6 lessons you can learn from Máxima
In the popularity polls just conducted, Máxima has dropped slightly. Unjustified, this fan thinks. Our queen is handsome and powerful and, especially today, we can learn a lot from her.
1. Be a talking heart, not a talking head
Many people with public functions produce their rehearsed texts without really connecting with their audience. You actually need to be so comfortable in your own story that you can deviate from it a bit and still get your message across. The most important thing is that you make a connection; only then will the other person hear what you are saying. Did you know that Máxima usually only wears one glove because she wants to be able to touch someone with her hand?
2. Focus on an important issue
Find what makes you unique and what you can help the world with. For Máxima, that is microcredit and especially helping women get ahead in life. That dovetailed with her studies and the job she had before becoming queen. Of course she does much more, but this is her domain.
3. Get corrected
That’s how Máxima learned Dutch so well. She asked Dutch people to correct her, dared to speak and watched a lot of TV.
4. Look for boundaries in fashion (and sometimes just not)
Jan Taminiau’s mailbag dress, the denim jacket, the leather dresses; all pretty bold choices that she got away with spick and span. But when she has to, she is again classic and true to the dress code. Fashion never gets away with her. Also, you won’t see Máxima wearing eye-catching logos and labels anytime soon. She often wears Natan, Iversen and Taminiau, and really Bottega Veneta and Valentino (wedding dress!), but it is always a textbook example of quiet luxury. There is no logo involved.
5. Think about what you want to say
In the beginning, Máxima would sometimes blurt something out. The famous “He was a bit stupid” phrase and of course her remark about Willem-Alexander being a bit stiff in the hips. She has, unfortunately, unlearned that a bit. Like everyone who gets older you know what the impact of your words can be and you think in advance about what and how you are going to say something. I loved the moment when she told the press how she felt after the death of her sister Inés. She may have weighed her words beforehand, but the emotion is always pure.
6. It’s okay to wear something twice
In 2012, for example, Máxima wore 154 outfits on official occasions, 54 of which were new.
