Past Programs

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• Watch the Video: Selling the Sizzle with Shanita Akintonde

  • Start
    Thursday, September 17, 2020
  •  
    (CDT)
  • End
    Friday, September 17, 2021
  •  
    (CDT)
  • Location
    On your computer

  Register

  To watch the video, click the "register" button at left.

  Guest Speaker: Shanita Akintonde

  Selling the Sizzle

  Join NSA-IL Board Member and Media Maven Shanita Akintonde as she shared her signature presentation, Selling the Sizzle: How Brands (including YOU) Can Become Notable and Quotable. This highly interactive session offered an 'insider's view' on what the best brands do to remain on top and how speakers can do the same. 
  
  Shanita Akintonde has been speaking since she first learned to spell her bologna's first name. Today, you would be hard pressed to find this avid Michael Jackson fan without a book, either one of the three she has co-authored, or one written by someone else. She has traded bologna sandwiches for champagne and lobster.

  Shanita has danced with NSA for 17 years, a courtship that began in 2003 when she was a participant in the NSA-IL chapter’s first Speakers Academy (then called the Candidate U). Shanita now sits on the chapter Board and serves as the organization’s Marketing Director.

  Drawing on her experience as a former advertising and PR executive, Shanita ‘sizzles’ around the globe showing audiences how they can become notable and quotable. She is a college professor, podcast host (Marketing Insights), newspaper columnist, and blogger. Reach out to her on Linkedin or follow her on Twitter.
  

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• Watch the Video: How to Write Winning Proposals for Speakers with Ed Tate, CSP, WCPS

  • Start
    Sunday, October 25, 2020
  •  
    (CDT)
  • End
    Wednesday, October 20, 2021
  •  
    (CDT)
  • Location
    Zoom

  Register

  To watch the video, click the "register" button at left.

  Guest Speaker: Ed Tate, CSP, WCPS

  How to Write Winning Proposals for Speakers

  Speakers are losing tens of thousands of dollars by underpricing themselves. And worse. They make mistakes that kill the deal. In this program, you will:
  

  • Learn how to Win 75% + of the deals!
  • Earn what you are worth and more!
  • Discern during negotiations, what to take away, when to stay and when to walk away!
  • Discover a tool that flushes out the real objections to your proposal and what to do about it.
  • Ascertain the phrase that pays! What to say to learn the actual budget, when they won’t tell you.
  • Ask the "time-saver" questions that will help you rapidly qualify an opportunity and avoid chasing prospects that are not real.
  • Shed price-shoppers immediately.
  • Teach your clients and prospects on how to pay your full fee in advance.
  • Understand how to present your proposal: in-person, online, or on the   phone.
  • Upgrade the deal and earn triple your fee.
  • Know what to say when:
  • • They ask, “How much?”
    • They tell you, “We're a non-profit.”
    • They ask you to cut your fee.

  And much more!

  Ed Tate is an award-winning international keynote speaker, trainer, author, executive, and motivational movie star. Worldwide he is known as “The Speaker Who Energizes, Educates and Entertains.” To date, he has spoken professionally in 50 states, 25 countries and on five continents.

  Ed won the “American Idol of Public Speaking”; becoming the 2000 World Champion of Public Speaking – Toastmasters International’s most prestigious speaking award among its 352,000+ Global members. In 2008, Ed earned the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP).

  Ed’s success in business has spanned more than two decades. For 14 years, he was a successful national account executive selling over $500 million in products and services to corporations and entrepreneurs throughout the United States. He co-created two business units that produced over $1.25 billion in revenue.

  Since 1998, Ed has been principal of Ed Tate & Associates, LLC, a professional development firm that provides keynote and endnote presentations and workshops, as well as in-person and do-it-yourself tools and expertise on winning high-stakes business presentations.
  

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• Watch the Video: Virtual Showcase -- The Journey of D's to Growing Your Business with Annie Meehan

  • Start
    Thursday, October 29, 2020
  •  
    (CDT)
  • End
    Saturday, October 30, 2021
  •  
    (CDT)
  • Location
    on your computer

  Register

  To watch the video, click the "register" button at left.

  Virtual Showcase: Annie Meehan

  The Journey of D's to Growing Your Business

  Annie has had great success teaching audiences and groups the 4D's of growing your business.  Learn how to navigate the ups and downs by using these to seek out and discover success in your career or business.

  Annie Meehan is committed to transforming achievement from good to great by teaching people to rewrite their excuses into successful accomplishments.  Speaking internationally as an expert on living an Exceptional life, she motivates, inspires, and activates her audience to remove the road blocks that stand in the way. Participants walk out with a “WOW” factor that includes practical tools to immediately impact their lives both professionally and personally.

  Annie is an author of 5 motivational books that includes her award winning book Be The Exception. Her latest book, Pineapple Principle, offers a sweet journey to empowerment.

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• Watch the Video: Turning Your Content to Cash with Molly Wendell, CSP, MBA

  • Start
    Saturday, December 05, 2020
  •  
    (CST)
  • End
    Sunday, December 05, 2021
  •  
    (CST)
  • Location
    Zoom

  Register

  To watch the video, click the "register" button at left.

  Did you miss Molly Wendell, CSP, MBA?

  Turning Your Content to Cash: What do you know that you can turn into an online product?

  You know who is buying online courses. Your customers. Maybe you’ve been thinking about creating some type of online product – a course, a membership site, some group coaching. But the time just wasn’t right. You weren’t ready. Here’s the truth. You will never be fully prepared and ready to build an online product. It’s the kind of thing you just have to start. But how?

  In this session, Molly talks about what it takes to build your online product. Most importantly, we’ll get you started… so that you can be that much closer to finishing! And if you don’t have an online product to sell, no worries. Your customers will find someone else who does.
  
  About the Speaker
  Whether Molly Wendell is on stage as a keynote speaker, facilitating an executive retreat, teaching leaders how to be better (online and in person), or hosting her own podcast, she always has one end goal in mind: to challenge your mindset and get you to say: "I never thought it about it like that!"

  (And she’ll get you up on your feet saying it, too – fun is a non-negotiable part of her process.)

  After spending nearly twenty years in the strategic trenches of Fortune 500 and Inc. 5000 companies, nobody knows leaders – and their people – better than Molly! That’s why she’s committed to helping executives and teams achieve their organizational goals by aligning their vision with their people – so they can be better together.

  With her team-first approach to leadership alignment, Molly is the authority for leaders who want to go from good to great, and want to know how to bring their people along for the ride. She shows them that there’s value in getting unstuck in the way “it’s always been”, and taking a new approach to solving problems. She serves as the accountability partner they didn't know they needed, the sounding board for ideas that need an implementation plan and the ultimate relationship builder between them and their team – so they can propel their people toward total alignment, as a collective community. Molly holds an MBA from the University of California-Irvine, and a BS in Marketing from San Diego State University.
  

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• Watch the Video: The Emotionally Engaging Advisor with Deirdre Van Nest

  • Start
    Tuesday, December 15, 2020
  •  
    (CST)
  • End
    Wednesday, December 15, 2021
  •  
    (CST)
  • Location
    on your computer

  Register

  To watch the video, click the "register" button at left.

  Did you miss the Virtual Showcase with Deirdre Van Nest?

  The Emotionally Engaging Advisor

  NSA-MN is proud to present another Virtual Showcase highlighting our own Deirdre Van Nest. In this presentation you will:
  

  • Understand why relying on technical expertise alone to win and keep business is no longer enough.
  • Uncover How to Increase Trust, Likeability, & Connection in 4 Minutes or Less -- across all communication platforms.
  • Discover the biggest “sales killing” mistake most advisors make and how to avoid it when you speak and meet with prospects and clients.
  • Learn the 3 types of business stories every advisor must be telling and how successful advisors are incorporating these stories into their group presentations, 1:1 meetings, and online -- with great success.

  Deirdre Van Nest is the Creator of the Crazy Good Talks^® Blueprint. A system that teaches financial professionals, leaders, sales pros, and experts how to own the room, get paid to speak, bring in business faster, and impact more lives through the power of speaking. Deirdre is a top-rated international  keynoter, Trainer, and Certified World Class Speaking Coach. Over the past 10 years she’s helped 1000’s of professionals become Crazy Good Speakers™. She is the host of Crazy Good Talks^® TV, is called upon for interviews on podcasts and TV talk shows, is a regular contributor to Horsesmouth, and a faculty member at the Hoopis Performance Network. You can learn more about her services at www.crazygoodtalks.com. For more speaking tips check out www.crazygoodtalks.com/tv.

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• Watch the Video: Hands On Speech Structure and Delivery Skills Lab

  • Start
    Friday, January 15, 2021
  •  
    (CST)
  • End
    Saturday, January 15, 2022
  •  
    (CST)
  • Location
    on your computer

  Register

  Did you miss the Hands On Speech Structure and Delivery Skills Lab?

  To watch the video, click the "register" button at left.

  You've got great content in your speech. But, if you are missing two of the most important presentation elements -- how your content is structured and delivered -- your presentation will not hit the mark.
   
  During this hands on speech structure and delivery skills coaching experience, you will learn new delivery and content creation skills. Skills that are critical for reaching your full potential as a speaker.
   
  How this works:
  Deirdre Van Nest coaches 3 presenters on a piece of their presentation. Presenters will deliver up to 5 mins of a presentation and then receive up to 10 min of on the spot content, structure, and delivery coaching from Deirdre.
   
  Deirdre’s “superpower" is identifying the big and microscopic tweaks speakers need to make to take their speech structure and delivery skills to the next level. Whether one is brand new to speaking or spends most of their life on the live or virtual stage, all will receive tangible strategies to make them Crazy Good!

  

  Deirdre Van Nest is the Creator of the Crazy Good Talks® Blueprint. A system that teaches financial professionals, leaders, and experts how to structure and deliver their content so they can own the room, get paid to speak, bring in business faster, and impact more lives through the power of speaking. Deirdre is a top-rated international Keynoter, Trainer, and a Certified World Class Speaking Coach. 
  

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• Watch the Video: How to Build a Speaking Empire with Jeffrey Hayzlett

  • Start
    Friday, January 22, 2021
  •  
    (CST)
  • End
    Saturday, January 22, 2022
  •  
    (CST)
  • Location
    via Zoom

  Register

  To watch the video, click the "register" button at left.

  Jeffrey Hayzlett, CPAE

  How to Build a Speaking Empire

  These days, it’s about more than just speaking. You need to leverage every aspect of your brand and your platform to be successful. Jeffrey Hayzlett, CPAE® Speaker Hall of Fame inductee, shares everything: how he amplified his books, podcasts, television show and speaking to a new level, creating a peer-based executive network and media group.

  Jeffrey opens the kimono and shares: 
  

  • how he books 150+ keynotes a year
  • how he landed a prime-time television show
  • the power of the podcast
  • how book publishing is changing
  • how he leverages every show and every speech to get more events and more speeches
  • how he uses social media accounts for most of his leads and bookings
  • how he leverages his branding for the best positioning
  • how he turned a TV show into a Global Business Network

  Jeff will show you EVERYTHING: marketing samples, marketing plan, contracts, tweets, social media activation worksheets, anything and everything.
  He doesn’t have all the answers or the 'right' way to do things. But what he does works for him and he is glad to share how he does it. If there is something you can borrow or learn from, that is great!
  
  About the Speaker
  Jeffrey Hayzlett is a primetime television host of C-Suite with Jeffrey Hayzlett and Executive Perspectives on C-Suite TV, and business podcast host of The HERO Factor Podcast on C-Suite Radio. He is a global business celebrity, speaker, best-selling author, and chairman of C-Suite Network, home of the world’s most trusted network of C-Suite leaders. Hayzlett is a well-traveled public speaker, former Fortune 100 CMO, and author of numerous best-selling business books including: The Hero Factor: How Great Leaders Transform Organizations and Create Winning Cultures; Think Big, Act Bigger: The Rewards of Being Relentless; Running the Gauntlet; and The Mirror Test. Hayzlett is one of the most compelling figures in business today and is in five business hall of fames including Speaker Hall of Fame, Sales and Marketing Executives, Business Marketing Hall of Fame, Direct Marketing Hall of Fame, and the Industry Award of Distinction from the National Association of Quick Printers. 

  As a leading business expert, Hayzlett is frequently cited in Forbes, SUCCESS, Mashable, Marketing Week and Chief Executive, among many others. He shares his executive insight and commentary on television networks like Bloomberg, MSNBC, Fox Business, and C-Suite TV. Hayzlett is a former Bloomberg contributing editor and primetime host, and has appeared as a guest celebrity judge on NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice with Donald Trump for three seasons. He is a turnaround architect of the highest order, a maverick marketer and c-suite executive who delivers scalable campaigns, embraces traditional modes of customer engagement, and possesses a remarkable cachet of mentorship, corporate governance, and brand building.

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• Watch the Video: Still Standing. Still Smiling. with John Kriesel

  • Start
    Monday, February 15, 2021
  •  
    (CST)
  • End
    Tuesday, February 15, 2022
  •  
    (CST)
  • Location
    via Zoom

  Register

  To watch the video, click the "register" button at left.

  Guest Speaker: John Kriesel

  Still Standing. Still Smiling

  Lessons to be Learned Listening to John Kriesel:

  • Challenges -- Everybody faces adversity. It doesn't matter the size or scope of your challenge, it is the attitude that you bring to the table that will help you overcome that adversity and it will make you a stronger person.
  • Acceptance -- You can't begin to resolve your challenge until you accept it. John lost his legs and two buddies in Iraq explosion. Rather than wallow in self-pity, he resolved to live his life to the fullest and to make the best out of his second chance at life.
  • Plan -- Develop a plan to overcome your challenge, make it into an opportunity. When told he might not walk again and would be hospitalized two years, John doubled his physical therapy regimen, working himself to exhaustion. He walked out of Walter Reed Medical Center nine months later.
  • Humor -- In his darkest moments, John found time to laugh. Always a lighthearted guy, he discovered laughter and not taking yourself too seriously are powerful medicine in any endeavor.
  • Support -- Nobody does it alone. Friends, family and people you don't know will help but you need to accept their help. Success is a team sport. John’s army buddies, medical staff in four hospitals, family, and scores of people, many he never met, got John up on his new feet.
  • Share -- Use your success to help others and you help yourself. The greater your success, the more you will enjoy sharing it by helping others beat their challenges, no matter how big or small those challenges may be.

  About the Speaker
  If Dr. Norman Vincent Peale was writing his incredibly popular book, The Power of Positive Thinking, today he would need to add a separate chapter on John Kriesel.

  In 2006 Kriesel was nearly blown to shreds by a 200 pound roadside bomb in the parched sands of Iraq, but battlefield angels in army uniforms kept him breathing long enough to reach a field hospital. He died three times and was shocked back to life. Somehow he survived through four hospitals, 35 surgeries and months of recovery. He lost both legs and suffered numerous other major injuries, but it was the loss of two close friends that hurt the most.

  The guy who wasn’t supposed to survive and was told he probably would be in a wheelchair the rest of his life walked out of Walter Reed Army Medical Center after nine months. Working with author Jim Kosmo, Kriesel reveals his motivational story in Still Standing: The Story of SSG John Kriesel, winner of eight national book awards.

  Four years after his near-death experience in Iraq Kriesel became a civilian marketing employee with the Minnesota Army National Guard and in 2012 was named Director of Veterans Services for Anoka County. He also is a part time host on KFAN Sports Radio and former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. He was elected to the House in 2010 after a vigorous campaign where he was told he could not win in his district. He personally visited several thousand homes in all weather conditions and literally wore out the socket in one of his prosthetic legs. He won. After tours of duty in Kosovo and Iraq and a lengthy medical recovery Kriesel’s family wanted to spend more time with him and he chose not to run for re-election.

  As a legislator he was anything but a quiet freshman challenging even his own party and frequently speaking his mind. “Kriesel’s honesty is a breath of fresh air at the Capitol,” declared the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. In addition to serving veterans in the Twin Cities and being a frequent voice on KFAN’s Power Trip Morning Show, he continues to share his upbeat, motivational message with businesses and organizations throughout the United States.

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• Watch the Video: From Diva Dogs to Do-overs with Chris Heeter

  • Start
    Tuesday, February 23, 2021
  •  
    (CST)
  • End
    Wednesday, February 23, 2022
  •  
    (CST)
  • Location
    via Zoom

  Register

  To watch the video, click the "register" button at left.

  Guest Speaker: Chris Heeter
  

  From Diva Dogs to Do-overs:
  A dog musher's perspective on being Wildly Resilient

  With hilarious stories from her sled dog team and remarkable ties back to the world of meeting professionals, Chris Heeter guides us inside, to a place of Wild Resilience and connection. Whether you are staring down the throat of continued virtual events or dipping your toes back toward face-to-face meetings—your guests/attendees need, even crave, your Wild side... your creative energy and ability to see connection and engagement in new ways. Get ready to laugh at the dogs (and Chris’) antics even as they show you how to think expansively and help you, your team, and your clients be Wildly Present, Wildly Original, and Wildly Welcoming.  Because when we meet (in person or through tiny screens), we change the world.
  
  About the Speaker
  Featured on the Discovery Channel’s National Geographic Today and recognized with national awards as a speaker, Chris Heeter has followed her own Wild path since she was young. A wilderness guide for over 30 years, she’s been a professional speaker for 18 years. Chris leads groups deep into the wilderness by canoe or dogsled. The abundant parallels between these adventures and the workplace make up the core of her presentations. Chris grabs audiences with humorous stories about her dogs and their personalities, then weaves those stories into practical takeaways. Chris is on a mission to wake up the Wild side of organizations, to break through the trappings of ‘how we’ve always done it,’ and to create Wild and vibrant workplaces that blend heart with solid, successful business strategy.

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• Watch the Video: The Million Dollar Tipping Point with Bill Cates

  • Start
    Tuesday, April 13, 2021
  •  
    (CDT)
  • End
    Wednesday, April 13, 2022
  •  
    (CDT)
  • Location
    via Zoom

  Register

  To watch the video, click the "register" button at left.
  

  Guest Speaker: Bill Cates, CSP, CPAE

  The Million Dollar Tipping Point

  What does it take to build a speaking-centered business that generates $1M+ of annual review?  How do you multiply your best clients and build multiple streams of income?

  Bill Cates, CSP, CPAE helps you discover how to:
  

  • Acquire more high-value speaking, training, and/or coaching clients.
  • Use video to create high-dollar programs for corporations.
  • Turn corporate programs into online learning systems you can license for recurring, high-profit revenue.

  Even if you don’t aspire to generate $1M of annual revenue in your speaking-centered business, this session delivers guiding principles, big strategies, and proven tactics to help you grow your business (that’s just right for you).

  As a founding member of NSA’s Million Dollar Speakers Group and a member of the NSA Board of Directors, Bill Cates knows the speaking business through and through. This not-to-be-missed program will help speakers at all levels grow their businesses.
  
  About the Speaker
  Bill Cates is a hard-working, successful speaker and business owner. Bill is a founding member of NSA’s Million Dollar Speakers Group and has sustained a 7-figure speaking business by becoming extremely focused with his business. 
  Bill is the author of five books:  Unlimited Referrals, Get More Referrals Now, Don’t Keep Me a Secret, Beyond Referrals, and Radical Relevance, as well as a number of corporate video training programs licensed by companies around the world.
  In addition to being a Certified Professional Speaker, Bill was inducted into the Professional Speakers Hall of Fame in 2010.

  Bill’s referral system has been featured in Success Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, and Entrepreneur Magazine.  And his own business success has been featured in Money Magazine. Bill doesn’t just talk about what it takes to be successful in this business – he’s actually done it!
  

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