have interacted with otherwise. When you go to speaking conventions and workshops, you might pass people
and say ‘hello’ but you don’t necessarily know their
name or their expertise in that environment. NSA Next
provides a virtual introduction to speakers so that when
you meet face to face, you’ve already established an initial relationship and have something to talk about.”
Anastasia L. Turchetta, of Kill Devil Hills, N.C., a 41-
year-old dental hygienist who speaks about wellness and
health issues, was attracted to NSA Next because it
allows her to deal with age and expertise roadblocks
without being intimidated. “I’ve been in this business for
20 years and still get reactions from some who can’t
believe I’m the speaker. Those in NSA Next understand
the hurdles in being accepted and getting hired.” She also
enjoys that with just a touch of a button she gets instant
and targeted feedback. “I can take a piece of my brand,
ask a question and get an immediate answer to a specific
question without the structure or focus of a PEG. I’ve
benefited from these types of NSA efforts, but NSA Next
is a great fit for me at this stage in my speaking career.
NSA Next is the best of both worlds—NSA expertise in
one giant, collaborative brainstorming session.”
WHAT’S GOOD FOR NSA NEXT. . .
Tetschner agrees that NSA Next is a valuable extension
of NSA’s primary focus of offering education and outreach opportunities. “Once NSA identified that the two
best things we do are provide education and creating a
community within the speaking profession, we turned
more attention to how to build that community,” he
says. “Speaking can be a lonely business. We see these
sub-communities within NSA as an important step to
building a larger community so speakers can come
together and connect over common issues, both business and personal.”
The 70+ members of NSA Next communicate mostly
online but have hosted a few teleseminars and anticipate more face-to-face interaction at conventions and
workshops. “We’ll try different things, maybe have
spin-offs. We haven’t put it in a measuring cup. We
have some pieces to answer but as we grow and
develop, we’ll make changes that make sense for the
collective group,” says Payn-Knoper.
What’s good for NSA Next is good for NSA. “
Building stronger businesses as speakers helps our audiences
and, ultimately, helps NSA,” she adds. “Stronger businesses equal a stronger association.”
rs
Speaker magazine recently polled some NSA Nexters to get
some perspective on what defines the Generation X/Y speaker:
• Training & development,
meeting planner
• Stand-up comedian, actor,
IT support
• Technical proposal writer
• Shrink and chairman of
department of psychiatry
• Media journalist
• General manger
• Marketing specialist
• Congressional lobbyist
• Funeral director
(and still am)
• College administrator
• Sales executive
• Started as a speaker
straight out of college
The owner of a seminar company invited me to audition
for a speaking position at the
ripe old age of 24.
I spoke at an internal event
for Accenture, then Anderson
Consulting. It could have
been a boring presentation,
but I took a chance and told
a joke with regional appeal.
It worked, and I was hooked.
I gave the punchline of my
signature story to my biggest
audience (at the time) and
got 21 seconds of laughter.
Of course, as a rookie, I
walked all over it.
I took a stress management
course in college and my
professor motivated me to
follow in his path (without
the doctorate).
When I was a junior in
high school, my mother
let me skip school for the
day so I could attend Zig
Ziglar’s “Get Motivated”
seminar.
Sally J. Clasen is a freelance writer
based in Phoenix. She’s written for
numerous consumer and corporate
magazines and news outlets and
focuses on health, business and
travel subjects. She can be contacted
at writesalgal@yahoo.com.
