National Speakers Association · July 27, 2026
Jess Pettitt Has Been Inducted Into the CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame®
The Council of Peers Award for Excellence is the speaking profession's lifetime achievement honor — awarded by peers, held for life, and given to only five speakers a year.
CPAE · Speaker Hall of Fame · Class of 2026
What this award means
The Oscar of the Speaking Profession
Established in 1977 by the National Speakers Association, the CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame® recognizes speakers who have demonstrated exceptional talent, integrity, and influence across a career — evaluated by their peers in five categories: message, presentation, experience, professionalism, and collateral material.
Inductees join a roster that includes Ronald Reagan, Zig Ziglar, Colin Powell, and Les Brown. It is not a competition won. It is a career recognized.
<250
Speakers ever inducted since 1977
5
Inductees per year
500K+
People Jess has taught, motivated & entertained
2
Decades transforming workplace culture
In her words
“Doing the best you can with what you have some of the time, because it is better than nothing never.” — Jess Pettitt, MEd, MBA, CSP, CPAE
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Acceptance speechvideo coming soon
Press Release
FOR RELEASE JULY 27, 2026, 9:00 PM CT
The National Speakers Association has inducted Jess Pettitt, MEd, MBA, CSP, into the CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame®, the association's lifetime achievement honor recognizing exceptional talent, integrity, and influence in the speaking profession. Fewer than 250 speakers have received the honor since its establishment in 1977.
Pettitt, a keynote speaker, facilitator, and author of Good Enough Now and Almost Doing Good, has spent nearly two decades helping organizations strengthen leadership, build high-performing teams, and transform workplace culture, reaching more than half a million people across North America. Her third book, Doing Good Better, is forthcoming. A former NYC stand-up comic, Pettitt is known for keynotes that blend humor, honesty, and practical strategy under her long-standing banner: Tough Subjects … Better Connections.
The CPAE joins Pettitt's Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation, held by a small fraction of professional speakers worldwide. She becomes one of only five speakers inducted in the class of 2026.
Media inquiries: [email protected] · Official CPAE press materials: nsaspeaker.org/newsroom-presskit-cpae
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