EXACTLY WHAT IS A CSP? And Why Is That Title So Important?

What is a Certified Speaking Professional and why should you care?

Selected Posts from Brad’s Past

We found a few posts, videos and stories from Brad’s past, and thought it would be fun to re-publish them here.  So pour yourself a cup of coffee, put on some classic rock, and check out this classic blog post from a decade (ish) ago.  

Looking for a motivational speaker for your event? Contact me here.

Yours,

Brad Montgomery
Motivational Speaker, Humorist, Seminar Leader, Certified Speaking Professional (CSP)

For you folks who prefer to read, here’s the transcript to the video:

Alright so check that out. It’s my CSP medal. So what is a CSP? What is a Certified Speaking Professional and why do you care?

Alright, so here’s the short story. A CSP, again Certified Speaking Professional, comes from the organization of professional speakers called the National Speakers Association. I’m a member, I’m a proud member, I’ve been a member for years and they’re the ones who gave me, kapow, that thing, it’s a CSP.

So what it means, the short story is to get the CSP you have to have had a whole bunch of clients and the National Speakers Association checks up on that. You have to have earned a certain amount of money and not that money is the Holy Grail, but it proves that you’ve been working over a certain amount of time.

And by the way, this is over a long time. It’s over five or six years, so it’s not, you can’t have a short flash. They want to know you have a ton of speakers over five years and they want to know you made a significant amount of money over five years, proving that you’re in the game and then also, the coolest thing is they check up on your clients and make sure that your clients are happy with you.

So, and again, not the last month, not the last two clients, not the last clients over a year, we’re talking over a long period of time. And I don’t mind telling you, I think the standards are pretty low. You really don’t need that many jobs and you don’t really need to have made that much money as a speaker in order to be eligible for your CSP. And if you can’t round up a few clients who aren’t willing to vouch for you when the National Speakers Association calls you, you’re just not doing that well, which brings up the point, if it’s so easy to get a CSP, why don’t more speakers have them? Seriously, it’s just not that hard.

So you just have to do some paperwork and get it done. What’s that got to do with you?

Looking for a speaker? Ask if they have their CSP Medal.

When you’re looking to book a speaker, one of the things you ought to ask is, are you a Certified Speaking Professional and if not, why not? And then listen. And if the answer is a lot of excuses, well, because of this or it’s just not important or, you might ask them, I heard it was pretty easy to do, why can’t you just do the paperwork and do it if it’s so easy?

But what I think you’ll find is that there are tons of speakers who say they have the experience that don’t. There’s tons of speakers who say they have the expertise that don’t and most importantly, there’s tons of speakers who say they have the continual track record which for you, is your level of guarantee. That’s what’s going to guarantee that your speaker kills for you. If they don’t have that, you ought to really ask them why.

Alright, that’s my CSP. I’m pretty proud of it. Didn’t really change my life, but it was kind of fun and when we just set up the office, I hung it up because I thought it was kind of fun.

So check it out. Are you hiring a CSP? Good. If not, find out why not.

My name is Brad Montgomery. If you are looking for a motivational speaker who has earned their CSP, this is the highest earned designation from the National Speakers Association, if you want one of those, I’d love to be your guy.

Check out the preview video. It’s here somewhere. Click the link. Is it there? I don’t know. You’ll find it. Check out the preview video and if you have any questions, give us a call at bradmontgomery.com or funnymotivationalspeakers.com. Make it a great day!