Recently an NSA member was contacted about a speaking engagement in London by a man by the name of Pastor Mark Graham Smith, claiming to be from the London Youth Conference. The scam revolves around the insistence of Pastor Mark Graham Smith, who required her to get a work permit before he would send her a deposit and airline tickets.

After discussing the proposal with a speaker from London and other NSA members she learned it was a scam. To help other NSA members avoid such scams the email messages to the NSA member from Pastor Mark Graham Smith are below in their original form. No grammar or spelling has been changed other than the name of the NSA member to protect her privacy.

If you have experienced a scam you’d like to inform other NSA members about please write a message about it in the comments section.

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From: london conference [mailto:londonyouthconf@gmail.com]

Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 9:50 AM

To: email Subject: YOUTH BUSINESS FORUM

Dear Last Name First Name,

My Name is Pastor Mark Graham from the London Youth Community Here in London UK. We want you to be our guest speaker at this Year LONDON YOUTH CONFERENCE which will take place here in UK. We are writing to invite and confirm your booking to be our Speaker at these year LONDON YOUTH CONFERENCE. The Venue as follows: Friends House Hall(London) Hospitality Friends House 173 Euston Road London NW1 2BJ Expected audience: 2500 people Duration of speech per speaker: 1 Hour Name of Church/Organization: LONDON YOUTH COMMUNITY Tel Phone: + 44 7077-087-949 Topic: BUSINESS MANAGEMENT Date:19th of August 2009-23rd of August 2009 We came across your profile we say it’s up to standard and we will be very glad to have such an outstanding personality in our mist for these overwhelming gathering. With your multi talented speech more lives will come close to GOD, Sorry about our late invitation it is due to the fact that our Speaker had back out because of her sudden illness. Arrangements to welcome you here will be discussed as soon as you honor our invitation. If you have any more publicity material, please do not hesitate to contact me. A formal Letter of invitation would be sent to you as soon as you honor our invitation. We are taking care of your traveling and Hotel Accommodation expenses including your Speaker fees. Stay Blessed Mark Graham LONDON YOUTH CONFERENCE

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From: london conference [mailto:londonyouthconf@gmail.com]

Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 7:15 AM To: email

Subject: CONTRACT AGREEMENT AND LETTER OF INVITATION

Dear First Name,

 Thanks for indicating your interest to be our Guest Speaker at this year LONDON YOUTH CONFERENCE. We are very excited and happy to have such a wonderful personality in our mist. Sorry for contacting you late . We the event organizing committee had a meeting earlier today to deliberate on getting you available here within a short period of time. We believe we serve the lord of possibilities. Arrangements are stated below. We have agreed to buy you flight ticket and to pay your Hotel accommodation expenses . Also your Speaking fee is to deposit is to be paid as soon as you procure all relevant travel documents so as to avoid any dissapointment.You are informed to get accross your Work Permit to us so your deposit can be approved according to our mandated rules and regulation. You are advised by the Event Organizing committee to immediately contact the BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION to procure your UK Work Permit as soon as possible This will enable us to proceed with all arrangements to welcome you here in London. Contact the British High Commission officer information below. BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION Name…Dr Darren David Email…Britshhighc@britpost.com or darrendavid@britpost.com Please confirm to us the closest Airport to your location so we can start making arrangements to buy your flight tickets .Understand that you need to expedite action because of the short notice. Feel free to ask any question We have attached a formal Letter of Invitation and contract agreement.Please reconfirm to us your office Address for our perusal and further action.Note you are meant to arrive a day before the commencement of the event. Please return a signed copy of the contract agreeement for proper documentation.You can also reach me on my mobile number for more update Tel:+4470-240-698-26 We await your earliest response Pastor Mark Graham Smith LONDON YOUTH CONFERENCE

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Dear First Name,

Thanks for your mail, you can contact me immediately on these number +447024069826. You can speak on EMPOWERMENT AND CHANGE i think that will suit you. Your husband can accompany you, we wil be paying for all his flight expenses and hotle accomodations, you stated in your previous mail that he is inevitable and must come with you so all that will be taken care of. Hope you have contacted the BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION for your work permit because it is very mandatory.

Stay Blessed

Pastor Mark

by Mike Faber

Watching the confluence of celebration these past two days, I have been reminded of the humility and power of the spoken word. Like a lot of speakers, I’ll listen to members of our professional community and marvel at how true word-smiths can bring language alive. Smugly, I place myself on the fringes of that talented group, knowing that, once in awhile, I’ll strike a resonant chord with the people who hear me speak.

That smug bubble was been shattered and repaired again, all within a 24 hour span of time. With twilight settling in over the mountains on the evening of January 19th, in the parking lot of my fitness club, I sat mesmerized by the voice of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., floating forward from 45 years ago, speaking at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. How he could make words soar and pitch, flowing like a brook over rough branches and smooth stones. From the “Curvaceous slopes of California” to “Lookout Mountain” and beyond, his words still bear their message of timeless truth in the generations beyond.

Feeling appropriately humbled, I settled in the following day to watch Barack Obama’s inauguration speech. No, it wasn’t a shadow of King’s words, but then again, no amount of diction or floridity could re-capture that sweltering moment in August of 1963. What would you have said on those steps, to honor the past and hold forth the promise of the future?

As speakers, we have a high standard to bear, and it can be easy at times to treat our place in the world as “just another job”. With the “perks” of late-night travel, strange hotel rooms and stranger buffet tables, this work can take on a surreal sense of normalcy. As if it’s perfectly normal to stand up in front of a group of strangers and bare our souls about what we’re most passionate about personally and professionally. That’s really what President Obama and Dr. King did, both recently and two generations ago. Their world-view isn’t that much different from ours, and their commitment to their audience and a mission are models of what speaking can and should be.

Mike Faber

John DiPietro (john@johndipietro.com) has just been selected to provide a weekly blog for a daily newspaper owned by the New York Times Company.  One of the topics will be “motivational speaking.”  I am not going to give tips on how to be a good speaker, but bring stories out about how speakers have increased their “other” businesses by being able to speak to civic groups as a topic expert.  Would be very interested in using my fellow NSA members as examples, regardless of their geographic location.  Feel free to call me at 508 829 9949.  Blog begins in late August, but I want to have several “evergreen” pieces ready to go.

Welcome to NSA’s member news blog!  Here members can post exciting business-related news to inform people what is happening with their speaking business.  And don’t let the term “blog” make you nervous, feel free to post a few sentences or just paste your press release.  If you do want to include details, feel free to–that’s the beauty of a blog–it can be used however works best for you!  To get started you must be approved.  So what are you waiting for, click here to request approval.  

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