From Our Chapter President (2026-2027)

August 2026

Dear NSA Carolinas Members,

Hello again friends. August is the month where we celebrate Professional Speakers Day and reflect on the challenges and rewards of serving in this amazing industry. I want to take a moment and applaud each of you for the courage and conviction that it takes for you to navigate building a successful speaking business.

And what an honor it is to be in this NSAC family where abundant generosity flows like a mighty river. From the superstars who step up to lead our group mentoring cohorts to the volunteers who put so many hours into all aspects of serving you in this chapter, you and I are surrounded by superheroes. 

Unfortunately, I do need to remind us of something that is especially important.

While the superheroes continue to pour into our success, it is our responsibility to respect their intellectual property (IP). As they share their thoughts, structure, content, and processes with us, we must in turn ensure that we are not using anything that someone else created without their explicit permission to do so. I am not an attorney nor did I ever play one on TV but, it is important to remember that we also cannot use a derivative version of their document, content, or any other created form.

I recently saw one of my catchphrases used on another speaker’s presentation materials. As a brain-nerd, I remind myself that sometimes these things can happen unintentionally. Especially if the phrase is “super-sticky” for the brain, it may come back to you in a moment without you recalling where you heard it. There's actually a name for this: cryptomnesia, when your brain mistakes an old memory for a shiny new original thought. Psychologist Richard Marsh found it even happens in casual conversation: someone says "effervescent," and a week later you're using it like you invented the word (source: APA Monitor). And phrases that are especially "sticky" are more likely to trigger this. Content that's easy to process gets remembered and liked more, which is part of why a punchy line lodges itself in someone's head long after they've forgotten whose stage it came from.

So, when I see my own words show up somewhere else, I try to lead with curiosity. In my most recent conversation, that I mentioned earlier, the speaker was not a member of our NSAC family, and she responded with an immediate apology and changed her materials. I appreciated her promptness and commitment to safeguarding our friendship.

Our chapter has experienced a couple of situations this year where someone else’s original IP showed up elsewhere without permission. If you fell into the “cryptomnesia brain pit”, and accidentally borrowed someone else’s IP, then it can be an easy remedy to acknowledge it and fix it. If you are using something that was provided to you in one of our educational sessions, please reach out to the person who provided it to gain an understanding of how they intended for you to leverage the materials.

The good news: your brain is not a criminal mastermind. It's just a slightly overconfident filing cabinet that occasionally hands you someone else's folder and swears it's yours. The fix isn't complicated. Give credit, send a quick note, ask a question. That's it. That's the whole redemption arc.

We're a chapter full of professional communicators. If anyone can handle "hey, I think I accidentally borrowed your line," it's this room. So, let's keep doing what we do best: building each other up, giving credit where it's due, and trusting that a five-minute conversation solves 99% of these moments.

Your hippocampus thanks you. So does your fellow speaker.

John Edwards, CSP
President (2026-2027), NSA Carolinas

June 2026

Dear NSA Carolinas Members,

Hello friends.  I am truly honored and humbled to support your success as President of this amazing Chapter.  When I was originally asked to join NSA over three decades ago, I quickly said “nope.”  I had competed in several Toastmaster competitions, had an undergraduate degree in Communications, worked in Radio and TV, was already getting paid a few hundred dollars to speak, and was ignorant enough to think that this NSA-thing wasn’t really going to teach me that much more.

Then, over the next year, I was exposed to a couple of speakers who were in NSA and one of them was Nido Qubein. That is when I realized that this professional speaking thing has a whole other level in this game and I haven’t even been picked for a team yet.  So, I packed my broken ego into my nearly empty wallet and accepted my fellow Toastmaster’s offer to investigate the National Speakers Association.

I am sooooo grateful for that friend who saw more in me when I thought I had gone as far as I could go.  So many of us share the same story of someone encouraging us to join this team.  And that is one of the reasons why this year’s theme packs strong emotional content for me. No matter where you are in your career, you have the ability to reach someone who needs someone.  The world has become a lonely place, and this business is way too difficult for anyone to do it alone. All of us can demonstrate abundant generosity by simply encouraging each other every chance we get.

This year’s theme is “Each One Reach One.” The theme is about lifting up others in our profession by sharing your thoughts and experiences. Or maybe it is by inviting someone to a Chapter event. Or maybe you are really good at connecting people to others. Or maybe you start a small group of colleagues who struggle with the same things you do so that you all can explore the path to success together. Or maybe… well- I think you get the idea.

And now for a Neuro-nerd moment (‘cause you know I can’t help myself). When we adopt a mentality of Each One Reach One, the National Institute of Health review (2021) states that your brain may register the other person’s need, engage empathy systems, and then reward the act with a positive emotional payoff. I would add that given the high threat environment that our brains endure each day, adopting this attitude will support the well-being of all parties involved.  Another NIH review found that both giving and receiving social support were associated with lower vulnerability to negative psychological outcomes. Research also suggests that prosocial behavior is often linked with better mood and reduced stress responses in daily life. 

So, with each One Reach One… everyone wins. Will you join me in embracing this for our Chapter?

John Edwards, CSP
President (2026-2027), NSA Carolinas