By Astrud Q. Aguinaldo
CLARK FREEPORT — Andreas “Andi” Klippe, a German national, engineering doctorate, and entrepreneur residing in the Philippines, won the Excellence Award at the recently concluded International Speaker Slam (ISS) in Frankfurt, Germany.
With his humorous style of describing his “Journey to Asia” combined with his stage presence, Andi bested 148 speakers from 19 nations and spoke in six languages. He explained how “the hand test” and “the beer test” helped him start a flood protection firm in Asia in 2007.
“My mission is to protect 10,000 buildings and critical infrastructure against flood damage in Asia by 2030 by using a German climate-change-addressing design for flood protection,” he said.
His motto is “Let’s go to Asia. Asia is the world’s fastest-growing market,” he said.
In his speeches, he stated that he hopes to inspire other businesses to follow his lead, and that he would continue to promote Asia and the Philippines.
According to him, countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) offer business solutions for those who know how business works. Likewise, he shares his knowledge not only with family-owned investors from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, but also with other European-based companies.
He goes on to say that he shares his knowledge with family-owned investors from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, as well as other European firms.
The ISS competition took place on May 28 at the studio of Hermann Scherer, one of the best-selling authors in Germany.
Renowned speakers in the final round also showcased their special talent. These included a spokeswoman for the German National and the International Olympic Committees, a 3-time German rowing champion over 2,000 meters, and a former top-ten professional boxer, to name just a few.
In the ISS Champions’ League, speakers must perform their impromptu speech on stage and carry away the audience, before the mic is turned off in four minutes. The five members of the jury are composed of a top manager from Lufthansa, one from Campus-Verlag, a leading German business publisher, plus three media professionals from the region.
ISS is a trademarked public speaking competition that “provides a safe platform for everyone to talk honestly and be seen and heard,” according to its website.
