Erik Vermeulen - Speaker

01/10/2026

After 27 years as a professional speaker, I can still say: “Well, that’s a first!” 🎧

Last week at Reading, I delivered my first presentation in a “silent disco” environment, with the audience listening through wireless headphones.

In a busy event space, I can see how having the speaker’s voice delivered directly to your ears could make it easier to focus amid the surrounding activity.

There are practical benefits too: listeners can choose a comfortable volume, and less sound spills into neighbouring stands or sessions. With separate audio channels, multiple presentations can even share the same space.

It got me thinking: we put enormous effort into what we want audiences to hear. How much thought do we give to the environment in which they’re listening?

Thanks, , for a fresh experience and a fresh perspective.

28/09/2026

Ask five people in your team to name your organisation’s top three priorities. Would you get the same answer five times?

Now ask them how their work contributes to those priorities. That second question often tells you more about your culture than the first.

People can work hard, care deeply and still pull in different directions. A sales team may focus on this month’s target while managers push for longer-term relationships. A service team may be asked to move faster while being praised for taking more time with customers. Each choice can make sense on its own. Together, they create friction.

Leaders often assume that once a priority has been announced, it has been understood. But priorities become useful only when people can apply them to the decisions they make every day: what gets attention first, where they spend their time and what they do when two demands compete.

Try the question in this post at your next team meeting. Ask everyone to write down their answers before you discuss them. Where the answers differ, get curious. You may find a communication gap, a difficult trade-off, or an opportunity to make the work more meaningful.

A high performing culture needs more than shared ambition. It needs shared direction.

25/09/2026

What if measuring Employee Happiness is the wrong target?

This is what I explore in the latest Ridgeline Consulting Pty Ltd ZA newsletter.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

(and why not hit the subscribe button?)

WHAT IF HAPPINESS IS THE WRONG TARGET?

25/09/2026

I really appreciated getting this email feedback from a recent TED-style stalk I presented to a public audience of entrepreneurs and business owners in the UK.

Thanks B2BX Reading for the opportunity to speak at your awesome event.

23/09/2026

Most leaders say they want people to speak up.

They hold town halls, run engagement surveys and end meetings with: “Any questions?”

Then the room goes quiet.

It is tempting to blame confidence, apathy or resistance. But new research suggests a more uncomfortable possibility: employees may be reading the leader and the environment perfectly.

The same invitation to contribute can inspire candour when a leader feels approachable—and trigger anxiety when that leader is perceived as dominant. Add secrecy, incomplete information and uncertainty about AI or restructuring, and silence may become the most rational response available.

Culture is not built by asking people to speak. It is built by what happens when they do.

If leaders want honest information during change, they must do more than open the door. They must make candour feel safe, useful and expected.

On 6 August 1997, Korean Air Flight 801 was approaching Guam in poor visibility. The cockpit crew became concerned about the approach.

18/09/2026

While we're wrapping up our week late on a Friday afternoon, I'm putting the final touches to my presentation at B2BX Reading for this coming Thursday. I'll be delivering part of my signature keynote "Cordialism" - this time entitled "Vanilla is not a growth Strategy".

If you're within striking distance of Reading and you lead a business, own a start-up wanting to scale, or you're managing in a fast growing environment, you don't want to miss this conference.

Let me know if I'll see you there, and if you'd like to have a conversation afterwards.

18/09/2026

Sometimes the shortest feedback means the most.

I recently stepped off stage after delivering a conference keynote. As the MC came back on to introduce the next speaker, she quietly handed me a small note.

It simply said:

“You were simply phenomenal!”

That meant a lot.

Not only because it was generous feedback, but because of who it came from.

She’s a professional MC who has spent years on the conference circuit and, in that time, has probably watched hundreds of keynote speakers from the side of the stage.

People like that develop a pretty well-calibrated sense of what works, what connects and what holds a room.

So when recognition comes from an industry peer who sees this work up close, it lands differently.

Speaking can look effortless from the audience. It rarely is. There are hours of research, writing, rewriting, rehearsal and refining behind those 45 or 60 minutes on stage.

Every now and then, a little note like this reminds you that the work is worth it.

Thank you. I’ll be keeping this one.

15/09/2026

I'm really looking forward to presenting at Smart Procurement World Indaba this morning.

I''l be exploring how high pressure affects our decision-making and behaviour.

Who else will be there?

10/09/2026

You can learn more about a team’s strength from one difficult week than from a year of conversations about its values.

Pressure reveals culture. It shows whether people close a gap before asking whose job it is, or step back and protect territory. It shows whether pressure becomes a challenge or a contagious mood carried into the next meeting.

Strong teams do not always agree. They make disagreement safe without making it silent. People can challenge an idea, change their minds and raise a concern without paying a social price for doing so.

You also see culture when status and visibility are removed. Who gives credit to the person who is not in the room? Who stays useful when they are not leading? Who protects the standard when a shortcut would go unnoticed?

These may look like small moments, but they send signals about what the team values. Over time, those signals shape trust, effort and the confidence people have to contribute.

At Ridgeline, we believe culture becomes useful only when it is translated into observable behaviour. Words such as trust, accountability and teamwork are too broad to guide performance. People need to understand what those values look like when the deadline moves, the target is missed or pressure rises.

So, rather than asking your team what it values, try a more revealing question:

What do we do when nobody is telling us what to do?

The answer is your culture.

It may also explain your performance.