New Member Guide

Get The Most From Your NSA Membership

You have earned your membership in NSA. Now earn the right to call yourself a member.

MyNSA is the strength of the members. This association thrives because of the talent, energy and intelligence of our members. You have joined the membership - read on to learn what is expected of you as a member.

Determine your priority needs.
Determine where you are in your speaking career and where you want to go. Use NSA's Professional Competencies to assess your strengths and your development areas.

Find your mentors.
No matter where you are in your career, there is someone who has valuable lessons they have learned and can share with you. Identify mentors - those who are doing what you want to do and contact them from their information listed in the NSA directories.

Likewise, you are potentially someone's mentor. Make yourself available to those who can benefit from the lessons you can share. The entire foundation of this organization is built on a model of sharing: best practices, lessons learned, business models that work, etc. All members are expected to actively participate in the strengthening of this foundation.

Attend chapter meetings.
Chapters are the heart of NSA. They are the networking and education at a local level and put you in direct contact with your peers in the speaking profession. Attendance at chapter meetings is exceptionally high, even when members have to travel three hours each way to attend a meeting. If there is not a chapter in your area, consider making arrangements to travel to the nearest chapter meeting. If you are on the road, contact the chapter in that area. Most chapters hold meetings on Saturday mornings.

Attend national meetings.
Attend at least one national meeting. The connections you make and the knowledge you gain from the national meetings is incredible. There really is something for everyone at these meetings. NSA members refer to the learning that takes place outside of the sessions as "The Hallways." This unstructured meeting and sharing offers the opportunity to build your network of professional colleagues, mentors and friends. Most members plan ahead to invest the time and money in attending for the simple reason that the payback far exceeds the costs -- they can't afford not to attend!

Practice your ethics.
The culture and spirit of this organization's foundation is our shared agreement to adhere to NSA's code of professional ethics. NSA members live and profit by the unique expertise, stories and delivery styles they have learned and created. As part of the NSA culture, members share the processes they went through to develop their uniqueness. No member is allowed to plagiarize or copy another's uniqueness. Some material is public domain but much is not. NSA is successful because members learn and respect the difference. When in doubt, ask.

The business about speaking fees.
Because NSA is an association of potential market competitors, antitrust laws discourage fee discussions at association gatherings. To avoid all concerns about price setting, we simply do not talk about fees at NSA events or in NSA publications. Details of the antitrust legislation are available through the NSA office. Outside of the NSA environment, you are free to discuss issue related to your business as you see fit.

Be a wise consumer.
There are literally hundreds of services for speakers. Many are consultation services that are designed to help you take your career to the next level. Some are bureau packages and showcase deals. Although many of these services are good, they are not for everyone. Evaluate the offers made and verify the results with references. Ask a lot of questions before you buy to ascertain that the service, the supplier/consultant/bureau and the timing of the relationship meet your current needs. Mange the abundance. There is a lot of information available through NSA and NSA members. The volumes of information targeted to you and your business will require your selective management. Making Your Best Buying Decision

NSA Differences
There is no typical NSA speaker. There are as many topics, markets, styles and business plans in NSA as there are members. At times various members may sound like there is "one way" to achieve career success but recognize that they represent one opinion and position. If you are finding success, NSA does not want to change that, this organization exists to help you achieve your success better - as you define better!

Participate and give back to your profession.
Members have let us know that the real gold in this association began to flow in when they became actively involved. We are always looking for volunteers at the national and chapter level to help build this association. Contact your local chapter or the committee chairs listed in the annual member handbook for volunteer opportunities. Also, consider writing an article for an NSA publication. All members are welcome to submit articles for publication in Professional Speaker. Professional Expert Groups (PEGS) are another excellent way to get involved in NSA leadership and gain visibility by submitting articles for publication in the newsletters.

Promote your NSA membership.
NSA members are very active in generating their own PR. A skeleton news release has been developed to help you get started in promoting you and your membership.

The Annual Member Handbook.
Review the Annual Member Handbook. It includes information on committee chairs, PEG leaders, and chapter contacts. Additionally it contains valuable information on ethics, upcoming events, editorial guidelines and NSA's Vision and Mission Statements.

Be encouraged - you are a part of something great!
Our membership profile information tells us that the typical NSA member is: Highly intelligent, dynamic, energetic and… extremely busy! NSA members care deeply about the audiences and clients they serve and their career and life balance. You are a part of an amazing group of professionals. There is tremendous knowledge in you and in others who have become a part of NSA. We look forward to the sharing that just got better because you have joined.