National Speakers Association New York City Chapter upcoming events

Members Only VIRTUAL MASTERCLASS Confessions of a Gatekeeper: The Gateway to Getting More Gigs with Jacquelyn Fletcher-Johnson (Monday, September 14, 2026)

Mon, 14 Sep 2026 23:00:00 GMT

You can have a great story, decades of experience, and incredible stage presence and still struggle to get booked if your pitch doesn't answer one simple question:

""Why should we choose you?""
Every year, conference designers, event planners, speaker bureaus, podcast hosts, editors, and media producers review thousands of pitches. Most are quickly forgotten. A few stand out.

Why?
In this highly interactive NSA NYC workshop, conference designer and Gateway Gathering & Pitch Fest founder Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson pulls back the curtain on what happens behind the scenes when designers choose their speaker line-up.

Jacquelyn has spent her career helping powerful ideas find their way into the world. She began as a publicist for bestselling authors Maurice Sendak and Clive Cussler, crafting pitches and securing media opportunities that amplified their work. Since then, she's served as a magazine editor-in-chief and designed large-scale conferences. She's currently the producer of the Gateway Gathering & Pitch Fest, an event that gathers powerful decision-makers—including literary and speaking agents, producers, meeting planners, editors, and the head of TED Conferences—who can open doors to bigger stages and opportunities.

She's reviewed thousands of speaker proposals, media pitches, story ideas, and keynote descriptions and has seen firsthand why some speakers get selected and others get overlooked.

In this session, we'll explore:
• What conference designers, gatekeepers, and decision-makers are really looking for
• Why some speaker pitches get immediate attention while others are lost in the crowd
• The role of ""sticky"" ideas in generating referrals, bookings, media opportunities, and word-of-mouth buzz
• Common mistakes that weaken speaker brands

Speaker Academy: Information Session (Thursday, September 17, 2026)

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 14:00:00 GMT

Want to become a more powerful, confident, and sought-after speaker?

Join us for a complimentary information session with Dean Melanie Fox to learn everything about Speaker Academy — the NSA New York City Chapter's signature 4-month program designed to elevate your speaking skills, your stage presence, and your speaking business.

This is your chance to ask questions, get the full picture, and find out firsthand how Speaker Academy can help you show up in any room with greater authority, clarity, and impact.

Whether you are just starting your speaking journey or ready to take it to the next level — this session is for you.

Want to learn more about the program or ready to register?
Click here.

Secure your spot and learn from top industry leaders!

Future-Members Welcome

MEMBERS ONLY Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, September 18, 2026)

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Register today for our *members only* 60-minute virtual Mastermind sessions, facilitated by Ken Blackwell.

Learning has the greatest impact when it is put into practice. These facilitated peer discussions help members do just that: turn learning into action. Each month, we'll gather virtually to reflect on key insights from our chapter meetings, masterclasses, and other events, discuss how they apply to our businesses, and decide which ones we'll implement — all in a collaborative learning environment.

Missed a session? Join us anyway. We'll explore the ideas, work through implementation questions, and share experiences and resources — in a spirit of curiosity, openness, and generosity. Along the way, you'll deepen your understanding, exchange perspectives with fellow speakers, and build meaningful relationships.

Not yet a member and want to become one - Join NSA NYC Here.

Speaker Academy (Thursday, October 15, 2026)

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Early bird VIP bonus: 1-on-1 hour private implementation time with a mentor (NSA NYC past president of executive committee member); valued at +$500.

Early Bird Deadline: September 18, 2026

Registration Closes October 10, 2026

Start Date: October 15, 2026

OVERVIEW
NSA-NYC Speaker Academy is a 4-month program designed for emerging through established speakers who want to elevate their speaking careers and create a more strategic path to booked speaking engagements.
During this program, participants (you) will:
• Clarify your message and positioning statement
• Define your target audience
• Refine your speaker brand and positioning in the marketplace
• Develop your speaking topic (stress-test new material or enhance existing content)
• Uplevel your presentation and performance skills (platform mechanics, stagecraft)
• Gain strategy for sales, marketing, and uncovering speaking opportunities
• Build your speaker network
• Get professional photos and professionally recorded video in front of a live audience to enhance or begin your speaker reel

Guest lecturers and faculty will support participants by sharing feedback, practical tools, templates, techniques, and strategies that participants can immediately apply to their talks, marketing assets, offers, and outreach.

Hold yourself accountable to goals via check-ins with an accountability partner and cohort-mates. Receive ongoing support from the Speaker Academy Dean, a professional speaker and presentation coach as well as expert faculty to keep you on track to hit your goals.

PROGRAM LEADERSHIP
Melanie Fox | Dean, Speaker Coach (“Professor of Presentations”)
Payal Mehta | Director, Learner Experience & Curriculum
Carolann Valentino | Producer & Experience Director of Live Programs

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Articulate a clear, sellable one-sentence positioning statement that tells a planner or referrer exactly who your audience is and what problem you solve.
2. Craft and deliver a five-minute signature talk that integrates a story and demonstrates your speaking style and expertise.
3. Walk away with a professionally recorded video of that talk—framed from day one as a marketing asset you can use to pitch event planners, bureaus, and/or stages.
4. Build the buyer-ready infrastructure of a working speaker: a one-sheet, bio, introduction, talk description, and initial offer structure.
5. Create a practical outreach and follow-up plan for landing paid or referred bookings over the next 90 days.

CURRICULUM OVERVIEW
Step 1 — Get Clear
Goal: Know who you are as a speaker before you write anything.
• Define your audience and one-sentence positioning statement.
• Identify the problem you solve and confirm that it is sellable.
• Understand the facets of NSA-NYC and the resources it provides as part of the larger speaker ecosystem and network you will develop as your speaking business grows.

Step 2 — Get Speaking
Goal: Build, rehearse, and record the talk that becomes your primary marketing asset.
• Select and integrate a personal story using a clear storytelling framework.
• Strengthen stagecraft, presence, voice, and audience connection.
• Understand what makes a keynote work—and what makes it sellable.
• Polish, perform, and record the five-minute talk.

Step 3 — Get Booked
Goal: Turn the talk and speaker assets into credible paths to bookings.
• Build the speaker toolbox: one-sheet, bio, introduction, talk description, and offer structure.
• Create an outreach strategy using warm introductions, target lists, and consistent follow-up.
• Evaluate platforms, representation options, and audience-feedback tools.
• Market the speaker brand with a focused 90-day action plan.

MEMBERS ONLY Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, October 16, 2026)

Fri, 16 Oct 2026 16:00:00 GMT

Register today for our *members only* 60-minute virtual Mastermind sessions, facilitated by Ken Blackwell.

Members Only VIRTUAL MASTERCLASS Book More Gigs: An Introduction to Speakerdrive with Austin Benton (Monday, November 16, 2026)

Tue, 17 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT

"The most talented speaker in the room doesn't always get the gig. The one with a system for finding it usually does.

For most speakers, prospecting means hours lost to manual research, scattered spreadsheets, and outreach that goes nowhere. Landing more stages shouldn't require becoming a marketer overnight — it requires a repeatable process.
In this live, hands-on NSA NYC session, Austin Benton, founder of SpeakerDrive, shows exactly what that process looks like.

Austin built his first lead-generation systems for real estate and mortgage clients before scaling that expertise into a 90-person marketing agency, which he sold in 2023. Along the way, he noticed a pattern: the people winning weren't necessarily the best at what they did — they were the ones running a reliable, consistent process for generating quality leads.

That insight became SpeakerDrive, a platform built to help speakers find and book gigs through automated, personalized outreach. Austin also runs digital marketing strategy for Gotham Artists, a top NY speaker bureau, where his campaigns have driven $5M+ in booked speeches. Through SpeakerDrive, he's helped map thousands of speaking opportunities and the decision-makers behind them.

Hosted by Cait Donovan, this live session will show you:
*The strategies that make prospecting actually work, so you land more stages, not just add more names to a list
*A live, real-time walkthrough of SpeakerDrive — from finding the right events to sending outreach that gets replies. YOU WILL DO THIS WITH US - So please get yourself a 7 day trial of Speakerdrive the day before the event! (https://www.speakerdrive.com/)
*How to knock out a full month of prospecting in a single sitting
*Open Q&A, so you can get your specific questions answered

If prospecting has always felt like the part of the business you dread, this is your chance to see what it looks like with more automation and less guessing. "

MEMBERS ONLY Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, November 20, 2026)

Fri, 20 Nov 2026 17:00:00 GMT

Register today for our *members only* 60-minute virtual Mastermind sessions, facilitated by Ken Blackwell.

MEMBERS ONLY Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, January 15, 2027)

Fri, 15 Jan 2027 17:00:00 GMT

Register today for our *members only* 60-minute virtual Mastermind sessions, facilitated by Ken Blackwell.

MEMBERS ONLY Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, February 19, 2027)

Fri, 19 Feb 2027 17:00:00 GMT

Register today for our *members only* 60-minute virtual Mastermind sessions, facilitated by Ken Blackwell.

MEMBERS ONLY Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, March 19, 2027)

Fri, 19 Mar 2027 16:00:00 GMT

Register today for our *members only* 60-minute virtual Mastermind sessions, facilitated by Ken Blackwell.

MEMBERS ONLY Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, April 16, 2027)

Fri, 16 Apr 2027 16:00:00 GMT

Register today for our *members only* 60-minute virtual Mastermind sessions, facilitated by Ken Blackwell.

MEMBERS ONLY Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, May 21, 2027)

Fri, 21 May 2027 16:00:00 GMT

Register today for our *members only* 60-minute virtual Mastermind sessions, facilitated by Ken Blackwell.

MEMBERS ONLY Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, June 18, 2027)

Fri, 18 Jun 2027 16:00:00 GMT

Register today for our *members only* 60-minute virtual Mastermind sessions, facilitated by Ken Blackwell.

National Speakers Association New York City Chapter upcoming events

Members Only *VIRTUAL MASTERCLASS* Confessions of a Gatekeeper: The Gateway to Getting More Gigs with Jacquelyn Fletcher-Johnson (Monday, September 14, 2026)

Speaker Academy: Information Session (Thursday, September 17, 2026)

*MEMBERS ONLY* Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, September 18, 2026)

Speaker Academy (Thursday, October 15, 2026)

*MEMBERS ONLY* Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, October 16, 2026)

Members Only *VIRTUAL MASTERCLASS* Book More Gigs: An Introduction to Speakerdrive with Austin Benton (Monday, November 16, 2026)

*MEMBERS ONLY* Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, November 20, 2026)

*MEMBERS ONLY* Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, January 15, 2027)

*MEMBERS ONLY* Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, February 19, 2027)

*MEMBERS ONLY* Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, March 19, 2027)

*MEMBERS ONLY* Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, April 16, 2027)

*MEMBERS ONLY* Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, May 21, 2027)

*MEMBERS ONLY* Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, June 18, 2027)

Members Only VIRTUAL MASTERCLASS Confessions of a Gatekeeper: The Gateway to Getting More Gigs with Jacquelyn Fletcher-Johnson (Monday, September 14, 2026)

MEMBERS ONLY Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, September 18, 2026)

MEMBERS ONLY Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, October 16, 2026)

Members Only VIRTUAL MASTERCLASS Book More Gigs: An Introduction to Speakerdrive with Austin Benton (Monday, November 16, 2026)

MEMBERS ONLY Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, November 20, 2026)

MEMBERS ONLY Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, January 15, 2027)

MEMBERS ONLY Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, February 19, 2027)

MEMBERS ONLY Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, March 19, 2027)

MEMBERS ONLY Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, April 16, 2027)

MEMBERS ONLY Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, May 21, 2027)

MEMBERS ONLY Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, June 18, 2027)