Local Events
CAPS Atlantic offers professional development and networking activities for its members based on our CAPS Advantage: Learn, Share, Grow, and Belong.
LEARN skills and strategies that differentiate you in the marketplace and help you to monetize your message
SHARE ideas and network locally and nationally with the best in our industry
GROW by accessing our global network of resources that help your clients say yes more often
BELONG to a unique community of exceptional individuals
CAPS Atlantic events are designed to provide you with inspiration and skills to showcase your expertise, develop greater eloquence on stage, and learn effective tools to run your business.
All of this happens within the remarkably generous and welcoming community of practice that is unique to the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers.
We use Eventbrite to advertise our events and provide a method for registering. Eventbrite creates an online event page with a countdown timer that becomes a Join Event button 15 minutes before the event. It also sends you a number of automated emails to confirm your registration and to remind you about the event. These emails contain links to the event description and, just before the event, the link to get into the meeting.
If you want more details and screenshots of how all of that works, click here.
Remember to also check “CAPS Unity Events” on the CAPS National Website where you can register for both Chapter and National events.
You can also check out the CAPS Experts who speak professionally Facebook page.
Upcoming Local Events at CAPS Atlantic
In addition to all of our National programming (CAPS UNITY, National Convention, Learning Groups, etc.) and (for members) access to programming from other Chapter in Canada, CAPS Atlantic provides in-person, online, and hybrid professional development events that can be accessed by members (for free) and non-members (for a fee) to advance your business and deepen your skills.
If you’re not a CAPS member, you’re welcome to attend one of our meetings free of charge as a guest of one of our members.
Beyond the learning in person, a key advantage of CAPS is our community and at these events you’ll have the chance to connect and learn from your peers as we help each other Learn, Share, Grow and Belong.
RESILIENCY THROUGH ADVERSITY
RESILIENCY THROUGH ADVERSITY
PERSEVERANCE FROM PRE-WAR SYRIA TO THE UNITED NATION
Tareq Hadhad is telling his story. He was a Syrian refugee and is now living his new life with his entrepreneurial family on Canada’s east coast. He is the founder and CEO of Peace by Chocolate, the recipient of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2021 for Atlantic, named one of the Top 25 Immigrants in The Maritimes, selected by Google as the National Hero Case, and was awarded RBC’s top Immigrant Award and Entrepreneur of the Year in 2020. All of this has happened since Tareq’s arrival on Canada’s East Coast in December 2015 as a Syrian-Canadian newcomer.
In 2012 the Hadhad’s home and factory that housed the family chocolate-making business were destroyed which forced them to seek safety in other countries. A former medical student at Damascus University and long-time peacekeeping advocate, Tareq joined medical relief efforts after arriving in Lebanon. A new life began when Tareq and his family were welcomed to Canada on a community-based sponsorship.
Passionate about peace and entrepreneurship, his family relaunched the family business to recreate the chocolates they once exported across the Middle East and their story turned into and international inspiring phenomenon.
Tareq and his family have a focus on job creation, utilizing a network of local community members and refugees from across Nova Scotia and Canada to help support the local economy. Now that their chocolates are distributed across Canada they look to offer more employment opportunities as their business grows.
He has had the privilege to meet former President of the United States, Barack Obama, Canadian Prime Ministers, and has had conversations with many World Leaders. There has been a feature film made about the family’s story that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and a best-selling book written by Jon Tattrie called Peace by Chocolate. In January 2020, Tareq received his official Canadian Citizenship which garnered international attention and has become one of the greatest accomplishments of his life.
Tareq has spoken at Amnesty International’s Human Rights Conference, TEDx events, Chambers of Commerce Dinners, keynote presentations in Jamaica, London England, Paris and Copenhagen, and spoken to several corporate and government organizations both in person and online. He has done over 500 interviews with different news teams across the globe. Tareq speaks on the compelling story of his family, the positive impact of Syrian newcomers and the spirit of entrepreneurship and giving back.
A feature film based on the Hadhad story will be premiering in Cineplex theaters across Canada on May 6th.
Building Customer Relationships- Sam Demma
Sam Demma is a youth keynote speaker and entrepreneur. He co-founded the volunteer organization PickWaste, created the High Performing Student, delivered two TEDx Talks, and is a Board Director of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers.
Sam’s mission is to provide students with the hope, tools and strategies they need to become servant leaders in their schools, businesses, teams, and in the lives of those around them. His young age makes him incredibly relatable to youth audiences and utterly inspiring for adult audiences.
POWER Marketing with Kyle Wilson
Kyle Wilson is into POWER marketing.
In this presentation, he will share some fabulous tips to help us:
Get Clear on Your Brand and Who Your Customer and Market Is
Craft a Clear Strategic Plan Related to Your Current Marketing Focus and Efforts
Strategically Build Your Business List and Your Marketing Wheel
Create Multiple Products & Services to Fill Out Your Sales Funnel
Identify Your Support Team & Critical Systems
Hone Your Speaking Message (and Effectively Sell from the Stage)
Tap Into the Reservoir of Kyle’s Knowledge and Expertise to Mastermind and Solve Your Specific Needs
Get this event in to your calendar by clicking the Register button below. You will be happy you did!
Kyle is the founder of Jim Rohn International, YourSuccessStore.com, LessonsFromNetwork.com and KyleWilson.com
He’s worked with the top names in the personal development industry including his 18 year biz partner, friend and mentor Jim Rohn, as well as Og Mandino, Brian Tracy, Les Brown, Darren Hardy, Robin Sharma and many others.
Kyle is the author of 52 Lessons I Learned from Jim Rohn and Other Great Legends I Promoted! and partnered with Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield on Chicken Soup for the Entrepreneur’s Soul.
Kyle has filled huge seminar rooms, launched and published multiple personal development publications with over a million subscribers and has produced/published over 100+ hours of DVD and CD programs.
Kyle sold his companies in 2007 and became a Mr Mom for 7 years. He now does high-end coaching & consulting, host the Kyle Wilson Inner Circle Mastermind and has helped over 200 people became #1 Best Selling Published Authors, hitting multiple #1 Best Selling books.
Brian Tracy said Kyle has made him Millions of dollars, Darren Hardy says Kyle is his Go To person for any marketing solution and Jim Rohn said Kyle is his trusted partner and friend.
CAPS Atlantic Christmas Cocktail Party and Special Meeting (Members Only Event)
Join us on Zoom for the Exclusive CAPS Atlantic Christmas Cocktail Party.
Don't miss this CAPS Atlantic members-only event!
In early December, look for a special treat from your CAPS Atlantic board. Brush the cobwebs off your Canada Post mailbox (you know - the one where one where you actually get stuff you can touch, hold in your hand and gaze at?) to find this special treat! Hint: don't drink it until our event!
TEDx Your Talk to 10X Your Impact
What can you, as a professional speaker, gain from learning to "talk like TED"? More importantly, why would you want to?
Speaking in the Ted style will not only make you a better speaker but will also get your message into the hearts of your audience and compel them to take action.
Creating a TED style talk requires specific skills that can be applied to any presentation. In Teri's TEDx to 10X workshop you will discover how to:
Adapt techniques that the top TED speakers use to compel their audiences to action and create memorable impact.
Distill your message from 45 minutes down to 9, 12 or 18 minutes using TED's 4 step preparation structure without diluting your content.
Discover detrimental professional speaking habits and behaviours that may be keeping you OFF the TEDx stage and how to overcome them.
What you need to know if you want to apply to be a TEDx speaker yourself!
Teri brings insight and experience from more than 5 years of helping select speakers for the TEDx stage, coaching those selected, and, most recently, her own experience of delivering her own TEDx talk.
Teri Kingston works with speakers, authors, and executives who want to amplify their message through the delivery of a TEDx talk or TED-style talk so that they can impact, inspire, and ignite any audience every time. She helps other people get their valuable perspectives and ideas out into the world in a way that will truly resonate in person or from a virtual stage.
As a TEDx Coach (since 2017) Teri has brought more than 30 speakers to the TEDx stage, many of whom are now featured on TED.com.
In September 2021 Teri had the opportunity to step into the red dot herself at TEDxUNB with her own "idea worth spreading" "Can we live better by talking about dying". Her talk has pulled in over 49K views in less than 2 days. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6Qj8g1DVxA&t=12s)
Teri has seen first-hand how learning to "talk like TED" can be used as a team/community building experience that creates deep and lasting bonds while elevating communication skills to a whole new level. She brings these skills, tactics, and techniques into business or corporations through small group coaching or one on one presentation skills coaching.
When she is not coaching other speakers, she is working on her own speaking goals, eating too much dark chocolate, and dreaming of when she can visit freely with her two adult children and delightful grandchildren "over the border" south of us!
The Muffin That Launched an International Empire
Nadja Piatka made a dream come true. Armed only with an idea and a $100 investment, she became an international supplier to the food industry. As an unemployed, single mother, she has an amazing story of taking a company out of her kitchen and creating a successful food company.
Since no one would hire her, she decided that she would hire herself. Nadja believed the world needed better tasting healthy food so she began experimenting with recipes in her kitchen and testing them on her children. She started her business by waking up in the early hours to bake and delivering her baked goods in her car to local coffee shops.
When her customer base grew, she outsourced her production and within a year became a supplier to McDonalds Canada. The healthy cranberry/orange muffin she created in her kitchen is still on McDonald’s menu 25 years later.
This success in the food industry grew her company to manufacture in the US and Canada and become a supplier to Subway and other large restaurant chains and retailers in the US and Canada.
Today she is the CEO of Holista Foods USA, a company that is dedicated to changing people’s lives through “better for you” foods. Holista Foods mission is to support the global fight against diabetes and obesity by delivering healthy delicious food.
Nadja is a leader of the “good carb revolution.” She and her team have developed the first line of clinically validated low glycemic pasta/noodles which are sold globally and to major grocery retailers in North America.
Along with her daughter, she created an annual event to empower women and has sponsored 32 Women Survivors of War throughout the world.
Everything Speakers Need to Know About Selling
Speaker: I’m a speaker not a sales person.
Tom Abbott, SOCO Sales Training (The Sales Optimization Company): Great. You’ll be the best speaker nobody has ever heard of.
Speaker: My speech should speak for itself.
Tom: Well great, it should, but it probably doesn’t. The world is full of wonderful speakers but you obviously have to know how to sell. If you have a problem with ‘sell’ as a naughty 4-letter word, think of it as to ‘serve’.
Speaker: Oh.
Tom: Shame on us if we don’t tell people who we are and how we can help.
Join sales genius Tom Abbott for a fireside chat where he’ll answer all your sales questions. Bonus: register now and send us your website link. Tom will give you his first impressions.
BIO
Tom Abbott is an author and speaker on Sales Optimisation. He has delivered hundreds of motivational sales keynotes, kickoffs, presentations and workshops in over 20 countries throughout Asia-Pacific and is a pioneer of optimising the sales processes of organizations worldwide.
He is the author of The SOHO Solution and Social Selling and is a contributor to Singapore Business Review, Singapore Marketer and The Singapore Straits Times.
Tom has also been interviewed on radio in Singapore and Malaysia. Abbott’s sales, social selling and sales leadership programmes impart cutting-edge best practices gleaned from fifteen years’ experience of working with global market leaders in every major industry including 3M, Crocs, Fuji-Xerox, HSBC, Julius Baer Group, Maersk, Marina Bay Sands, Prudential, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, Salesforce, Sands Resorts Macao, Singapore Telecommunications, Spotify, United Overseas Bank and Zendesk.
An inspiration to sales professionals and sales leaders the world over, he attributes the novelty of his approach to a natural curiosity that drives him to push the limits in thought, learning and action.
WEBSITE: https://www.socoselling.com/
Peter Chapman’s Top Tips to Attract More Clients
Peter Chapman is CAPS top ‘banana’ - the CAPS National president for 2021. The banana ( which all CAPS national presidents get) is actually a great symbol for Peter. He’s worked in the Canadian food industry for 30 years before he became a speaker and consultant. He knows how get to food into supermarket carts. Peter believes it’s not about making great products to sell; it’s about selling the great products you make. That belief and knowledge is what speakers need. In this session, Peter will show us how to get our great products and services into our clients’ carts.
Bio
Peter Chapman understands the Canadian food industry, more importantly; he understands where it is going. He’s work in it for 30 years on both sides of the desk.
For 19 years he’s worked with Canada's largest food retailer, Loblaw. He’s the author of À la cart. He’s provided food industry insights to Canadian Grocer, The Globe & Mail, Maclean's magazine and Canada AM.
Peter launched SKUfood and develops strategies with suppliers in the food industry to set them apart, grow sales and deliver a bottom line. SKUfood has specialized and unique food industry experience, including but not limited to business & strategic planning, the retail environment, sales & marketing, online training, new product launches and getting items listed.
Peter also delivers conference keynotes and workshops for the private sector, agri-food businesses, industry associations and government agencies. Audiences and clients benefit from his practical and entertaining insights into the food industry and how to ultimately get more products in the shopping cart.
Peter is national President of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers in 2021.
Website … www.skufood.com
Peter Chapman’s Top Tips to Attract More Clients Tickets, Wed, 9 Jun 2021 at 7:00 PM | Eventbrite
Unleash Your Creativity and Humour with Berni Stapleton
Berni Stapleton believes humour and creativity are linked. She’s convinced they both can make everything better - Covid, your business, your speech, your life.
“Humour doesn’t mean you can’t talk about things that are meaningful,” say Stapleton. “Things don’t have to be divided up into tiny boxes.”
Berni will lead us in a workshop to discover how we can incorporate more humour and creativity in our personal and professional lives. “You will come away with something you can use right away,” says Stapleton.
BIO
Berni Stapleton is a Newfoundland-Labrador writer and performer of unique distinction. She is the 2018 winner of the Arts and Letters award for best dramatic script. She is a recent winner of The Rhonda Payne award from Arts NL.
She is a prolific author, playwright and performer. Berni was the Artistic Director of the Grand Bank Regional Theatre Festival for 11 years. She has been a playwright-in-residence with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal, Alberta Theatre Projects, CanStage, PARC, and other national companies.
Her plays are regularly produced across the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
She is celebrating 25 years as a playwright with the creation of a new one woman show called Late Lesbians and Other Bloomers.
Amber Mac: Tech Tips From a Social Media Superstar
She’s moderated sessions with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, former FBI Director James Comey, inspirational coach Tony Robbins, astronaut Chris Hadfield and many other notable leaders. And now CAPS Atlantic gets to pick her brain.
Her full name is Amber Dawn MacArther. But the world knows her as Amber Mac. She’s the undisputed leader in innovation and technology.
Get your questions about technology, social media, marketing, politics, and education ready for this visionary. Be prepared to be inspired and informed by this amazing guest.
BIO
Amber had no female models when she started in the tech industry. So she carved out a path for other women to follow. And what a path it was.
Amber has keynoted more than 400 events around the world and has moderated sessions with many other notable leaders.
She’s written national best sellers - Power Friending, Outsmarting Your Kids Online. Most recently, she started co-hosting a new podcast series called Marketing Disrupted.
Her other podcast series, The AI Effect, has won awards as best innovative media, best marketing communication and best technology series.
She is a regular business host and expert for Fast Company, CNN, Bloomberg, CBS, BNN, CTV, and SiriusXM (where she co-hosts #TheFeed).
In 2018, she was named one of DMZ’s 30 inspirational women making a difference in tech.
Amber Mac started her career in San Francisco and Boston during the dot-com boom. As a strategist for Razorfish and Director of Marketing for an e-procurement software company, she spent four years in the technology start-up trenches.
Amber joined Microsoft to build one of the first female-focused lifestyle portals. In 2006, she started her own digital agency. The company’s first client was world-renowned business coach, Tony Robbins, and now includes Microsoft, Google, GE, Paypal, Nintendo, Canada Goose, and Fast Company.
As a child, Amber attended a two-room country schoolhouse in PEI and shared a party telephone line with neighbouring houses. She is now recognized internationally as an innovation and technology leader.
Website ….. https://ambermac.com
How to Hitch a Ride on a Hercules - and Other Life Lessons from Behind the Headlines
How to Hitch a Ride on a Hercules - and Other Life Lessons from Behind the Headlines
with Halina St. James
Getting caught in crossfire in a revolution. Crashing in an airplane. Driving through burning oil fields in the Gulf War.
Halina St. James loved her life as a globe-trotting TV news producer and reporter, witnessing the biggest stories of the day.
But she was more than just a witness to the events. She was changed by them. Join us on March 10, 2021 when Halina will share the most important lessons that guided her through some chaotic times.
About Halina St. James:
Halina is a former television news producer and reporter whose career took her around the world, to war zones, Olympic Games and international summits.
Halina created The TalkitOut Technique to help television reporters and anchors tell their stories better. Then executives and politicians started asking for help with their speeches and presentations. She founded Podium Media and Communications Coaching in 2005 and works with executives and government leaders. She helps them make successful presentations live or virtually.
Halina is a professional speaker, a coach to other professional speakers, and a member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers.
She lives in Nova Scotia.
Rustum Southwell - Doing Business with the Black Community and the Effects of Black Lives Matter
Dr. Rustum Southwell is a visionary, an innovator, a mentor and an astute business leader. As founding CEO of The Black Business Initiative (BBI) his passion was to have a Black presence in all business and cultural sectors not only in Nova Scotia, but also across Canada, the US and the Caribbean. February is African Heritage month. We are honoured to have Dr. Southwell speak to us about doing business with the Black community and the effects of the Black Lives Matter movement.
BIO
Dr. Rustum Southwell came to Halifax 47 years ago from the Caribbean island of St. Kitts. He went to Mount St. Vincent and Dalhousie Universities. He started breaking barriers by becoming the first Black franchisee owner in the restaurant industry. From there, he was became the founding Chief Executive Officer of the Black Business Initiative (BBI). In that role he has shepherded the creation and expansion of hundreds of Black-owned and operated businesses and the creation of 800 jobs. One of those is Hope Blooms, the successful youth business venture in healthy eating. Dr Southwell holds honorary degrees in law from Saint Mary’s and Dalhousie Universities, and an honorary diploma from the School of Business at the Nova Scotia Community College. He and his wife, Gracey, received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition for their contributions to Nova Scotia and to Canada.
CAPS Atlantic 2021 Annual General Meeting
Please join us Jan 27th for our Annual General Meeting.
Let’s keep the “Little Chapter that Could . . . … and Did!” going strong!
Tomorrow’s World Today: 5 Keys To Winning in a Time of Change with Buhle Dlamini
No one will ever forget 2020, the year everything changed: the year that forced us to change, to adapt almost non-stop. As we look forward to 2021, we can’t help but wonder what that year will be like. We wonder what the future holds.
Buhle Dlamini is a global keynote speaker who understands future trends. He helps his clients make sense of a changing world.
Hoping for the best, he says, is not enough.
“‘I just have to be positive’ is not the answer,” says Buhle. “You have to touch people’s hearts, lift them. Change their attitude.”
As Caps Atlantic’s first speaker for 2021, Buhle will not only lift our spirits but also give us 5 Keys to Winning. Those 5 Keys will impact how we work, and think, in 2021.
ABOUT BUHLE
Buhle Dlamini was raised in a Zulu village. He has risen and beaten the odds to become one of South Africa’s top speakers. Now he’s a sought-after global speaker.
He helps clients leverage the benefits of diversity and shows leaders how to create the most productive and effective organizational cultures.
He’s written six books and has received the Nation Building award from Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He’s worked with leaders from around the world including Nelson Mandela. He’s an associate of the Cultural Intelligence Centre in Michigan.
He has been living in Nova Scotia for the past seven years with his Canadian wife.
CAPS Atlantic Christmas Cocktail Party (Members Only Event)
Join us on Zoom for the Exclusive CAPS Atlantic Christmas Cocktail Party.
This members only event is not to be missed- check you mailbox in December for a special treat from your CAPS Atlantic board.
