Juraj Holub

Juraj Holub is the founder and CEO of Speaking Heroes, leading public speaking workshops.

An international moderator with Masters in Moderation, he moderates events across Europe, Asia and the USA. Previously, as Slido’s Chief Meeting Designer, he helped Fortune 500 companies and major events like Web Summit and SXSW foster engagement with their audiences.

His articles and ideas were featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal."

Q1: For which meeting would you like to design the program?

I’d love to transform most traditional conferences into an unconference format, where the program and knowledge are shared among participants—not just delivered by a few experts on stage.

Q2: What was your proudest moment as a meeting designer or trainer?

Every time I see workshop participants come out of their shells, overcome their fears, and become proud of themselves.

Q3: What is something most people don’t know about you?

I’m an adventure cyclist who has travelled to remote mountains in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, and Georgia. Some of the most important things I know about human nature and communication I learned on the bicycle saddle.

Q4: Poor meetings are the cause of what, exactly?

Poor meetings are the result of ego and our tendency to speak too much in order to claim space—often at the expense of the collective good. We need to create more room for interaction and dialogue, and actively encourage it.

Q5: Who is the person you learned the most from?

Two people: Jan Jaap in der Maur. We met in Copenhagen in 2014 and shared our journeys in the events industry—he helped me become the interactive moderator I am today. And Peter Komorník, my former leader at Slido, who believed in me before I did.

Q6: Describe a meeting during which (or after which) you witnessed a profound change.

A conference for educational NGOs. At the end of the event, we ran a 1-2-4-All exercise with volunteers sharing their projects on stage. The room was filled with electrifying energy, and you could see tears in people’s eyes. The projects received a standing ovation.

Where Juraj has planted seeds of change

Government/Public
World Economic Forum, SXSW, SXSW Edu, Web Summit, Sibos, Adobe Summit, Marketing Festival London, World Educational Congress

Corporate
LinkedIn, Adobe, Swift, Slido, Bloomreach, Shell, Mass Mutual

NGO
Sapie (Slovak Alliance for Innovation Economy)

Association
IMEX, Best Event Awards, Conventa Crossover, Meeting Star Awards, MPI, PCMA

Supranational
Sibos