Celebration – Part Two. The Day I Received My Certified Speaking Professional Designation

Last week we talked about celebrating as teams. This week, I need to finish the conversation and let you, my team, celebrate with me. On Saturday, July 14, in front of 1400 of my peers at our national conference, 50 of my colleagues and I received our Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation. Our designation makes us one of 708 CSPs worldwide.  

Our class is a motley blend of folks with backgrounds in many areas of expertise from across the world. While we are very different in what we do, our class was tied together by the process and impact of our work across many years and industries. Many of you have asked what the process is and what this certification means. Here’s both the process and the significance. 

The Process

For someone to attain their CSP, they have to: 

  • Prove income and sustainability of their business over a minimum of five years at $50,000 a year.  
  • Have verified presentations numbering 250 or more. 
  • Provide a minimum of 20 professional references who provide them with a rating of 32/36 on a series of speaking competencies. Thanks to a few bonus points and all of you, my average was 36.2! 
  • Attended four sessions and shown aptitude in the four pillars of our association related to expertise, eloquence, enterprise, and ethics.  
  • Submitted and had four CSPs rate a live-audience video with a score of 32/36.  

The Significance

What does this designation mean?  

  • For those in speaking world and those hiring speakers, earning your CSP is a verification of credentials and a vote of confidence that the CSP is a quality speaker with a proven track record.  
  • Validation of the skills needed to truly be a speaker of value and measure for our association.
  • A set of letters behind our name meaning we did something to prove ourselves to be who we claim to be. 
  • And for me, it’s a symbol of the culmination of a lot of years of hard work. A reminder on my toughest days that there are a ton of people out there who believe in me and who want me to succeed.  

Grateful

Knowing what we had to do to earn this achievement, it was amazing to be recognized publicly for our work. The big moment finally came, we were each sent across the stage with our name splayed in 15-foot lettering for everyone to see. We received CSP medals, accompanied by cheers, applause, support and a standing ovation by our peers. Our class beamed, we celebrated, and we were grateful to be awarded this honor.  

Receiving this award was amazing, and perhaps the greatest significance is knowing we are part of a community of people who do what we do, struggle with what we struggle with, and work every day to make a difference in the lives of their audiences and clients.  

The ceremony was part of a bigger event, a five-day conference. Others in our profession gathered to learn, share, and encourage one another. This community is like no other I’ve belonged to, and it stems from a man named Cavett Robert, who envisioned a community where speakers could inspire and change the world for the better through collaboration, not competition.  

Cavett believed if we worked together, instead of splitting and dividing business into small slices, we could make a bigger pie and feed people more knowledge, encouragement and skills.  You can learn more about our association at www.nsaspeaker.org/about/.  

The Conference

The other totally great thing about earning our CSPs, was wearing the CSP medal throughout the entire five-day conference. A few of us really debated if we wanted the attention of wearing the medal. There was a feeling it may give an impression of arrogance and unwanted attention.  

However, being convinced to wear the medal throughout the week, it was amazing to have people come up throughout the day to congratulate us. Instead of speaking of arrogance, it affirmed our hard work and a love for our audiences. This resulted in a solid, tangible reward beyond the challenging world of travel and self-employment. 

Thank you to each of you for being part of this journey in many, many ways! Without you, this celebration would have never happened. I’m eternally grateful for your love, support, and encouragement. I hope to pass along what I have learned from all of you at each opportunity ahead.  Thank you for celebrating with me! 


Keynote speaker, trainer, and consultant, Sarah Gibson, helps organizations leverage the power of communication, teamwork and diversity to improve engagement and transform teams. To buy her book or inquire about her speaking programs, please visit www.sarahjgibson.com. 

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