The following information outlines the new requirements for the Professional Member (PM) designation and also the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) which will apply when applications re-open in early September, 2011. There will be a transition period between the old guidelines and the new. This period will go from September 2011 to March 2012.
Preliminary Comments:
• Our organisation is the National Speakers Association of Australia, with the emphasis being on speaking. While we pay total respect to other modes such as consultants and coaches (and indeed, many of us fulfil some of those modes at different times), the emphasis for accreditation is being placed upon the ability to capture an audience with your speaking.
• Since the CSP designation is an international designation, the accreditation requirements must meet as closely as possible, the same standards used by the other accrediting organisations elsewhere in the world (such as the NSA in the United States). NSAA does not only process accreditation applications for Australia. We also process applications from New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and sometimes other countries. The new guidelines have been prepared in liaison with the CSP Council of the NSA and the Global Speakers Federation Task Force.
• The base principle of the accreditation process is that the most important determinant of suitability for a particular designation is the market itself. If a speaker is delivering presentations that the market is consistently willing to pay for, then that income generating capability forms the foundation of the granting of designations. To that end, the process in relation to verifying income is rigorous. It is this rigour that gives the process and the designations themselves credibility.
• All designations are only valid while a person is a financial member of NSAA or one of the GSF associations. If a member ceases to be a member of any affiliated association, their designation is removed and they must remove it from all their marketing materials and products. If a person rejoins an affiliated association, they must re-apply for their designation.
