NSA Pittsburgh Last Story Standing 2025 Contest Rules

Stories will be judged on 3 main categories:

• Purpose: Does the story communicate a clear and applicable lesson with a point or action step?
• Impact: Does the story entertain, educate, and motivate?
• Delivery: Does the storyteller effectively use vocal tone, body language, and eye contact?
  

NSA Pittsburgh membership is required to participate.

This competition is designed for professional-level storytellers. To ensure the competition’s integrity, the following designations/individuals are not eligible to compete: Council of Peers Award for Excellence (CPAE) Recipients; Million Dollar Speakers Club members; Chapter President, President-Elect, Immediate Past-President and/or Competition Planning/Committee Members; and NSA National Board of Directors. 

The storyteller should stay within the storyline for the duration of the story, except for setting up the story or concluding with a challenge or summary of the point of the story.

The storyteller must use their voice only. No instruments, props, costumes, physical examples, or additional elements are allowed. The teller can use their voice in any way, but the story cannot be a song in its entirety.

Ten finalists will be scored by a three-judge panel of elite speakers: NSA Pittsburgh President Karin Lund, NSA Pittsburgh Member and Certified Speaking Professional Jeff Tobe, and NSA Pittsburgh Founder John Putzier. The ten finalists will be chosen by the NSA Pittsburgh Last Story Standing organizing committee of Leslie Middleton, Charlie Krebs, and Mark Houser.

Judges will rank the finalists using a standardized scoring sheet that will be shared with each storyteller to provide valuable feedback. Final scores will be conclusive and indisputable.

The Chapter Champion will advance to the NSA Regional Competition to compete against Chapter Champions from 11 other NSA chapters from New England to South Florida. NSA Pittsburgh will cover the $500 regional entry fee for the Chapter Champion.

Both the Chapter Champion and Runner-Up will tell their story at our March 15 NSA Pittsburgh chapter meeting and will receive a copy of the professional video recording they can keep and use for promotion. Charlie Krebs will offer a personal coaching session for both the Chapter Champion and Runner-Up before the March 15 meeting.

The Chapter Champion can submit either their original video or the professional recording from the March meeting to the Regional Competition as a preliminary entry. They will then receive constructive feedback and instructions on how to improve their story from an assigned NSA Regional Mentor, and have the option to re-record their video for a final submission for the Regional Competition.

The winners of the 3 Regional Competitions will compete live on the main stage at Influence in July.

NSA Pittsburgh Last Story Standing 2025 Intellectual Property Agreement

By participating in the Last Story Standing Competition, each contestant grants and releases to NSA, its successors, assigns, and licensees the right to photograph and record a contestant’s story submission at any level (Chapter, Regional and National), including likeness, voice, and verbal statements, on film, videotape, and audiotape (collectively, the “Recording”). Each contestant also grants NSA the right to edit, distribute and/or highlight the Recording in the NSA Digital Vault, alone or as part of a compilation, at its discretion without additional approval. This Agreement does not constitute an affirmative obligation on the part of NSA to distribute the Recording. NSA and its agents are permitted the right to use the Recording, name, likeness, voice, and biographical information and any other information about contestant in connection with the advertising, promotion and public relation efforts relating to the specific presentation dated herein, in all media, now known or hereafter created without any compensation.

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