Velocity, the in-flight magazine for VLM Airlines, has published an article on Debatrix. We’ve always reached for the sky, and we’re proud that 150,000 readers of the magazine can read about us at an altitude of 30,000 feet. Here’s the article:

Using debate in a business environment is the original business concept behind Dutchman Lars Duursma’s company Debatrix, launched in early 2005 and headquartered in his home city Rotterdam. The entrepreneur, world debate champion for 2006 in the non-native English-speaking category, happily admits to a long-held fascination with business and current affairs. Now, he has drawn upon his internationally renowned skills to build a thriving consultancy that teaches politicians, civil servants and corporate leaders how to communicate their point more effectively. Evidently, Duursma is a great believer in the power of persuasion.

While a student at RSM Erasmus University, he was approached by several Dutch firms and agencies that were keen to use his expertise in bringing their speaking and debating skills up to standard. “Then the entrepreneur inside me asked the question, ‘Why not do this yourself?’” he says. Less than two years later, Debatrix is delivering training seminars as far afield as Germany and Turkey and for companies of the stature of ING.

The multi-talented Duursma, editor in chief of political journal Interface Magazine, has also secured a regular column in a national newspaper where he evaluates the rhetorical skills of senior Dutch politicians, looking at non-verbal behaviour as well as language. His pragmatic approach to business means Debatrix has grown quickly but organically. With 15 freelance trainers now on the payroll and a growing roster of clients, Duursma’s venture is a prime example of how to apply specialist expertise to build a business on a shoestring.