{"id":106,"date":"2026-07-02T19:00:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T19:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/digital-transformation-talk-tech-skeptics\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T19:00:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T19:00:07","slug":"digital-transformation-talk-tech-skeptics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/digital-transformation-talk-tech-skeptics\/","title":{"rendered":"How Does a Digital Transformation Talk Win Over Tech Skeptics?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Tech skeptics are not an obstacle \u2013 they are the most important audience of any digital transformation talk.<\/li><li>Taking resistance seriously and showing benefits instead of features wins over even critical listeners.<\/li><li>Stories from real practice work better than any statistic \u2013 from the golf course to the shop floor.<\/li><li>Digitalization becomes tangible when every listener takes home a personal first step.<\/li><li>What matters for event planners: the speaker must speak both languages \u2013 business and technology.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have always done it this way\u201d is not an argument but a feeling \u2013 usually the worry of no longer being competent in the new world. A digitalization talk that ignores this worry misses exactly the people it was meant for.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Do Digitalization Appeals Fail So Often?<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because they preach instead of showing. Telling an audience it \u201curgently needs to digitize\u201d creates pressure \u2013 but no movement. People change their behavior when they experience a personal benefit. That is why I never open with the state of the world, but with one simple move that saves everyone in the room time immediately. First the sense of achievement, then the strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Do Skeptics Become Allies?<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Three things have proven themselves across hundreds of events: First, respect \u2013 behind almost every resistance lies a legitimate experience with failed IT projects. Second, humor \u2013 those who can laugh about technology's quirks open up to its strengths. Third, simplicity: my motto \u201cmaking technology simply work\u201d means every solution shown must work without an IT degree. When the biggest skeptic in the room asks at the end how to set it up, the talk has done its job.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Stays in the Company After the Talk?<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A keynote is the beginning, not the end. That is why concrete next steps are part of the package for me: checklists, tool recommendations and, on request, follow-up formats such as workshops or open office hours. This turns an inspiring evening into measurable change in everyday work.<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Planning an event?<\/strong> As a keynote speaker for artificial intelligence, digitalization and Microsoft 365, I bring technology topics to the stage in a way that sticks \u2013 hands-on, entertaining and immediately actionable. <a href=\"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/\">Here you will find an overview of my keynotes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)<\/h2>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Does a digitalization talk also work for non-technical audiences?<\/h3>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Especially for them. The talk is deliberately built so that trade businesses, associations and sales organizations benefit just as much as IT departments \u2013 the examples are tailored to the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How does the talk differ from consulting?<\/h3>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The talk sets the impulse and creates momentum; consulting accompanies implementation. Both interlock \u2013 many clients start with a keynote and then go deeper in workshops.<\/p>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Does the format work online or hybrid as well?<\/h3>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yes. From hundreds of online events I know what matters: shorter arcs of suspense, more interaction and professional technology \u2013 so that real momentum is created remotely, too.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How a digitalization talk wins over skeptics: respect instead of lecturing, achievements instead of appeals \u2013 insights from hundreds of keynotes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":84,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digitalisierung"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thorsten-jekel.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}