• Presentations

    "From the moment Wiebe started speaking, everyone was on the edge of their seats for an hour."
    Since Wiebe Wakker (1986) returned from his record-breaking world trip, he has been giving presentations at home and abroad that inspire and motivate audiences to pursue their own goals.

    He shares his inspiring story of how he drove alone, without money and in an electric car to the other side of the world, highlighting the importance of collaboration, sustainability and perseverance.

    A powerful story with message, impact and humour.

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Wiebe Wakker | Speaker Showreel 2022Wiebe Wakker | Speaker Showreel 2022

Watch Wiebe’s presentation trailer.

SPEAKER WITH AN INSPIRING STORY

In 2016, Wiebe challenged himself to drive to the other side of the world without money and in an electric car to prove that sustainable mobility is the future.
To reach Sydney, Wiebe asked strangers to “plug him in” with energy. On this website, people could select their location and offer him a bed, a meal or a socket to charge his car. Based on these offers, the route was determined and Wiebe drove criss-cross over the world, even earning him the nickname of “The Forrest Gump of Automotive”

Of course, his adventure was not without its struggles and he had to overcome a number of challenges. But time and again Wiebe managed to get further, thanks to the help of friendly locals or his online followers.

Eventually, Wiebe reached his destination after 1,119 days, 33 countries and 95,000 kilometres. Wiebe takes you along on his journey. How does he cope with loneliness and introversion in a life that was completely extroverted? How does he cope with challenges that would drive you to despair? But above all, Wiebe’s journey is an example that by working together and making connections you can achieve extreme goals and Wiebe shows that the world is not such a bad place as we see on TV.

Learn more about Wiebe’s story

Brenda Van Der Sanden
Public Affairs, Communication & Sustainability Assistant / The Coca-Cola Company

What an incredibly strong story. Our people at Coca-Cola were very enthusiastic and inspired by Wiebe's story. Beautiful insights and so down to earth, everyone should hear this once!

TAPPING INTO CURRENT THEMES

Each presentation is customised. Wiebe Wakker tailors the content of his lecture to the organisation, the audience and the purpose of the event. Wiebe always ensures seamless integration with the theme of the event and the rest of the programme. And, of course, to the background of the participants. In this way, your expectations and those of the participants are instantly exceeded.

Wiebe inspires, gives energy, challenges to a different way of living and provides a positive worldview.

His lectures for business, healthcare, government, education, sports and many other branches of industry fit perfectly into common themes, such as:

  • Dealing with change and uncertainty
  • Coping with crises and setbacks
  • Achieving goals
  • Living more sustainably
  • Challenging people to get out of their comfort zone
  • Breaking through resistance to electric driving / inspiring people to drive electric
Inspiration

Inspiration

(Global) Collaboration

(Global) Collaboration

Perseverance

Perseverance

Sustainability

Sustainability

Marketing & PR

Marketing & PR

Loneliness

Loneliness

Introversion

Introversion

Adventure

Adventure

Wiebe draws his experiences from his travels. Companies that book him for a presentation are thus assured of a meaningful message that will certainly have an impact.

Testimonials

Joyce Versteeg
Association coordinator / Provero

Wiebe is a pleasant personality who in a relaxed manner takes the congress participants on his inspiring adventure. This was certainly talked about for the rest of the day.

It was nice to see how Wiebe subtly connected to the theme of the congress during the presentation. In short, Wiebe is highly recommended as an inspiring speaker for a congress or meeting.

Edwin Levels

Wiebe's inspiring story shows that reaching your goal does not only depend on a solid plan, a healthy dose of guts and a lot of perseverance.

Flexibility in dealing with unforeseen circumstances and plenty of humour are just as important - and this is reflected in Wiebe's inspiring and entertaining presentation.

The insights Wiebe gained on his journey contain valuable lessons many organisations can benefit from in realising their goals. Highly recommended!

Aymen Ismail
Head of Customer Engagement Solutions / Smart

Wiebe's ability to convey his journey engagingly and authentically made a deep impression on all present, captivated the audience and left us inspired. His anecdotes and images brought his adventure to life and encouraged us to think about the importance of eco-friendly solutions in our daily lives.

As a speaker, Wiebe is incredibly personable and approachable. He has a unique ability to connect with a diverse audience and his enthusiasm for his topic is infectious.

His presentation left us all with a renewed sense of purpose and determination to take action for a sustainable future.

Ruben Tempel
Senior Sales Engineer / Alfen

Recently, Wiebe Wakker gave an inspiring presentation for the Young Alfen organization in Almere about his journey to the other side of the world in an electric car. His presentation took us through his road trip from start to finish.
Wiebe knows how to look back on his journey in an engaging way and take the listener along with him. Thus, you become part of the journey and accompanying cultural experiences and unexpected challenges that came his way.

The presentation provides food for thought on topics such as personal development, perseverance and multicultural cooperation. Range anxiety will have taken on a different meaning for many after Wiebe's presentation.

Tom Groot
Senior Advisor Zero Emission Mobility / City of Amsterdam

Wiebe recently told his amazing story at the municipality of Amsterdam at the Department of Space and Sustainability. It is a boy's book full of adventure and challenges that seem insuperable.

You could captivate the audience with just the pictures, but during your story you discuss topics such as sustainability, collaboration and dealing with setbacks.

My colleagues left the meeting inspired. Highly recommended!

Anne Raaijmakers
Project Manager / Perron038

As an innovation centre in the creative industry, we are always looking for inspiration: Wiebe certainly gave us that.

With his story about his world trip in an electric car, he managed to enthuse the companies in the room and, not unimportantly, make them laugh. Wiebe speaks in a down-to-earth and spontaneous way and really stands as himself on the stage.
He makes you think, not only about sustainability but especially about jumping in at the deep end and going on an adventure.

I can heartily recommend Wiebe as a speaker in the business industry.

Hans Hoff

At 'Impact Event Sustainable Zeist', Wiebe gave a fantastic presentation about his journey in an electric car from the Netherlands to Australia.

During his lively talk, interspersed with anecdotes, self-mockery and humour, everyone was hanging on his every word. Many beautiful photos and videos made his story and the challenges he faced understandable. This can inspire everyone in the field of sustainable mobility, the goodness of people and problem-solving!

Rob Hoefnagel

What an inspiring story! During our first physical meeting after a long time, we asked Wiebe to take us along on his journey.
Wiebe stood on the stage as himself. Open and honest, with humour and lots of visuals, he makes you think. Wiebe taught us that you don't have to be afraid of the unknown. A little courage to take the deep dive helps. He gives striking examples that make you realise again that you are always judging, where this is often wrong. By trusting in the goodness of people, beautiful collaborations spontaneously arise.

Are you looking for an example where the goal is clear, but the journey is unknown? Do you want to be made to think simultaneously about following your dreams where sustainability is an important theme? I can recommend Wiebe to you.

Noeska de Nobel
Programme Secretary Development Programmes / Hoogheemraadschap van Delfland

Innovation, sustainability, inspiration, adventure, humour, life lessons and so on and so forth. I enjoyed Wiebe's presentation at Hoogheemraadschap Delfland about his trip to Australia and all the life lessons he learned from it.
It was very inspiring to hear Wiebe talk about the ups and downs and even though I will never make such a journey myself, the 'journey' and development of the person Wiebe is very recognisable.

Wiebe takes you completely along in his car in just under 50 minutes and the joy of crossing the finish line was tangible even for me because I was so carried along.
Wiebe, thank you for your beautiful story, I wish and hope that you may inspire many more people and I and many of my colleagues are eagerly awaiting your book!

Rosie Cotter
Sustainability Manager / DB Breweries - HEINEKEN NZ

DB Breweries/HEINEKEN was lucky to host Wiebe on the last leg of his around-the-world trip in New Zealand. Wiebe’s authentic, easy-going style presentation style was well-received by our staff and his talk was both entertaining and informative.
Our staff came away more informed about EVs and inspired to live a little more sustainably in their own lives.

Huub Peeperkorn
APAC Insights Lead / LinkedIn

Wiebe is an inspiring and enthusiastic speaker! The very same week he concluded his world tour in an electric vehicle, he took the time to come into the LinkedIn Sydney office to tell his story. He inspired many of my colleagues on the possibilities of EVs!
I would highly recommend Wiebe as a public speaker.

Wendy van de Geijn

Visitors to Ecomobiel were very enthusiastic about Wiebe's presentation. Wiebe's journey is unique and so is his story. Wiebe inspires, makes people think and provides a comic note.

After you have heard his story, you know that you can achieve your goals, even if they seem totally unattainable.

Marc Vermeer
Technical Manager / Rijkswaterstaat

What a beautiful story and presentation! Wiebe told us how he travelled through 34 countries with an electric car and without financial means.
His journey was not an easy one, one with many obstacles and challenges. In an energetic and funny way he told his story. Especially his message about sustainability came across strongly, a theme we work on every day within our organisation.

Wiebe met a lot of people and was able to share the purpose of his journey with the people met, which inspired and convinced a lot of people to start thinking more about sustainability.
He also inspired our team. I would highly recommend him as a speaker!

Arianne Westerveel

On 24 October we organised a so-called pressure cooker session. With the business community, young people, government and education, to come up with smart solutions for the changes in education and the labour market in relation to the energy transition.

To show how fast the world is changing and what is possible, we needed inspiration. We asked Wiebe for that. And this turned out to be great; the success of the day, for young and old. Afterwards, everyone wanted a photo with Wiebe and his signature.

Wiebe, your story inspires!

Richard Hovinga
Senior policy advisor sustainable mobility / Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management

We really enjoyed Wiebe's stories about his bizarre trip to Australia in an electric car. It was very inspiring to hear him talk about the more than 95,000 kilometres and 33 countries of the longest journey ever in an electric car.
With his down-to-earth humorous reflections on the visual spectacle, Wiebe knows how to captivate to the end.
You get the urge to travel and it helps almost therapeutically against "range anxiety"!

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Videos

Ultimate Roadtrip: Holland to New Zealand by Electric CarUltimate Roadtrip: Holland to New Zealand by Electric Car

Watch the trailer of Wiebe’s adventure

Global TV Coverage Overview Sydney Finish | Plug Me InGlobal TV Coverage Overview Sydney Finish | Plug Me In

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