Andre-A Guyton
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
By Dr. Celina Peerman, CSP In my last article, I wrote about the tension many speakers face as we grow — how success can sneakily outpace our systems, our energy, and even our joy. What I’ve learned since then is this: capacity isn’t about keeping up. It’s about building ahead. If your speaking business is … Read more
By Dr. Celina Peerman, CSP I still remember the moment I realized I couldn’t do it all myself anymore. I was walking off stage after delivering a keynote that had taken weeks of preparation, managing all the logistics, communications, travel details, and follow-up myself. My inbox was exploding, and I had multiple training sessions booked … Read more
By Clint Pulver, CSP, CPAE Eight years ago, I walked away from the security of a steady paycheck. People thought I was crazy. I had a good job, benefits, and what many would call a stable life. But deep down, I wasn’t living—I was existing. A quote by Oscar Wilde haunted me: “To live is … Read more
By Amanda Gore, CSP, CPAE, Global Speaking Fellow BE YOURSELF! So often when I present to speakers, they come up to me afterwards and say, “Thank you for giving me permission to be myself on stage!” I really understand now – but I didn’t earlier in my career! My mentor, Michael Grinder, the world’s leading … Read more
By Brian Walter, CSP, CPAE, Cavett Award Recipient Okay, the words “Clooney” and “paparazzi” in this headline may seem to go together. But…genocide? Yet if you do what I do, and search online for old media stories, you’d discover an amazing insight on how to make our speeches more “sticky.” This insight came from a … Read more