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September 6, 2020 By Sharon Weinstein

What’s in a credential?

You see lots of letters after someone’s name, and you wonder what they might stand for! Perhaps your search for those acronyms leads to a discovery that your new friend or peer is a highly credentialed professional.  They are “Certified.” Certification is an earned recognition that demonstrates specific skills, knowledge, expertise in a given area. Usually aligned with a profession, technology, or industry, the credential is usually awarded by a professional organization or credentialing body.

A professional certificate, like many offered online, is not the same thing as professional certification. Certificates are not all equal…and those who have earned the highly regarded credential are honored to be recognized.  According to the American Association for Legal Nurse Consultants, certificates and certification are very different.

Certification
  • Results from an assessment process that recognizes an individual’s knowledge, skills, and competency in a particular specialty
  • Typically requires professional experience
  • Awarded by a third-party, standard-setting organization, typically not for profit
  • Indicates mastery/competency as measured against a defensible set of standards, usually by application or exam
  • Standards set through a defensible, industry-wide process (job analysis/role delineation) that results in an outline of required knowledge and skills
  • Typically results in credentials to be listed after one’s name (LNCC, ONC, CCRN)
  • Has on-going requirements in order to maintain; holder must demonstrate he/she continues to meet requirements

 

Certificate
  • Results from an educational process
  • For newcomers and experienced professionals
  • Awarded by educational programs or institutions often for-profit
  • Indicates completion of a course or series of courses with a specific focus (different than a degree-granting program)
  • Course content determined by the specific provider or institution, not standardized
  • Usually listed on a resume detailing education
  • Demonstrates knowledge of course content at the end of a set period of time

Let me provide an example that is critically important to me. The Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) is an earned credential.  The CSP credential offers skill validation from clients, peers, meeting professionals, and other CSPs. It adds opportunities to command greater fees and to develop new and sustainable connections. It also showcases the designees, allowing them to shine on paper as much as on the platform, in the training room, or in the virtual studio. The CSP designation is the speaking profession’s highest earned international measure of professional platform competence. Less than 17% of National Speakers Association members worldwide have achieved the CSP designation. With support from NSA’s CSP Committee, the CSP is conferred by the NSA Board of Directors upon qualifying members of NSA as well as upon qualifying members of the 16 Global Speakers Federation (GSF) associations. For me, earning the CSP credential was a milestone; it was not my first credential, nor will it be my last. As Chair of NSA’s CSP Committee, I’m pleased to announce that on September 4th, candidates for the CSP Class of 2021 were encouraged to begin the application process. https://www.nsaspeaker.org/csp/. 

Certification is an earned recognition that demonstrates specific skills, knowledge, expertise in a given area. When you see lots of letters after someone’s name, take note of what each acronym stands for, and realize how hard they worked to earn that credential. What about you? If you are a speaking professional, are you prepared to apply for the highest earned international measure of professional platform competence – the CSP?

The application process begins now…for professional members of the National Speakers Association (NSA) or one of the Global Speakers Federation (GSF) member associations.  Will you be certified? 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Acronyms, Certification, Credentials, Meeting Planners, National Speakers Association, Nursing, Public speaking, Talent Management Tagged With: Certified Speaking Professional, CSP, Earned designation, goal-setting, International measure of competence, Milestones matter, National Speakers Association, personal development, SharonMWeinstein, Skill validation, speaker

January 25, 2017 By Sharon Weinstein

Endorse me for public speaking…

With thousands of LinkedIn connections, I typically see at least 10 popups a day suggesting that I endorse my connections for Public Speaking.

We are not all public speakers; many of us speak as a part of our career responsibilities, or introduce ourselves at networking events, but that alone does not make one a speaker. Many of these self-professed public speakers simply list multiple skill sets on their profiles, but they have no idea that Speaking is itself a true Profession and one that requires talent, training and a commitment to continuous learning. Much of that learning takes place through the National Speakers Association (NSA), the premier professional society for public speakers or aspiring public speakers. Visit the NSA site to explore the strict requirements for membership and the paths toward this goal.

How many ‘skills’ do you list on your own LinkedIn profile? Are you truly skilled in those areas, or are they skills in which you have dabbled? Public speaking, like coaching, seems to be a ‘skill’ that everyone has, but requires a unique ability to engage, empower, and educate audiences. Are you still seeking that endorsement? Are you really a Public Speaker; if your answer is yes, then apply for membership in NSA.

If you have sat in audiences watching the keynote deliver a strong message and thought, “I could do that,” perhaps the timing is right. If you have spoken before small community or work groups and liked the experience, perhaps this the time for a deep dive. And, if you are the kind of person who lights up a room with your presence, connect to NSA now. We are waiting for you!

http://www.nsaspeaker.org/attend/winter-conference/

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Sharon Weinstein, CSP, is a Certified Speaking Professional and one of only 22 nurses in the world with this credential. She is President-Elect of the NSA-DC Chapter and Dean of the Academy. Yes, she does offer public speaker coaching.

Filed Under: C-Suite, CEO, CFO, CIO, Coaching, Consulting, Mentoring, National Speakers Association, Public speaking, Success, Talent Management Tagged With: commitment, development, Educate, Encouragement, enrich, goal-setting, National Speakers Association, NSA, personal development, Public Speaker, self-development, SharonMWeinstein, success

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