Speaker - December 2008

In my 17 years at NSA, there have been many changes—both in the association and in the speaking profession overall. But one thing remains constant: our members’ continued dedication to freely share trade secrets, experiences and successes for building stronger businesses.

There are not many industries in which competitors care about each other the way NSA members do. When I attended one of my first NSA meetings, Tony Alessandra, PhD, CSP, CPAE, openly shared his detailed marketing plan and its successful results. Later, when asked why he just gave that knowledge away, he explained that sharing information creates new marketing standards for speakers, and motivates him to continually develop innovative ways to stay ahead of the curve.

Tony’s example underscored the philosophy of NSA founder Cavett Robert, CSP,

CPAE, for rallying speakers to join NSA until his death in 1997. According to Cavett, there is no greater teacher than

OPE—Other People’s

Experience. By sharing experiences, his goal was to create a bigger pie with more paid speaking opportunities—and his strategy still works today.

In the past 35 years, one princi-

ple has been the root of NSA’s success.

The unselfish sharing of our members continues to build a bigger, stronger and more ethical profession. This behavior, in turn, creates more speaking opportunities. I challenge all NSA members to learn from each other by sharing their experiences and secrets for success.

We are amid uncertain economic times. We have weathered other challenging times, and will ride through this economic storm by sharing and caring for our profession and fellow speakers. What can you do to create a bigger pie so you can get a bigger slice of it? Make greater attempts to attend chapter meetings, present sessions to your peers, write an article, or

give a teleseminar. Your knowledge can benefit others. The following opportunities also allow you to connect with other NSA members, without the expense of attending a national or chapter meeting.

Get social.

Many speakers share common interests and have formed groups that are related or unrelated to speaking, such as Black NSA, the NSA

Prayer Group, Generation XY Speakers, GLBT Speakers, Hispanic

NSA, Tall Women’s PEG, Speaking Eagles, the Cigar PEG, and a variety of mastermind groups. Visit the networking groups page on www.MyNSA.org for more information.

Join a PEG. NSA Professional Expert
Groups (PEGs) used to focus solely on
printed newsletters and sessions sched-
uled at NSA’s meet-
ings. Today, the in-
person meetings are
secondary to some of
the exciting telesemi-
nars, online publi-
cations, and social
networking sites that
speakers have devel-
oped through NSA.
Call NSA headquar-

ters at (480) 968-2552 to find out how you can get involved.

Go online. Are you on LinkedIn or Facebook? Many NSA speakers connect via social networking sites. NSA sponsors a variety of groups on these and other sites so you can communicate with fellow speakers any time of day. Select the site of your choice and join the conversation. If we aren’t already there, NSA can establish a presence on your social network.

In difficult times, it is sometimes more comforting to connect face to face to learn from OPE. I look forward to seeing you at an NSA meeting or event to learn from you.