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Record number of women awarded elite international status of Certified Speaking Professional™ at record-breaking event held in Perth this weekend

Announcement posted by Professional Speakers Australia (PSA) 18 Mar 2024

CSPs show proven mastery of the craft and business of full-time speaking as a paid career

A record 62% women are among the 2024 cohort of Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) recipients announced at the PSA Connect24 Convention this weekend, the highest in PSA's 25 year history. 

 

13 new CSPs from Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Palmerston were announced at a PSA Gala Dinner event at the Doubletree by Hilton in Perth on Saturday 16 March. They now join an elite group of only about 1100 people worldwide to currently hold the internationally recognised speaker designation. PSA is a founding member of the Global Speakers Federation and one of only two international organisations that grants the esteemed accreditation.

 

Full criteria for CSP accreditation is available here. It includes the requirement to earn at least $400,000 in speaking-related fees within a defined period as an indicator of demand for their mastery of both the business and craft of professional speaking as a career.

 

Ally Nitschke CSP is among this year's 8 female 2024 recipients, and one of the fastest to secure the esteemed accreditation within two years, a process that typically takes 5-7 years. (more details below)

 

Convened by Perth-based 'Culture Futurist,' Rael Bricker CSP, the sold-out PSA 2024 Convention attracted the highest number of "aspiring to inspiring professional speakers" from across Australia, India, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States over four days (15-18 March) at the Doubletree by Hilton. 

 

MEDIA INTERVIEW CALL-OUT 

** B-ROLL and PHOTOGRAPHY of Award Night + Convention AVAILABLE ON REQUEST *** 

 

The final day of the PSA Convention (today) is reserved exclusively for current CSPs.

 

On-site interviews available by request today at the Doubletree by Hilton from 9am-2pm. To arrange, contact PR Boss Lady, Heather Jones by reply email or text/call 0400 394 669.

 

NOTE: Along with the 13 newly announced CSP recipients (listed below), Leanne Christie, CEO of Ovations International, Australia's largest independent speaker booking bureau, is also on-site today at the PSA Connect24 Convention and available for interview. With more than thirty years experience in the speaking industry, Leanne can speak more broadly about demand for Australian professional speakers, what distinguishes "good from great" and what trends she's seeing.

 

For your convenience in selecting interview candidates, the alphabetically listed CSP 2024 recipients below offers background info on some, and links to more information on all: 

 

  1. Ally Nitschke CSP (Melbourne, VIC) - fastest time to achieve CSP status (less than two years). Best-selling author of "The Rise of the Courageous Leader" which deals with how to have tough conversations which she says people avoid every 7 minutes resulting in productivity loss of $104B each year. 
  2. Clifford Morgan CSP (Brisbane, QLD) - former Royal Australian Airforce organisational psychologist and author of 'The Coaching Leader'.
  3. Corrinne Armour CSP (Melbourne, VIC) - expert in Fearless Leadership® and author of 'Leaders Who Ask' & 'Developing Direct Reports'.
  4. Daniel Merza CSP (Sydney, NSW)
  5. Grant Bosnick CSP (now Singapore)
  6. Kaley Chu CSP (Melbourne, VIC) - youngest 2024 recipient, founder and author of "100 Lunches with Strangers" Kaley shares her pride at overcoming anxiety as a new migrant from Hong Kong to now travelling the world sharing her transformational experience.
  7. Karen Livey MBA CSP (Perth, WA) - expert in Neuroscience of Leadership including a specialty focus on the power of sleep and its impact on cognitive decline.
  8. Dr Kristy Goodwin CSP (Sydney, NSW) - as one of Australia's leading digital wellbeing and productivity speakers, Dr Goodwin warns of "Digital dementia" and "Infobesity" - caused by the human operating system now processing an estimated 74GB of data every day. "This is more than our ancestors would process in a lifetime. The hippocampus has not grown any more. Women stop blaming perimenopause. Men stop blaming old age.The harsh reality is we can't outperform our biological blueprint. We have ancient palaeolithic brains wired to hunt and gather. Our brains have not been designed to have information thrust at us the way it is now," Dr Goodwin warned in her PSA Connect24 Convention address on Saturday.
  9. Lauren Parsons CSP (Palmerston NZ)
  10. Mark Jones CSP (Sydney, NSW) 
  11. Martin Brooker CSP (Brisbane, QLD) - After 37 years of service in the Royal Australian Navy, retiring at the rank of Commodore in 2015, Martin now shares his experiences with leaders aspiring to be better "captains of their own ship".
  12. Nancy Youssef CSP (Sydney, NSW) - multi-award winning financial strategist, business mentor, entrepreneur and author of 'Fear, Money, Purpose'.
  13. Tracey McGrath CSP (Perth, WA) - A practising psychologist, Tracey has also served for ten years on the governing council of Polytechnic West, the largest VET provider in Western Australia and is the only Australian to receive a WOW! Award for excellence in customer service.

 

MEDIA CONTACT

Heather Jones, PR Partner and Founder, Priage Media 

heather@priage.media 

0400 394 669