✨ Why chase titles? Because THIS one matters. 🏅

I was sitting at a conference round table on Saturday morning with other members of the National Speakers Association eating my scrambled eggs and fruit when Dr. Holly Sullinger suddenly gasped and said, "Oh my goodness, check your email."

What did you say? She repeated, "Check your email." Her excitement was oozing from every cell in her body.

I opened up my email. Nothing, except for the latest sales promo from Sneex. I hit refresh again. Nothing.

On the third try, there it was.

Email from the National Speakers Association

This email represents what I've been working toward for eight years when I first learned what the CSP designation stands for. But actually, it's the culmination of my life's work.

Earning a Certified Speaking Professional™ (CSP®) isn't for the faint of heart. It requires years of documented paid keynotes and workshops, testimonials, and eloquence from the stage proving that you have what it takes to help transform people, at work and beyond. Speaking from stages and in workshops carries great responsibility. I often quote what the incredibly talented TED speaker Julian Treasure says ...

"The human voice, it's the instrument we all play. It can start a war or say I love you." - Julian Treasure, TED

Our words matter. Talk is not cheap. Regardless of what current media, social platforms and cultural clashes bombard us with, we all have the power to choose how we communicate. How we show up for our teams. How we show up for our clients. How we show up for our audiences.

Ultimately, how you COMMUNICATE defines who you are.

That's my purpose and mission. I've witnessed incredible results when my clients, teammates and audiences incorporate just one idea or lesson I share. From the labor and delivery unit at Kaiser Permanente in California using my TEDx Talk to develop their nurses whose patients lose a baby to watching one of my teammates go from acute stage fright to emceeing a conference in front of 250 people just one year later, it's the gift of serving others.

Beyond the transformation that CSPs strive to provide with every speech and workshop, getting this designation requires measurement. For a communications major, spreadsheets have been my achilles heel. But this process gave me back office discipline. Proving that I've delivered a minimum of 250 paid engagements with attendance numbers, program descriptions, testimonials, business model descriptors, video submissions of my work, and CSP coursework...whew. I ended up with 355 speeches and workshops since 2016.

Spreadsheet of speaking engagements for CSP

We do this in community

No one gets to this milestone alone. For the longest time, I had no idea people could make a living doing this. In my first career as a television journalist, I spoke all the time. But I was never paid for those events because that was part of the job as a broadcaster.

In my next career journey running the professional development practice at the agency I co-owned, I was fortunate to meet Stan Phelps. Yes, the goldfish guy. His abundant generosity showed me what's possible. It began with a conversation that led to an invitation to our NSA Carolinas chapter meetings. That was 2018.

Fast-forward to NSA's Thrive Conference in New Orleans and that Saturday morning surprise in my inbox. Celebrating with my fellow NSA Carolinas chapter buds, Larry Long Jr. and Dr. Holly Sullinger, was the chef's kiss to an extraordinary ride. Our dear friend Lynn Unsworth also received her CSP and we can't wait to all walk across the stage at NSA's annual Influence Conference in Austin this July for the official induction.