About this event
Wishing Everyone a Happy and Prosperous New Year!
Kickstart 2025 with a positive and action driven mindset. This month at PSA Southeast we have our very own PSA National President Michelle Mills-Porter giving her address, focusing on how ‘collaboration’ is key to driving a thriving speaking business.
Michelle Mills-Porter
Title: The National Presidents Address – Theme for 24/25
How many times have you left a PSA event energised and inspired thinking, “I wish that we could have just one day like this every year?” a day where we feel connected to our tribe, where we learn, where we grow, where we collaborate? What if we could have more days like this?
Well in the words of Elbow, ‘throw those curtains wide…”
The song that I just referenced is ‘One Day Like This.’ My closing keynote at the recent Speaking Business Summit was about this year’s theme “Collaboration Evolution.” To demonstrate what is involved in collaboration, I took the biggest risk ever! I knew it was either going to be a massive disaster, or it was going to be an absolute triumph! It was all down to the collaborative efforts of the attendees. Well, I needed have worried, as those who were there will attest to. For those who couldn’t join us, don’t worry—a video will soon be available on our website.
Let me tell you what we did… I handed over the stage, to a scratch band made up of talented PSA members who took the stage. Their performance wasn’t about perfection—it was about showcasing the beauty of creating together, even when things don’t go perfectly. It was a powerful reminder that collaboration isn’t about flawless execution but about showing up, sharing openly, and contributing with courage and heart.
True collaboration means sharing the risks, stepping out of our comfort zones, and committing equal amounts of effort and commitment. It’s not about being possessive of our content, connections, or contacts. Instead, it’s about offering what we can—imperfections and all—and discovering how those pieces combine to create something far greater than the sum of their parts.
This theme resonates deeply with me as this tribe will know. It reflects the lessons that were ingrained into my heart, in the aftermath of the biggest natural disaster in our living history. The serendipity of the 20-year anniversary is of that event, is stark to me. These principles are as vital now as we build to recover from the greatest challenge in our association’s 25-year history. Collaboration is how we emerge stronger and more united, navigating adversity with resilience and purpose. We felt this happening at SBS ’24.
But this must be more than a fleeting moment or a passing movement. We must ensure this transformation doesn’t snap back like an elastic band. It must become an evolution.
Over the coming year, we will embark on this journey together, starting with an exercise I’ll soon share to spark our collective creativity. From there, it’s up to each of us to carry the momentum forward. At SBS ’25, we’ll come together again to celebrate our successes—demonstrating our progress as an association and showing how individual contributions can drive societal change for the betterment of humanity.
I hope to see you there, ready to share your voice and be part of this shared evolution.
With courage and collaboration,
Michelle
Your National President
Additionally, we have the effervescent Kay Korsh (stylist to the stars…and speakers..) running a workshop so you can ‘Dress for Success’, sharing practical tips for everyone to style it out wherever you do business.
Kay Korsh
Title: Learn how to use your outfit to get more speaking gigs
As a professional speaker, choosing the right outfit for your speaking engagement can be overwhelming and frustrating. You want to make a strong impression while balancing professionalism, individuality, and comfort.
As Stylist to Speakers, Kay will share 3 rules on how to align your look to your message, so you can use your outfit as one of the tools to be memorable and to make your message more digestible for the audience, so you can stand out and earn more bookings.
In this workshop you will learn:
- How to stick to your style and be yourself while being respectful to the audience
- How to use your outfit as a tool to get more bookings
- How to be memorable and not overdo it
Plus! We have our regular showcase slot AND a very special ‘change of the guard’ as we hand over the reins from Fiona Bennett and Jo Lightfoot to our new 2025 Regional President, Mary Asante.
Great Company, Great Speaking, Great Times, Great Value!
To your Prosperity!
Keynote speakers
Michelle is known as The People Reader – a behaviour expert specialising in unleashing potential. As the creator of a suite of profiling tools, she speaks, consults and trains in values, motivation, communication, performance and collaboration. She works with organisations to help increase engagement, performance and results through empowering their people, alongside her family of Certified Practitioners.
Kay Korsh has spent 20 years dressing actors like Elizabeth Debicki, Riz Ahmed, Ben Whishaw and Lily James.
Kay started Mind Over Fashion to combine her passion for style with her love for learning about human behaviour to help professional speakers all over the world gain more confidence and find their Signature Speaker Style, which is aligned with their message. Because whether we want it or not, we are being judged for the way we look, even before we start speaking.
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