A Blog By Speakers, For Speakers.
Should I Get Involved?
By Kymberli Speight Should you get involved in service to your local NSA chapter? The short answer is Yes. However, the truth is you will have to identify your personal reasons that motivate you to make this commitment. When I am asked what the reasons are to get involved with your local NSA chapter, my…
NSA: “It’s the People”
By Maura Thomas, CSP Ask a bunch of NSA members why they join and attend events, and I bet the most common response you will receive is some version of, “It’s the people.” But this short phrase really doesn’t convey the powerful meaning behind it. Admittedly, my first few NSA events were intimidating, and it…
Welcome to the Marketing Business
By Alan Weiss, CSP, CPAE Once you identify yourself by a category—speaker, trainer, facilitator, coach, consultant, and so forth—you become a commodity, and subject to price comparisons. I tell everyone who approaches me for advice that they need to: Understand this is the marketing business. Build their brand so that they are unique. Focus NOT…
Running a Successful Speaking Business Abroad
By Tony Chatman, CSP In late October of 2021, I received a text from a friend from college. She simply asked if my wife and I would like to join them in Mexico in five weeks. They owned a place in Playa Del Carmen, so all we’d need to do is get there. We jumped…
Aviate, Navigate, Communicate: How I Built a Six-Figure Speaking Brand While Keeping My Full-Time Career
By Jason O. Harris If you’ve ever spent any time around aviation, you know there’s one rule pilots repeat so often it becomes muscle memory: Aviate. Navigate. Communicate. It’s the principle we fall back on when things get bumpy or when the fit hits the shan at 3 a.m. over the Atlantic Ocean. It’s what…
From Certified Speaking Professional™ to Certified Silent Professional (What Happens When a Speaker Loses Her Voice Among 150 of the World’s Best Speakers)
By Carolyn Strauss, CSP I just spent the weekend at the CSP® Summit in Scottsdale, Arizona, surrounded by 150 Certified Speaking Professionals™, some of the best speakers in the world…. And I couldn’t speak. Not a whisper. Not a croak. Nothing. I arrived with a perfectly normal voice the night before the Summit. Woke up…
RECODED: Use AI to Improve Your Speaking Business DNA
By Susan Frew, CSP — Keynote Speaker, AI Strategist, and Author of RECODED: Upgrade Your Business DNA with AI For a long time, the three things that made someone a successful professional speaker were talent, determination, and travel. You could make a living if you could get people to pay attention, keep booking gigs, and…
From Good to Unforgettable: 5 Self-Leadership Habits That Define the National Speakers Association Professional
By Heather R Younger, J.D., CSP I joined the National Speakers Association in 2018 and later served as President of NSA Colorado. In those years, I have watched our profession grow in both reach and noise. Open LinkedIn on any given day, and it seems everyone is a keynote speaker. I celebrate the enthusiasm, but…
Who Is Your Travel Expert?
By Jim Cathcart, CSP, CPAE, Cavett Award Recipient With 3,500 paid speaking engagements over the past 48 years, I have taken about 9,000 separate flights, including connections. I’ve stayed in over 3,000 hotels and taken a huge number of taxis, limos, private and Uber rides in places where I had never been before. What are…