National Speakers Association New York City Chapter upcoming events

MEMBERS ONLY Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, August 21, 2026)

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 16:00:00 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.

SUMMER SOCIAL Monetizing Through the Mic: Explore the Many Roads that Lead to Revenue (Friday, August 21, 2026)

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 22:30:00 GMT

There's no single formula for building a speaking business that is both profitable and sustainable. The most successful speakers understand that there are many ways to leverage a microphone to create both impact and income.

Join us for an energizing conversation designed to broaden your perspective on the many ways you can generate revenue in your business and accelerate your next phase of growth as a professional speaker.

The evening will kick off with networking, hors d'oeuvres and refreshments, followed by a short panel discussion. From there, you'll experience interactive roundtables with small-group discussions, giving you the opportunity to dig deeper, ask the panelists questions, and explore how these revenue opportunities can apply to you and your speaking business.

Summer Social Speakers

Emcee
Patricia Stark | Creator of the Calmfidence® Method
Keynote speaker, author, and former broadcast journalist who equips high-pressure professionals with actionable tools to manage stress, command the room, and communicate with credible presence.

Panelists
Ruth Rathblott | Leadership & Culture Advisor
TEDx speaker, bestselling author, and former CEO dedicated to helping leaders "unhide" their unique differences to unlock freedom, connection, and peak performance.

Pat Lore | Chief Storyteller, Headline Productions
Former TV news reporter and award-winning video producer who helps brands uncover authentic stories and creates high-impact social and video content.

Ken Blackwell | CEO, InKlaritas
Executive coach and non-profit board leader focused on equipping corporate leaders to navigate complex decisions and achieve sustainable success.

Melanie Fox | Founder, Speech Fox
Linguist and executive coach with 25 years of experience helping public figures and leaders master accent modification, public speaking, and executive presence.

Lamarr Womble | Speaker & School Culture Expert
Executive life coach and leadership expert who has inspired over 60,000 students and professionals to build empathy, perseverance, and passion-driven careers.

Members Only VIRTUAL MASTERCLASS From Morning Shows to Main Stages: How Media Exposure Can Build Your Speaking Business with JD Roberto (Monday, August 24, 2026)

Mon, 24 Aug 2026 23:00:00 GMT

Landing a television interview isn't just about publicity. It can become one of the fastest ways to build credibility, reach new audiences, and attract higher-profile speaking opportunities.

Join us for a live virtual masterclass with Emmy-nominated television producer, host, and media expert JD Roberto, whose two decades in television have given him a front-row seat to what makes guests stand out and what gets them invited back.

As Executive Producer and on-air talent for New York Living on PIX11, JD has booked, interviewed, and coached hundreds of experts, authors, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders. He is also an adjunct professor at NYU, where he teaches camera presence and public speaking.

In this practical conversation, you'll learn how to pitch yourself to local, regional, and national media, what producers are really looking for, how to become the guest they remember, and most importantly, how television appearances can translate into more speaking engagements, larger audiences, and greater authority in your industry.

Whether you're trying to land your first TV interview or leverage media to grow your speaking career, you'll leave with actionable strategies you can immediately put into practice."

Speaker Academy: Information Session (Thursday, August 27, 2026)

Thu, 27 Aug 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.

Secure your spot and learn from top industry leaders!

Future-Members Welcome

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

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.

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 Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, August 21, 2026)

SUMMER SOCIAL Monetizing Through the Mic: Explore the Many Roads that Lead to Revenue (Friday, August 21, 2026)

Members Only *VIRTUAL MASTERCLASS* From Morning Shows to Main Stages: How Media Exposure Can Build Your Speaking Business with JD Roberto (Monday, August 24, 2026)

Speaker Academy: Information Session (Thursday, August 27, 2026)

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)

MEMBERS ONLY Virtual Mastermind: Unlock Peer Insights and Business Growth (Friday, August 21, 2026)

Members Only VIRTUAL MASTERCLASS From Morning Shows to Main Stages: How Media Exposure Can Build Your Speaking Business with JD Roberto (Monday, August 24, 2026)

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)