On Thursday, I got a standing ovation from my peers.
And I cried.
This is the moment when I was granted the inaugural Fellows’ Award by the Professional Speaking Association UK & Ireland, as a result of my work on simplifying the Fellowship upgrade process.
I first visited the PSA in 2004 and joined as an Associate member in 2011. I became a Professional member in 2013 and co-founded the relaunched South East region with Barnaby Wynter. We ran it during 2015/6, won RP of the year, and the region is still thriving. I upgraded to Fellow level in 2020, and was co-President of the Fellows’ community with Antoinette Dale Henderson FPSA PCC for the 2023/4 season.
I’ve learned a lot from being in the PSA, and from travelling to other associations in the Global Speaking Federation. It’s made a huge difference to the quality and quantity of my speaking/training.
On reflection, my main takeaway from receiving this award is ‘The more you put in, the more you get back’.
It’s gratifying – in more ways than one.
