CSP Certified Speaking Professional or Certified Specialist in Paperwork?

Before anything else, are you voting for me daily, as much and as often as you can? Have you spread it to your various networks from your address book to your social media networks. In case you forgot, I am auditioning to be Oprah's next talk show host and I need your votes now through July 3rd - Click Here.

Now to blogging...I am a CSP! What the heck is that? It's an earned designation through my professional trade association the National Speakers Association. There are less than 500 of us worldwide and it a prestigious accomplishment. We have our own online ezine and I wrote an article that will appear this month. As you will obviously not see it, I thought I would include it for you here.

How Do I Love CSP, Let Me Count the Ways

I earned this designation so long ago, all you “digital natives” as Gina Schreck called you in last months’ Credential News, probably weren’t born. And I can’t remember when it was because I am a “digital immigrant”, thanks, Gina, that’s almost as exciting as when someone called me a “pioneer” in the speaking industry.

Here’s what I do know as Oprah would say (oh I’m just full of clichés). I LOVE this designation!, Why? Because I EARNED it. Not to take away from our prestigious Cavett Award or the CPAE designation but there is a source of pride knowing that you earned something by your own merits; that you set and met criteria; that you set a goal and achieved it. AND, that you did all that paperwork, oops, sorry, back to being a digital immigrant, it’s probably done electronically now, duh! As my buddy, Warren Greshes used to say, CSP stood for Certified Specialist in Paperwork.

So how do I use it and more importantly, how do you use or abuse it? Abuse it? Yes, by not using it, OK so now I’m resorting to cliché with rhyme. This will not be brain surgery, folks but here are some simple ways that I use it and would hope each month someone would write in (do we still say that?) and add your uses to this so we can indeed “count the ways”. Hey, it’s the title, I had to do that, kinda’ like when you throw the convention theme is your speech to show how much you customized☺

Then once this suggested list has evolved, we can give it to all new CSP’s to use as a template. Do they do this now, who knows, I wouldn’t be writing this article if I knew that. Oooh, touches of Dale Irvin sarcasm.

OK, here’s the obvious;

1. It’s on every correspondence with an explanation as to what it is.
2. The logo is on the home page of my website.

3. It’s in every introduction at every speech

4. It’s in the program of every convention brochure.

5. It’s on the cover of my media kit

6. The CSP brochure is on the inside cover, (do they still make them, I bought 1000’s so I still have them?)

7. It’s on my social media sites (or it will be, just thought of that one)

OK, enough about me, let’s talk about me. No, no, time to send your creative juices regarding uses (couldn’t resist, I know, it’s kinda like my matchy matchy with clothes, earrings and shoes) I’m easy to spot at conventions.

So as Robert Browning meant to say, “How Do I Love CSP, Let Me Count the Ways!