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. The Oscar of the Speaking Profession.
CPAE · Speaker Hall of Fame · Class of 2026
What this award means
Awarded by peers, held for life, and given to only five speakers a year.
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. Fewer Than 200 Living, 66 of which are women
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
From the induction ceremony
Mike Domitrz's Introduction
Acceptance Speech
The whole night
Awards banquet montage
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AWARDS BANQUET MONTAGEvideo 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.
Read the full release: download the PDF · Media inquiries: [email protected] · Official CPAE press materials: nsaspeaker.org/newsroom-presskit-cpae
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