Five Recommendations to Delivering an Excellent Professional Development Session at ISPA

• PROMISE. ISPA speakers will promise to provide a description of their session which goes on the Web site and Conference collateral many months before the session will actually take place. It is important that the content of the session fulfills the promise that was given in the initial description. Giving a clear description about who a session is geared towards and what an attendee can expect to learn including takeaways, will help ISPA members to select a presentation that will be most appreciated and will exceed their needs and expectations.
• TEACH. ISPA members are the top professionals in the spa industry. It is important for speakers to remember they are speaking to many people who are already experts in their field. With that in mind, presentations and information should be advanced and high level with specific ideas and suggestions that they can take home and begin implementing in their own businesses. Please be specific in demonstrating your understanding of the audience when completing this application.
• GIVE. ISPA members are quickly turned off by speakers who attempt to use a professional development session as a platform to promote or sell their own services or products. Giving great information and offering your time and contact info for further questions will develop relationships that will be beneficial not only to the membership of ISPA but to the speaker’s business as well.
• ENGAGE. ISPA has developed a reputation for high-quality education and top tier speakers. Our members expect highly skilled and experienced speakers who will connect with the audience using energy, humor, interaction, visuals, etc. Speakers should have excellent, dynamic communication skills and experience speaking to large groups.
• CONNECT. Speakers should attend as much of the ISPA Conference & Expo as possible in order to fully understand the industry, the challenges confronted by the industry and the overall theme of the Conference. By connecting the content of a presentation to the theme of Conference, the other information being presented in Conference, resources available from ISPA and the stories gathered from the thousands of spa professionals in attendance, speakers can create a presentation which is deeply meaningful to all attendees.