trauma and the maximum boost to self-confidence. His dream: one full year of public speaking on the Luxembourg school curriculum. Not optional. A core subject, like French or German. "Europe's biggest social failure?" he asks. "We have an amazing education system. And yet we do not teach the one skill you need in every single job, every single day." The Science of Self-Confidence Dirk is a researcher as much as a coach, and he brings the science of psychology into every conversation about communication. The key framework he returns to is the work of psychologist Albert Bandura, whose four sources of self-efficacy - your belief in your own ability to do something - underpin everything Dirk teaches. The first and most powerful source is mastery: actually doing the thing and surviving it. The second is vicarious experience: watching someone just like you nail it, and thinking: if they can, so can I. The third is social encouragement: the right kind of feedback, delivered with care. And the fourth is physiological readiness: understanding that the butterflies you feel before speaking are not a warning signal. They are energy. "I still get the butterflies. But I have taught them to fly in formation.” Self-confidence, he explains, is not some vague quality you either have or don't. It is the sum of two measurable things: self-esteem (how much you value yourself) and self-efficacy (how capable you believe yourself to be). Public speaking, done well and in a safe environment, is one of the fastest ways to build both. What Actually Works on Stage So what does Dirk actually tell the people he coaches? Here are some of the most practical insights from the conversation. Your body will move whether you plan it or not. When you're nervous, adrenaline floods your system. Oxygenated blood pumps into your muscles. If you don't channel that energy intentionally, your body finds its own outlet: clicking pens, rotating wedding rings, crossing arms, hands shoved in pockets, the classic 'fig leaf.' The fix is not to stand rigid. It's to plan your gestures in advance. Identify your key words and decide how to show them physically. Do this for six months and those movements become automatic. Preparation is not the same as memorisation. One of the most striking stories in this interview involves Emma Bale, the Belgian pop star who had performed for 60,000 people at Dour Festival but was terrified of a TED Talk. She memorised her speech so perfectly it sounded robotic. The humanity disappeared. Dirk had to coach her to re-introduce vulnerability: a planned, spontaneous-sounding moment at the start. 'It takes a lot of preparation to be spontaneous,' he says. Tony Blair knew this. So did every great performer you have ever admired. The top 10 most-viewed TED Talks have no slides. Think about that the next time you spend three hours building a PowerPoint. Structure matters, yes. But the elements almost nobody teaches: voice, body language, audience engagement, are what people actually remember. The information-heavy slide culture in European education has produced presenters who hide behind their decks. Stop hiding. You are the presentation. Watch people who are like you. Bandura called this vicarious experience. You don't need to imitate a world-famous orator. You need to see a normal person, someone at your level, stand up and do it well. That is why TEDx Luxembourg matters. Local people, on a real stage, sharing real ideas. 13 million views from a room in Wiltz. Proof that it is possible. Just do it. There is no way around this one. Toastmasters. Improv classes. The TEDx stage. The school debate club your child has been avoiding. The skill builds only through exposure. 'I was a chef allergic to food,' Dirk says. 'I ate the food anyway. It wasn't poison. It was the best meal of my life.'

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About

A place for conversation that spans life in Luxembourg and beyond. Each week an international guest list will reflect on the week’s news, plus a whole host of other topics: politics to pollination; education to entrepreneurship; science to singing. Luxembourg sits in the beating heart of Europe and its diverse population provides a global perspective on a number of world issues.

Information

  • Channel
    RTL Today
  • Creator
    RTL - Lisa Burke
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    95
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © CLT-UFA S.A.
  • Show Website
    Lisa Burke Show

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