Transcript
Dave Bricker (00:05)
Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is Speakipedia Media brought to you by Speakipedia .com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk and smart strategies from visionary speakers, thought leaders, and storytellers.
Today’s guest has a degree in broadcast production along with formal training and improvisation. She graduated from the Second City Training Center in Iowa, Chicago. She helps thousands of professional speakers build better businesses and become better speakers by creating valuable live and virtual educational programming opportunities. Please welcome National Speakers Association‘s Director of Online Learning, Maureen Mahoney.
Maureen Mahoney (00:53)
Hey Dave, so happy to be here.
Dave Bricker (00:56)
Thanks, Maureen. So let’s dive right in. You’re part of the team at the National Speakers Association. That’s the NSA that talks, not the NSA that listens. So what’s NSA all about and how did it get started?
Maureen Mahoney (01:07)
Yes.
we just celebrated our 50th influence conference. We have a big conference every summer. But NSA was a former
somebody who went through Toastmasters and he was a speaker and realized that
This was an industry and there were hundreds and thousands of speakers in the day and there was no place for them to go They’ve got the the Bar Association, but there was really nowhere for just professional speakers to go were formed in 1973 and kind of that was we we’ve been around and really helping.
professional speakers build better businesses and to become better a place all of these entrepreneurs can come and network and connect with one another, learn about industry trends from a speaking standpoint learn from each other. That was the biggest piece of that. And Cavett always said,
there’s gonna be a piece of pie for everybody. And if there’s not enough pie, we’re gonna build a bigger pie so everybody can have a piece of it. So that falls along with our abundant generosity kind of how it all were just looking for a place for people to connect and best practices with one another.
Dave Bricker (02:29)
And that’s certainly what happens. I mean, the people factor is off the chart. And it’s important because who outside of your speaking colleagues has any idea of what you actually do for a living? If you’re a speaker, people go, I’m a doctor, I’m a lawyer, I’m a speaker. And they say, you’re a motivational speaker. And it’s like, well, I guess, I mean, we all have to motivate, but there’s so much more than that. So there’s incredible.
Maureen Mahoney (02:50)
No.
Yes.
Dave Bricker (02:57)
camaraderie within the organization. Now, you mentioned Toastmasters, and I know I’ve been a Toastmaster for many years, and I’ve also been involved with NSA for 11 years. So how are these two organizations different and complementary?
Maureen Mahoney (03:01)
Yes.
Mm -hmm.
Absolutely. So like I said, our founder was part of Toastmasters. I used to be part of Toastmasters as well. It’s an amazing organization for anybody who wants to become a better public speaker. know from many jobs ago, that was recommended to me just to be a better speaker in like team meetings. you see a lot of people in Toastmasters who,
don’t want to be professional speakers. They just want to get better at speaking for their job. There’s a lot of people who come as international speakers who just want to learn speak better. There’s just a wide range of speakers in the Toastmasters community. Now, where NSA comes in is want to build a…
business around that message. Now you’ve gone beyond speaking at those team meetings, at company meetings. You’re really finding that that could maybe be a lucrative opportunity for you. So that’s where NSA comes in and that’s where we help you build a sustainable business around that message that’s kind of that difference of.
of Toastmasters versus NSA.
Dave Bricker (04:26)
Yeah, Maureen, someone asked me that question once and I said, Toastmasters is for professionals who want to speak and NSA is for people who want to speak professionally.
Maureen Mahoney (04:37)
Yep,
Dave Bricker (04:38)
So with that said, there’s one other bit of confusion because we’ve got Toastmasters and NSA and people aren’t sure of the difference. And then we have GSF, the Global Speakers Federation, which is connected to NSA, sort of.
Maureen Mahoney (04:55)
just having this conversation last night director of events, Candace York, Cavett was instrumental in helping found GSF as well from the international perspective. So GSF is kind of the Global Speakers Federation under the Global Speakers Federation are these arms the National Speakers Association in the US
CAPS in Canada many, that fall under that GSF globally. So if you’re a member of NSA, it doesn’t mean you’re a member of
Dave Bricker (05:16)
Caps in Canada.
Maureen Mahoney (05:29)
You are an international speaker.
Dave Bricker (05:31)
bring it up because some of our listeners may be in Australia or the UK and they’re thinking, well, that National Speakers Association is an American organization, but there are equivalent organizations in many different countries. So if you’re in Canada,
Maureen Mahoney (05:36)
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Dave Bricker (05:48)
always welcome to join NSA, but you might want to join the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers, CAPS. And you can find those various organizations Global Speakers Federation website. And as individuals, we don’t really become members of GSF, but NSA is a member of GSF and CAPS is a member. And they do have a big…
convention at a different part of the world every year, which I haven’t been to, but it’s on my bucket list.
Maureen Mahoney (06:15)
Yes.
Yeah, I know and this year is in Bali. So, you know. you’re a professional speaker, whatever country that you’re in, I mean, I would recommend joining that organization
Dave Bricker (06:20)
well, forget it.
Maureen Mahoney (06:30)
you’re joining that organization, you’re gonna now have access to all of these other organizations across the world. Now, if somebody is a member of and that’s through GSF, you can become a member of NSA at a discounted price. So there’s a lot perks in being involved in the association that wherever you’re…
whatever country that you’re in, because you want those trends, and then you have access to that network.
Dave Bricker (06:57)
So we’ve got National Speakers Association and like you say, that’s connected to other associations around the world. And that can even open up speaking opportunities for you. So that’s a wonderful network that a lot of people don’t even think about. They’re attached to their local organization. So another thing.
Maureen Mahoney (07:08)
Absolutely.
Yeah. Yep.
Dave Bricker (07:21)
is so many people think of speakers as keynoters. Someone who stands on a stage in front of an auditorium or a stadium and does their bit. Maureen, I was a university teacher for 15 years. I wish someone had tapped me on the shoulder and said, hey, Bricker, you’re a professional speaker. At the time, I was teaching four -hour classes.
Maureen Mahoney (07:46)
So.
Dave Bricker (07:46)
Even with breaks and assignments and things, I was speaking more every week than almost any keynoter. And I had no idea I was a professional speaker. I think that there are a lot of people who may wake up to the fact that they’re professional speakers, courtroom lawyers, podcasters and YouTube teachers, salespeople, and…
Dave Bricker (08:11)
What does NSA have to offer to some of these folks?
Maureen Mahoney (08:15)
Absolutely. That’s what I’m on a committee at my college and I told all the professors and staff, I said, unfortunately, public speakers, whether you like it or not. If speaking is the majority of what you do, that counts. And NSA has what is the Certified Speaking Professional designation.
the CSP and a lot of people don’t know that they can qualify for that because you and especially talking about teachers and professors, I mean, you’re speaking every day and you’re getting paid a salary to do that. And that counts as part of have to submit paperwork and prove that you’ve spoken videos of you speaking in front audience.
If you’re speaking on a regular NSA you with that message even further. I mean, talking about professors, a lot of professors have written books and that’s a form of the speaking industry and we can help you. We have so many intelligent authors and publishers that are connected to this community that can kind of help you take that to the next level.
and I think vice speaking community can help the education community, education community, help the speaking community. That’s where it all kind of comes together, where we’re helping each other. know, just because you’re making a salary speaking doesn’t mean you don’t qualify for all of these because you’re not like a typical entrepreneur, but you still have a message that you’re giving to your audience, whether they’re students or children or grown adults.
Dave Bricker (09:54)
and they are an audience and we don’t think of them that way, right? And it’s important. I’m not a CSP and had I learned about NSA earlier, I would have walked in and said, I qualify. Now I’m timed out of that. I’ve got to rebuild that qualification. But back then I could have walked in my first year just said, okay, I’m ready. So that’s, and that’s a big advantage to people who,
Dave Bricker (10:23)
If you’re teaching something in a classroom, theoretically, it’s valuable to people on the outside. And if it’s not, maybe you should be teaching something else. But teachers, I mean, it’s not that the pay is so great as a teacher, but you get insurance and benefits and things. Why not build a professional speaking practice on the outside? And the way to do that, to learn that business is…
I think to connect with National Speakers Association, find the people who are already doing that, and learn from them.
Maureen Mahoney (10:59)
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah.
Dave Bricker (11:02)
some underrepresented constituencies in the NSA community that would benefit from it tremendously. Let’s go back and talk about some of those podcasters and influencers a little bit more. Some people don’t need to be on the big stage to be on the big stage these days. They’re there on YouTube, but they still need to be strong presenters and they still need to know how to monetize their message. And,
Maureen Mahoney (11:11)
Yes.
Yep.
Yep.
Dave Bricker (11:31)
I’ve watched NSA shift and change quite a bit to cater to podcasters and YouTubers and some of these speakers who tend to trend a little bit younger than the keynoteers. Talk about that a little bit.
Maureen Mahoney (11:47)
Yeah, I think it’s interesting, especially when you were talking about like YouTubers I got so many downloads I have millions of views on my YouTube.
depending on what you’re doing, I heard this in a CSP meeting where it says, likes does not equal dollars. And I think just because you have this on social not mean that actually translates to actual success,
you really want to sustain that message throughout the life of career. we’re going to teach you how to build that sustainable business. And there are so many different types of business models out there. I mean, just because you’re doing a podcast, like what else are you doing around that brand or within that that you can monetize? And maybe that’s like a Like, what does that mean?
out with a book based on your experience in this podcasting industry or whatever your message you taking that message and monetizing like a well -oiled machine. So there are people that have done sharing their wealth of information through NSA.
Dave Bricker (12:57)
we could go way down that rabbit hole, of course, of social media and things like that. But I’m just thinking, like, I have a friend who’s a YouTuber who has over 200 ,000 subscribers, which is great. But I asked, what’s your email list like? And I get the blank stare and I’m thinking, OK, here’s someone who’s really doing a great job cultivating a following.
Dave Bricker (13:22)
but they’re not encouraging people to take that next step. Go to their website, join a mailing list so they can download whatever it is or participate in the workshop. And so if YouTube ever decided to change the algorithm or said, we don’t like you anymore, that evaporates. So if you…
Maureen Mahoney (13:26)
that action.
Yeah.
Dave Bricker (13:43)
And it’s just that kind of advice. We’ve got people in NSA who specialize in building a social media following or a YouTube channel or whatever. And these, we’ll talk more about chapters, but these are the kind of folks who do workshops at NSA events or who go and visit chapters and share their knowledge. And that’s the kind of thing that you get out of NSA that you’re never going to get out of Toastmasters.
Maureen Mahoney (14:06)
Yep.
You’re going to get more actionable things to help you make money for sure. Yeah. No, no, but that’s not their focus. Their focus is on making you a better speaker. And
Dave Bricker (14:15)
Right, which is not putting Toastmasters down at all.
Exactly. go to Toastmasters every Wednesday night and people say, aren’t you a bit advanced for that?
Maureen Mahoney (14:28)
I love it.
Dave Bricker (14:32)
And I always say that Toastmasters is the only place I know where I can rent an audience for $2 .50 a week. That’s a tremendous complement because you have to work on your business skills and you also have to work on your presentation skills and you put those together, now you’ve got something that’s going to change hearts, minds and fortunes.
Maureen Mahoney (14:47)
Yeah.
Absolutely. And I mean, if you think like Jerry Seinfeld still goes to open mics. Dave Chappelle goes to open mics. And that because they’re all there are there crafting their material every Toastmasters is a way to do that in a live audience setting or they do have hybrid options as know, at NSA, we we do it. We do a monthly open mic
a little different from like a comedy open mic, but it’s been so valuable because members will come in and they’re like, I don’t have anything to speak on today, but I’ve been working on a keynote and can I just riff on some stories that I’m working on? Yeah, great. And then the whole, we all kind of jump in and we’re like, let’s problem solve kind of your issues that you’re having on your keynote here’s some ideas that we thought of that you could implement in there. And…
it really becomes kind of a brainstorming for the speaker, but it’s also so helpful for everyone else on that listen to the feedback and to give because we’re giving you just tips on how to be successful within your keynote, but then to help you book more gigs, I love that open mic and I think you should just constantly be.
don’t have a booked gig that you going to talk or what are you practicing? spiel.
Dave Bricker (16:13)
is on Zoom, by the way. This is just a member benefit. I certainly try to not to miss that. had Scott Lesnick on this podcast not all that long ago when we were talking about the whole comedy thing. And when you go to Netflix and you watch Jim Gaffigan or someone who’s just fun, you’re watching all of the jokes that didn’t bomb in the clubs. You get to see that’s the filtered stuff. So.
Maureen Mahoney (16:15)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yep. Yep.
Dave Bricker (16:41)
Yeah, you gotta keep going, keep practicing, get out there, and whether you’re speaking at Rotary clubs or Toastmasters or whatever it is, it’s not all about, I’m too hoity -toity for practice.
Maureen Mahoney (16:41)
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, I’ll
Dave Bricker (16:57)
like saying, you know, I’m already in shape. Why should I go to the gym?
Maureen Mahoney (17:01)
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Well, you’re going to get out of shape some at some it’s kind of mentioning it. So my brother, my brother is actually the producer of Beavis and Butthead. the SNL Saturday Night Live did a sketch just recently on Beavis and Butthead. And it was a total hit. didn’t even know that it was going to be a sketch.
but my brother told me that that particular sketch had been in rehearsals for years until they had the right cast members to do that. They had rehearsed it, rehearsed it for years and it finally made it to air and it killed, but it was that practice of like, it’s not right yet, it’s not right yet. And then finally it so I just think of stuff like that, that.
Like you said, they’ve been working on this stuff for years and years and you’ve probably been working keynotes for years or you’ve been thinking of a keynote for years, but it’s just like not right yet. Well, NSA, that’s where you’re really gonna find the magic of coming to these events there is somebody, God, I mean, it really is magical when that happens. And I see it virtually all the time. But also coming to the live events too
hallway conversations, that’s the key right there.
Dave Bricker (18:17)
Completely agree with you. So for anyone just joining us, you’re tuned into Speakipedia Media for aspiring and professional speakers and thought leaders who want to make more money by changing hearts, minds, and fortunes. My guest today is the National Speakers Association’s Director of Online Learning, Maureen Mahoney.
Maureen Mahoney (18:37)
So I’m so glad to be here. I’m so glad to be here Dave with you
Dave Bricker (18:38)
Yay! So…
also talk a little bit about what NSA is not, because I’ve spoken to a couple of people, and I’m always enthusiastic about NSA, and they say, well, I joined and I didn’t get any speaking gigs from this. So NSA isn’t an agency or a bureau, is it?
Maureen Mahoney (19:00)
We will not book you this is a professional association for people to grow their business and learn from one another. Now we do partner with, speakers, bureaus, and meeting planners. I mean, we’re talking to them all the time. We’re gonna have a great panel at Influence, our upcoming conference.
some speakers bureaus and we do this every year because we want to know what speaker bureaus are looking for are the hot trends and topics of what’s happening right now. You know, also meeting planners. I mean, people booking speakers in their respective industries. yeah, that’s why we have things like our podcast,
talking about stuff like that too. going to get you booked, but we’re going to help you find those avenues and get you in touch with the right people or have a resource for you in our digital vault or online learning platform for you to help get into the door of those places. But we don’t actually.
book you.
Dave Bricker (20:02)
Right. And I’ve just seen people get disappointed for the wrong reasons because they have the wrong expectations. So I thought that was worth bringing up. So another thing, and we’ve got NSA, which is the main association, the mothership, and there are chapters of NSA, local chapters all around the country. And I know that in Florida, we’ve got the Florida Speakers Association, we’ve got NSA Central Florida and the Orlando area.
Maureen Mahoney (20:11)
Absolutely.
Yep. Yeah.
Dave Bricker (20:32)
Before we get into the benefits of joining a chapter, talk about some of the benefits speakers receive by becoming a full NSA member.
Maureen Mahoney (20:42)
a national perspective, we’re gonna get that national footprint and you’re gonna be networking with a lot more people that are in spaces that may not have a chapter, but you’re gonna get.
access to things like we have a monthly virtual networking that we do. We have our open mic, like I had mentioned. We do webinars every once in a while on either how to build a business or how to be a speaker. mentioned our digital vault. Our digital vault is packed with
content like 50 years worth of content of we’ve got contract templates to help you contracts you need or if you it’s just like templates to kind of help help you in your business and then we all kinds of like member donated from members like I said conference recordings we have all kinds
great information in there that we’re slowly kind of transforming into more like e -learning and to get, or we’re building roadmaps for you. And it’s like this that is really amazing and powerful. So you have access to that. And like just the type of caliber of content on it is really phenomenal. I mean,
that is really priceless because you’re getting so many Hall of Fame speakers and their best practices. how to package your content and how to price it out and so forth. So you’re going to get a lot of member cohorts. So when you join at NSA, we’ll put you in like a six month or year cohort where you get to network
new members and learn about all the various aspects of NSA and have the guest speakers come in. And so it’s really like there’s a lot going on. And I mean, then that’s just all virtually. got our in -person conferences. We have our two big conferences a year. And then if you get your CSP, have a CSP summit.
and that is an amazing conference as
Dave Bricker (22:44)
Another one is you’ve got some partners, some relationships with some partners who offer…
fantastic deals that pretty much offset the cost of membership. There’s things like a really ridiculously low price Zoom subscription that you can get. There’s, I believe, some insurance, health insurance and business benefits and things that you can subscribe to that have been negotiated. Talk about some of those benefits because there’s value there that’s important.
Maureen Mahoney (23:03)
Yeah.
Yep.
absolutely. So I mean, like you said, the zoom do have to pay for it. But it’s like if you were to do this by yourself, it’s like a two thousand dollar investment per year. If you’re a member of NSA, you pay like three ninety five and you the daddy, the platinum plan of of zoom.
Dave Bricker (23:35)
The platinum plan.
Maureen Mahoney (23:40)
And also e -speakers, we have a great partnership with e -speakers. And when you become a we give you like a profile within e -speakers that you can fill Talk-a-dot is another
we have referrals and capturing leads. We have a partnership with them. Constant Contact, that’s another partner that we have discounts automation. Speaker Flow,
Dave Bricker (24:03)
there’s also the chapter level. Now, some people don’t have a chapter near them. And there’s like I know Florida Speakers Association. not going to fit everybody’s time zone. We meet pretty early if you’re in California. Our meetings, our networking starts at eight. Our meetings start at nine a.m. But many of the chapters are hybrid if there’s not one near you.
Maureen Mahoney (24:18)
Sure.
Dave Bricker (24:27)
I’ll let you explain the benefits of joining a chapter. I know I’ve been on the board for our chapter for years. I’ve spent three years running the Speaker Academy for our chapter and I’ve met some incredible speakers, but now I’m talking for you. So go ahead
Maureen Mahoney (24:37)
Yeah. Yep.
when I talk to somebody who calls in to NSA and they’re not a member and they’re like, I want to be a professional speaker. I mean, the first question I ask them is where they’re because I always recommend you check out a chapter
The chapters are think from a local level, that’s a great opportunity for you to meet other professional speakers in your area and to network and to really get into that community locally. lot of our chapters also like you said, the Speaker Academy. That’s something that we don’t nationally, from a chapter level, that is…
an amazing program put on chapters of introductory to you. You’ve been a speaker, but you want to learn how to monetize your business. You go through a chapter speaking Academy. And like you said, a lot of the chapters do have a virtual you can be become a member of a chapter that’s not local to you, but they are a
I love the chapters from that grassroots standpoint and from really getting involved locally and just getting the guidance of somebody in your own backyard. And I think that’s the first step. then we start talking making that kind of bridge to national. Once you’ve kind of, you’re like, all right, I kind of got like, I’ve got the local stuff down. business is going, I’m getting going. All right, let’s.
I want to take this up a notch. I want to nationally and globally. That’s where the NSA national is going introduced to a lot of those other kind of areas.
Dave Bricker (26:16)
Right. And look, I’ll just go ahead and say it. We’re speakers. We’re weird people. We need to connect with people ideally in our neighborhoods who trying to climb the same mountain we are. And to go to those meetings, if you show up, it’s not very long before you’re connected to this very friendly, very generous, very smart community of weird people like yourself. And…
Maureen Mahoney (26:22)
Hahaha!
I guess.
Dave Bricker (26:42)
on both a local and a national level, the generosity of people. I mean, I know Hall of Fame speakers, I can call them up. It’s not because I’m anybody special. It’s just because, Oh! you’re in NSA? you’re in my chapter? You’re family. Sure, I’ll bust out an hour for I wouldn’t be in the speaking business without NSA and without my chapter.
Maureen Mahoney (26:55)
It was an essay.
Dave Bricker (27:05)
I just would never have made it as far as I have.
Maureen Mahoney (27:08)
I came from the financial services industry before NSA my first influence, I was totally blown I felt I was like, I’m a staff member and it was my first influence. It was the first time I was meeting people in person for the first time. And this was kind of during Covid still.
our members could not be more generous and with their time and expertise. we call it the spirit of Cavett And it’s just kind of this abundant generosity, uplifting humanity, elevating we’re all different flavors clients are, may not.
need your flavor right now, but you might know somebody that you can introduce and they will introduce you to people. the community is really can be a very lonely industry don’t need to recreate the wheel. Like somebody has, is doing it really successfully and that’s where you’re going to find those people in NSA and they’re going to help you get to that level because they’ve done it and.
don’t have to do this alone. You don’t have to do this alone because this is where the NSA community really helps.
Dave Bricker (28:13)
Yeah, and how many people successfully build any business alone? Not many. You’ve got to have mentors and friends and supporters and so I think this is the biggest…
Maureen Mahoney (28:22)
Absolutely. There’s too many people telling you getting that support for sure.
Dave Bricker (28:28)
Yeah, we need people to say, that’s the craziest idea I’ve ever heard in my life. Go for it. It might work. And if it doesn’t, so what? You’ll bounce off and do something you’ve been talking about influence, but NSA produces two big live events every year. And before we get to influence, tell us a little bit about Thrive. And that’s going to be in Orlando, Florida next year.
Maureen Mahoney (28:32)
Let’s do it. Yeah, exactly. It might work.
Yeah.
It is, it is. Somebody told me that Thrive is NSA’s best kept love Influence is like our big marquee event. It’s in the summer and it’s like just flashy and big it’s like drinking water from a fire But Thrive, it’s in the winter.
we influence can be like a thousand people, but thrive can be like 250. we keep it small because you’re really kind of rolling up your sleeves and working on your business. a, let’s get to business. We’re
meet people, but it’s, it really is more, it’s, it’s very simple and what’s all about the content, all about the content for you to take action and go home and implement those things. that’s what thrive is really about is just kind of working more on building a better business. Whereas influence, we’re going to talk more about becoming a better speaker.
We are gonna talk about building a better business, but we do add more of that speaking standpoint to influence. Whereas Thrive is really more like, let’s get you a million dollar business. Let’s work on this. Let’s figure this out get going. So that’s where the benefits of Thrive is. It’s just like that smaller, more intimate conference.
Dave Bricker (30:18)
and Influence, which is the big freak show, that’s gonna be happening in Denver this August 2024. Now, I usually don’t go to conferences unless I’m speaking at them, but I never miss this one. This is gonna be my 11th. So tell us a little bit about what’s going to be happening at Influence this summer.
Maureen Mahoney (30:21)
Hahaha!
Yep. Yes.
my gosh. We have a bunch of going to have the amazing Les Brown.
going to be our opening keynote. He is a Hall of Fame speaker. If you don’t know who Les Brown is, Google, he’s the best. He’s a legend, got a whole bunch of, we got Lenora Billings Harris who is going to talk about D and I. She’s a D and I strategist.
Dave Bricker (30:53)
is a legend.
Maureen Mahoney (31:04)
We just talked with David Arvin on speakernomics. David Arvin, he’s a GSF member, but he talks more speaking business and give you tips through that. And then we speaker bureau panel. Different speaker gonna talk of what their insights are. So that’s
great panel too. But there’s also going to be surprises and all kinds of this is where also we induct our Hall of Fame speakers have a big gala at the end of every influence. And last year was so excited because my man DC Glenn from the tag team saying, whoop, there it gala. It was amazing. And,
Just everybody at the end, especially staff, that’s our big relief on the dance don’t even know some of the surprise. I don’t know who gets Hall of Fame. The Cavet is our big award that we award to every year. That is a big secret. The staff doesn’t even know who was awarded.
until the night of the event.
Dave Bricker (32:09)
Yeah, and I’m gonna, I’m gonna fill in there’s the part that doesn’t get promoted, which is look, I am by nature a shy, introverted person. as many speakers are, that’s not unusual. There are very few environments I can think of where I look forward to going to the dining hall and sitting down at a table with a bunch of people I’ve never met before. To do that to myself on purpose.
Maureen Mahoney (32:21)
Yes.
Dave Bricker (32:36)
is extraordinary, but I meet the most amazing people. And whatever is going on on the stage is usually brilliant, but whatever is happening in the hallways at the dining hall, it’s like that’s the stuff that moves the needle.
Maureen Mahoney (32:51)
That is so true, I mean, some of the best conversations I have have been with people through passing at influence or rubbing shoulders with Hall of Fame speakers. Everybody is so wonderful. they’ll talk with And you’re totally right. Like going to a conference, if you’re an introvert
was a time in my life where the thought of like just going into the exhibit hall, just like by myself gave me such anxiety. But we have programs for new people to like an ambassador program. So you have somebody to like sit new to the conference or the NSA will partner with you with somebody who’s been to a conference before.
just to make that less anxiety will say, I think you just have to keep And that’s just where the magic happens. It’s just kind of, just keep showing up and then you’re gonna just start getting introduced to the most incredible people.
Dave Bricker (33:47)
We don’t have time for the whole story, but I actually went to my first influence convention. I had a speaker who was a client. I was helping him with his book, and he actually flew me to San Diego to play a joke on his wife. I was part of a practical joke. I didn’t know anything about NSA, and I’ve never missed a convention since, so I just fell over backward into
But yeah, you never know where you’re going to end up. So Maureen Mahoney, thank you for joining me today. This is always fun. Before we wrap up, tell our viewers and listeners a bit about where they can learn a little bit more about NSA, find their local chapter, and register for Influence 2024.
Maureen Mahoney (34:12)
There you go. Yes.
Yes, absolutely. NSA Speaker dot org is where you can find all the information we have. You can find all of our chapter locations. register Influence 24. You can register for Thrive 25. check it out at NSA Speaker dot org is where you’ll what we talked about today.
Dave Bricker (34:53)
Maureen, you rock! Thanks so much for spending the time with me today!
Maureen Mahoney (34:54)
You rock. Thank you so much for having me. This has been, I love talking with you, Dave. This is great.
Dave Bricker (35:01)
Likewise. So I’m Dave Bricker inviting you to explore the world’s most comprehensive resource for speakers and storytellers at speakepedia .com. If you’re watching this on social media video, please love, subscribe and share your comments. If you’re listening to the podcast, keep your hands on the wheel, stay safe, and I’ll see you on the next episode of Speakipedia Media.
