Stand-up Inspiration

Stand-up Inspiration: Ideas, thoughts and opinions, brought to you by critical and enthousiastic thinkers, gathered from different worlds; Get inspired by and interact with a line-up of encouraging speakers.

Watch all the Stand-up Inspiration Talks on our videochannel: vimeo.com/channels/standupinspiration

Or watch the English spoken Stand-up Inspiration Talks on this website.

The next edition of Stand-up Inspiration will be on the 1st of October in Toomler Amsterdam.

Opens at: 20.00 uur
Begins at: 20.30 uur
Ends at: 22.30 uur
Location: Toomler, Breitnerstraat 2, Amsterdam

Entrance fee: At Stand-Up Inspiration you don’t pay a fixed entry fee. Most of the time the entrance fee is based on retrospective evaluation, “pay what you want”: at the end of the evening you decide what the event was worth to you.
Every month, we make maximum effort to let you experience an inspiring evening. We love inspiring people and we want to do this till the end of time!

What would you like to contribute to Stand-up Inspiration? Which amount would you like to contribute to ensure that in future editions even more is possible? You can put your financial contribution in an envelope provided by us, together with your ideas and suggestions.

Thank you: you also ensure that Stand-up Inspiration is made up!

Stay tuned: if you’re interested in the upcoming Stand-up Inspiration events and other Stand-up Inspiration related news, please subscribe to our monthly newsletter in the right column.

A beautiful impression of Stand-up Inspiration by Henk Jan Winkeldermaat.

Questions and remarks can be addressed to: standupinspiration@gmail.com

This is Stand-up Inspiration

The big idea:

Stand-up Inspiration is all about sharing ideas. Ideas that touch your heart, inspire, or make you think differently. Ideas that encourage people to act and react. Ideas that set things in motion.

People are driven by ideas. Ideas are the engine of our actions, our misbehavior and our hope.

If not shared, even the most beautiful ideas can end up remaining unknown to the world. The actions of this generation and generations to follow confine the way the world will be like in the future, a world with or without humans. Stand-up Inspiration offers a stage for innovative thinkers, a place where fresh ideas can develop and plant the seed in peoples minds that make them persue their dreams. Are we ignorant bystanders or will we look for inspiration?

All the things we dream of can be realized. If we can connect the right ideas and the right people with each other, that is.

About Stand-up Inspiration

Stand-up Inspiration started at the end of 2008. After brainstorming with other thinkers, the idea arose to use the stand-up format, known from Stand-up Comedy and use it for inspiring evenings. The result: inspiration on a monthly base in Toomler (in the cellar underneath the Hilton hotel in Amsterdam), home base of The Comedytrain.

This idea worked out well! The format: once a month between 5 and 7 idea inventors and enthusiasts share their ideas during the evening live on stage. The speaker, ‘plain and simple’ on stage with only a microphone.

Stand-up Inspiration starts at 8 pm and ends around 10.30 pm. It’s not a debating event, but a fast mix of ideas and thoughts, with an MC to announce and denounce the speakers. About 120 to 140 people can enter.

The subjects are broad and vary widely. We choose not to publish the line-up in advance. The audience should not only attend Stand-Up Inspiration to be entertained, but also to be confronted by new ideas, rethink their own ideas and to connect with other people.

After the break halfway the evening, people can claim their One-minute-of-inspiration. Up to 6 people from the audience get the opportunity to – shortly – share their idea on stage.

Game rules

1. We don’t share the line-up upfront. Therefore we ask you not to inform your social network, e.g. by using Twitter, Facebook, etcetera, about you speaking at Stand-up Inspiration.

2. Stand-up Inspiration is about inspiration and ideas to get people to think and move themselves. It is not about advertising for a company, yourself or your ideas.

The form

Stand-up Inspiration is the name we chose for this evenening, because we aspire a simple and ‘naked’ presentation, just like it’s done in Stand-up Comedy. It’s the ideas that count, not the form. And no, it is not comedy, although we don’t mind humour as it contributes to the rhythm of the evening. But if you have no humour, don’t worry, it’s not what we promise the audience and you don’t need humour to be inspiring. The primary goal is inspiration and the stimulus for new ideas. Therefore we minimize the discussion with the audience and we will conduct this part outside the presentation as much as we can. On the other hand, we will not block the listener who cannot help to react due to the ideas presented to him or her. It’s allowed. It’s an open evening with a direct connection to the speaker, but it’s not a public discussion.

The Evening: rhythm

To focus for a whole evening, we need rhythm. It is the rhythm that holds the minds of the audience. Rhythm is the tool to keep your mind awake. We experience this in all forms of art: paintings, plays and obviously, music. Think of it as a perfectly timed change of scene in a play, so the mind gets just enough stimulation to stay focused and curious. We change the melody, the bridges, the chorus. We change the light, tone of voice, the situation. Rhythm is everything. So, to make an inspirational evening a success, we do the rhythm thing. And because it’s live and creative, no evening is the same as any other.

Tools

MC

Stand-up Inspiration has an MC, a master of ceremony. The MC introduces all the speakers, and arranges the rhythm by commenting, informing and adding humour if necessary. Also, the MC monitors the time and signals or interrupts the speaker when it is time to finish. He or she manages discussions with the audience and bends the ambience, after a, for example, moody presentation. The MC forms the bridge between the different speakers and structures the evening, so the audience knows what to expect. We like it that way.

Components

Speakers get about 5 to 15 minutes for their talks.

TED?

When someone has a certain expertise or a very inspiring talk, he or she can be asked to do an extensive presentation, about 10 to 15 minutes. The audience will have the opportunity to ask questions or discuss with the speaker.

One minute of inspiration

People from the audience can apply for one minute to pitch an idea or inspiration. It is a typical part of the evening right after the break. People can apply during the break and a maximum of 4 to 6 people get the chance to share their thoughts with the audience.