BOBST decided to do something no one else in the industry had done at a trade show. No machines. Thirty-two innovation tables, each staffed by the R&D expert who actually built the thing. Sixty-four of them prepared for ten days on the biggest stage in their industry.
Drupa is the world’s biggest printing trade show, in Düsseldorf, Germany. 150,000 visitors from 173 countries, and the whole printing industry in the same hall. For BOBST, the world leader in packaging machinery, it is not optional. In 2024, they changed how they used it. Instead of shipping heavy machines across Europe like everyone else, they set up thirty-two small tables. At each one, the actual researcher or engineer who built the innovation would explain it directly to clients. No intermediary. Just the person who made it, talking about what it does and why it matters. There was one obvious challenge. These experts are world-class at building things. Standing at an innovation table and convincing a stranger in thirty seconds was a different skill. One rarely demanded of R&D teams.
When I started with the team, the experts were not nervous. They were certain. Certain they knew the product better than anyone. They were right. But knowing the product and pitching the product are two different jobs. Drupa does not forgive hesitation, and it does not forgive long answers either. A pilot test made another problem visible: the experts did not fully trust the script someone else had written for them. Tiny mismatches with how they actually thought about the work were enough to slow them down. Before we worked on delivery, we had to give them back ownership of every word.
I started with two expert pairs only. We coached them. We checked if the table format actually worked. We surfaced what was going to break before we scaled. Pilot in, full program designed.
Online onboarding with all sixty-four experts together. Meet your partner. See the full Drupa concept. Read your script for the first time. Hear how the others think about theirs.
Discover the framework we will use together.
Two full days of in-person workshop in Switzerland, replicated in Italy. Less theory, more practice. Voice, body, presence, and use of slides and props.
An immersive bootcamp, doubled with one-to-one coaching for the China-based experts, online.
Session 1: take the script apart, fix what feels wrong, make it yours.
Session 2: add the delivery, voice, gestures, slides.
Session 3: full rehearsal with the physical props (prototypes or proxies if not finalized yet)
Two days on the Drupa floor before the doors opened. Get set and dehearse on the real stand. Full run-through in front of the sales team and the CEO.
Then two more days during the live show, watching, adjusting, supporting.
“I was fearing having to present before that. Now I look forward to opportunities to talk.”
Discover the program upon which this case study is built.
Multi-cohort hybrid programs with remote pre-work, on-site training and follow-up refresher. Designed for strategic or company-wide programs such as high-performers, fast-trackers, or leadership seminars.
Adapted structure, hybrid format including refresher sessions, measurable outcomes year over year.
Ideal to fit in your upskilling strategy
Learn more →
150+ HR and communication specialists trained worldwide on a 50-message employer brand framework
Read Case Study
12 to 25 future executives per edition, drawn from 6 countries. Renewed for a second year.
Read Case Study
200+ high-potentials trained across 5 editions and 5 international locations. The executive committee calls it 'magical.'
Read Case StudyTrade show, product launch, investor roadshow. If your experts have to stand up and convince, we can build the system together. Let’s talk first, see if it fits.
