Swiss separation counselors win Excellence Award in Dresden

Jacqueline Steiner from Beinwil am See and Tatjana Michaelis from Basel won the coveted Excellence Award at the international Speaker Slam, which took place in Dresden on January 15, 2026. The Speaker Slam is a speaker competition in which speakers compete against each other with their personal topics. The special challenge: the speakers only have four minutes to captivate and inspire their audience.

World record with 250 participants from 24 countries

After New York, Vienna, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Wiesbaden and Munich, the international speaker slam now took place in Dresden. With around 250 participants from 24 countries, another world record was set. After a tough pre-selection process, Jacqueline Steiner and Tatjana Michaelis qualified for this year's Speaker Slam.

With their topic "Improving the structural, cultural and social framework conditions of employees in crisis situations, especially in the event of separation and divorce, in organizations", they not only won over the audience, but also the jury with their stage performance. Abbreviating a presentation in this way while still saying everything that is important and then connecting with the audience is considered the supreme discipline in professional speaking.

Booking for Speaker Slam in New York

Participants in the Speaker Slam are rewarded in two ways: firstly, through the award and the special distinction, and secondly, they benefit from a higher profile and thus more orders. In the case of Steiner and Michaelis, the first inquiries came in even before the association was officially founded. Their success in Dresden has already had far-reaching consequences: Even during the event, the two experts were booked for the international Speaker Slam in New York this year.

Foundation of the A1solution association

Their success is the starting signal for the founding of their association A1solution, which aims to bring about lasting change in the world of work in Switzerland. The initiative supports Swiss SMEs in coping with life crises and their impact on the world of work.

Jacqueline Steiner from Beinwil am See is the owner of Patchworkers in Reinach. She is a qualified separation counsellor, qualified psychosocial counsellor and certified specialist counsellor and, as an organizational expert, a helping force in all challenging phases of life. She is a member of the Swiss Association for Counseling (SGfB).

Tatjana Michaelis, CEO of Mesolvis in Basel, is an experienced business economist, paralegal, mediator (FSM, SKWM) and certified separation counselor. She is a board member of the Mediation Association. She is currently completing her MAS in Mediation and Conflict Management at Bern University of Applied Sciences and a PhD at Middlesex University in London.