President's Report

As speakers, trainers, facilitators, coaches, and so on, we spend a lot of time on this side of the mic—crafting keynotes, refining workshops, and delivering messages designed to inspire change. Yet, what I’ve found over the years is that real influence isn’t just about what we say—it’s about how well we connect.

In my first book, I talk about the Other Side of leadership—the side where influence matters more than authority, where trust moves people more than titles. The same is true in our profession. The most impactful speakers aren’t the ones with the perfect slides or the polished delivery. They’re the ones who get in the trenches with their audience, who listen as much as they speak, and who create moments that resonate beyond the applause.  Of course, your message matters and how you deliver it makes a huge difference.  Yet, true influence can be found in what is outside of your message.  Do you care?  Have you done the homework to understand them?  Did you take the time to ask questions and get to know the people who are at the event before you went on stage? 

This month let’s challenge ourselves to lean into connection as much as content. Let’s be intentional about understanding our audiences, meeting them where they are, and making sure our words are not just heard, but that they actually stick! 

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NSA MN Chapter Meeting

Our next event is coming up on Saturday, March 15th.  This is an event you don’t want to miss (well, actually, you don’t want to miss any of them…but this one is special).  Not only will we get a chance to hear from the incredible Anne Bonney, but this chapter event will also be our final competition for the Last Story Standing contest.  17 individuals submitted a story for this competition and we are so proud to announce our three finalists – Sherry Bruckner, Sebastian Dziuk, and Nathan Mugaas.  All three will share their amazing 5-minute story before us and a panel of judges will select the winning contestant, who will then go onto regionals.  Please ensure that you are at the EMBASSY SUITES AIRPORT venue by 8:30a in order for us to start on time. 

In addition to our chapter meeting, we have the pleasure of hearing from CSP Theresa Rose.  She’ll be hosting a virtual event on Crystalizing Your Brilliance on Wednesday, March 27th at 7:00p.  In this session, Theresa will help us become clearer on our messaging and more consistent in all that we do, which will results in more income opportunity!  Be sure to register: free for members, $20 for guests. 

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Mark Your Calendars

I’m happy to announce another special event.  In NSA, we are here to support speakers, facilitators, coaches, authors, trainers, and anyone else wanting to have an impact on this world through your word.  However, most of our conversation tends to be around the stage…how to get keynotes and how to give keynotes.  While this helps some, there often is more to our potential impact than keynotes.  Thus, on Friday, May 16th I’ll be hosting a session on training.  More than half of my business income is generated through training and I’ve learned a lot over the past 8 years.  In this session, I hope to share with you a model of training, how you can market your training, different packages you can create to sell your training, and how to create solid content with interactive activities to ensure your participants learn well.  Mark your calendars for this event entitled “Beyond Applause: Creating sustainable income and impact through training.”  The posting for this event will be on our website soon. 

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NSA Minnesota's Annual Gala

Our annual gala is coming up!  For those that don’t know, our gala is a black-tie event where we celebrate the accomplishments of our members.  Several awards will be given, a nice dinner will be served, and we’ll have a great time communication and being entertained during the evening.  We’ve reserved the date of June 5th for the gala, so please make a note of this on your calendars.  Registration is not up yet as we are still finalizing some details, but it will be soon.  We typically start around 6p.   

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Interested in a Board Position

NSA Minnesota is run by volunteers and we are looking for individuals that would like to exemplify #speakersservingspeakers by serving on the board.  This is a working board, meaning that you’ll be doing tasks (such as event planning, marketing, special projects) while helping the board make decisions.  We have one 90-minute board meeting per month, plus the time it will take for your assigned duties.  If you are interested in helping NSA Minnesota continue its momentum into the future, please consider running for a board position.  More details and the nomination form here. 

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Celebrations

Huge congrats to Melody Vachel, who has just released a new book.  Here’s what she says about it: Writing Still, I Rise: A Guide to Navigating the Caregiver Journey was one of the most challenging and enlightening experiences of my life. Recounting my journey from being a caregiver to needing care forced me to revisit some of my most difficult days. I wrote this book to share my personal story of the emotional and physical aspects of being both a caregiver and a recipient of care but also to show how life’s challenges can foster profound personal growth and resilience. Caring for others can feel isolating and overwhelming, which is why I wanted to offer practical guidance to help others from feeling hopeless and isolated in this experience. If you’d like to support her, consider purchasing the book here. 

Also, our amazing Iowa friend and CSP, Dr. Celina Peerman has released her first of three books in 2025 called "49 Chameleons,” which is now available for order from her website or Kindle on Amazon. Her approach included choosing a 5x5 inch compact book with about 50 pages and QR codes scattered throughout in an easy "what do I need today" format. NSA members helped her get to this point and she wants to extend the open invitation to reach out if you have questions about the publishing process (or how to get unstuck if you are...like she was).  Here email is [email protected].  Congrats Melody and Celina!

If you know of someone who should be celebrated, or if you’ve done something worth celebrating, please send me a short description [email protected]. 

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Your 2024-2025 Leadership Team

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