BLOG

How To Develop A Successful, Long-Term Career As A Professional Speaker (By Answering These 9 Questions)

By Navaal Mahdi | September 17, 2025

By Jim Pancero, CSP, CPAE  | How are you, as a professional speaker/trainer/consultant growing your speaking business? Most have no real plan or strategy for what they need to do to have a successful, and profitable long-term speaking career. What does your plan look like…and what are you doing each week to advance this master … Read more

8 Truths About Speaking Internationally (They Are Not What You Think)

By Navaal Mahdi | September 10, 2025

By Sylvie di Giusto, CSP, CPAE Talk to any speaker long enough, and one dream is bound to surface: taking their message to a global stage. The allure is understandable: images of exotic destinations, selfie-filled reels beside iconic landmarks, late-night receptions under foreign skies, multilingual backstage crews managing headset switches, and spontaneous applause in languages … Read more

Super Sexy Speaker Systems: How to Stop Dropping the Ball (and Look Good Doing It)

By Navaal Mahdi | September 3, 2025

By Marcey Rader, CSP | Want to be sexier in your speaking business? You already rock the stage. But what about backstage – the messy, unsexy side, where the sausage gets made? Let’s talk about building systems that keep you in your zone of genius and off the hamster wheel.   Why bother? Systems = … Read more

From Microphones to Milestones: My Journey to CSP®

By Navaal Mahdi | August 27, 2025

By: Sharon Weinstein, CSP, MS, RN, CRNI-R, FAAN, CVP | I’ve held a lot of microphones in my life. Town hall meetings. Hospital boardrooms. Government offices. Conference panels. I’ve briefed ministers, board members, nurses, and CEOs—often in the same week. At one point, I was in three countries a week, translating healthcare goals into policy … Read more

A Dream, a Journal, and the Journey in Between

By Navaal Mahdi | August 20, 2025

By Sam Demma*, CSP | In July of 2023, I sat in the back of the ballroom in Orlando, Florida, watching a parade of brilliant speakers walk across the stage to receive their CSP, CPAE, and respective awards. Moved to tears by the remarks from Dr. Willie Jolley, CSP, CPAE, Cavett Award Recipient, I scurried … Read more

My 5 Secrets to Getting Booked Consistently for 25 Years

By Navaal Mahdi | August 13, 2025

By Jason Hewlett, CSP, CPAE The first NSA meeting I ever attended—22 years ago—featured a brilliant, well-known keynote speaker who emphatically proclaimed, “Do not EVER speak for free.” Oddly, I had just seen that same speaker a few days earlier… speaking for free at a charity event. That’s why I came to NSA in the first … Read more

From Big Macs to Big IMPACT: Systemize Your Speaking Business

By Navaal Mahdi | August 6, 2025

By Patrick Donadio, MBA, CSP, MCC The Smart Speaker’s Advantage Sitting in a Tokyo McDonald’s, craving something familiar after weeks of home-cooked meals from my various Rotary host families, I bit into a “Big Mac.” It tasted exactly like the Big Mac back home in Columbus, Ohio. That was the moment I understood the power … Read more

Let’s Get Candid About Keynote Speaking Fees!

By Andre-A Guyton | July 23, 2025

By Crystal Washington, CSP, CPAE I owe you an apology. As the person who introduced using “pineapples” in place of quoting actual numbers when I hosted the NSA podcast—I know you’re groaning—I think it’s time we have a candid discussion about speaker fees in 2025. First, I must share that I’m writing from the perspective … Read more

The Business Behind the Curtain: 25 Ways to Create an Amazing Speech – That Doesn’t Include the Speech

By Andre-A Guyton | July 16, 2025

By Shep Hyken, CSP, CPAE One of the highest compliments a speaker can receive is being invited back to present for the same client. It validates that you weren’t just good, but good enough—or should I say amazing enough—to be invited back. Who doesn’t love that? But there’s another compliment that’s almost just as good, … Read more

Embrace Change: Reinventing for Growth and Success

By Andre-A Guyton | July 9, 2025

By Cliff Quicksell, CSP, MAS+ Nearly two decades ago, I had the pleasure of hearing a dynamic speaker, Jim Tunney, CPAE, Cavett Award Recipient. Jim was a former NFL referee and spoke on the topic of reinvention and change – it was spectacular. During his presentation he uttered this statement which has become the central … Read more

Contact

How Can We Help?

I have a question about*

Check all options that apply

 

How Can We Reach You?

I am*

Check all options that apply

 

Anything else you'd like to share?

Comments

 

Let's Stay In Touch

 We bring the world’s leading speakers together, curate content, and negotiate services that transform your speaking craft and business.

NSA National Speakers Association
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognizing you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.