Why I’m proud to be accredited
Letters after a name can look like vanity. For me they’re something else — a promise about how I show up, kept to people other than myself.
I’ll be honest: I used to be a little sceptical of post-nominals. Then I went through the work of earning a few, and my view changed. Accreditation, done properly, isn’t decoration — it’s accountability. It’s me saying “hold me to a standard,” and someone independent agreeing that I meet it. Here’s why I’m genuinely proud of mine.
Fellow of the Professional Speaking Association
The PSA is the home of professional speakers in the UK and Ireland, and Fellowship (FPSA) is its highest grade. It matters to me because speaking is a craft — not just having something to say, but knowing how to land it so a room actually changes. Being recognised by the people who do this for a living, who know how hard the good stuff is to make look easy, means a great deal. It’s a reminder that I owe every audience my preparation, not just my passion.
Fellow of the Institute of Equality & Diversity Professionals
Inclusion work attracts a lot of opinion and not always enough rigour. The IEDP is the professional body that holds this field to a standard — ethics, evidence, practice. Being a Fellow says I’m not freelancing my values into a vacuum; I’m part of a profession with a code and a community. In a space where trust is everything, and where the stakes for getting it wrong are real people, that accountability matters to me — and it should matter to anyone who hires in this area.
The worthwhile effort of CPD accreditation
The CPD Standards Office accreditation was the one that took the most graft — and taught me the most. To have content recognised as genuine continuing professional development, you have to show your working: clear learning outcomes, real structure, evidence of what people take away and apply. It made me a better designer of sessions, not just a deliverer of them. And it gives the people in the room something concrete — time they can log, learning they can prove. That’s effort I’m glad I put in, because the benefit lands with them.
Why I bother
All of this comes back to the same belief that runs through my work: #PositivePeopleExperiences, delivered with care — Smile · Engage · Educate. Accreditation is how I keep myself honest about the “educate” part. It’s a promise that the warmth comes with substance, and that when you invite me into your event, you’re getting someone who takes both you and the craft seriously.
If you’re weighing up who to book, you might also find why book an accredited speaker useful.
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Book a discovery callFrequently asked questions
What does it take to become a Fellow of the Professional Speaking Association?
Fellowship (FPSA) is the highest grade of the Professional Speaking Association UK & Ireland. It isn’t bought or automatic — it’s earned through sustained professional speaking, demonstrable skill and contribution to the speaking community, and recognised by your peers in the profession.
Why does CPD Standards Office accreditation take effort?
Because the content is independently assessed for genuine learning value — clear outcomes, structure and the ability to evidence what delegates take away — and it has to be maintained, not awarded once. That rigour is the whole point: it’s why delegates can log the time as CPD with confidence.