Expert Insights
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Book a DemoYou’ve Been Asked to Speak at a Conference: What Should you Charge?
January 05, 2016 - by Peter Evans
Experts in our global network often ask me for suggestions about what they should charge when they speak at an event. While professional speakers and their bureaus generally have a good feel for how to price speaking engagements, there can be quite a bit more complexity with how a corporate speaker is compensated.
This has to do with a number of factors. For instance, industry speakers are often afforded full registration to the event in addition to the brand exposure they gain from speaking to a qualified audience. Many event organizers view this as fair, non-financial compensation for the speaker. So, beyond this “soft” compensation, there may be a small honorarium or travel reimbursement to cover any out of pocket expenses. In many cases, for attractive speaking opportunities, it’s assumed that the industry speaker’s organization will cover these travel expenses.
With all these factors, it’s obvious that the relative range of fees charged can vary greatly. Plus, there are a lot of other factors to consider when determining what you should be charging for your services as a speaker. I’ve seen corporate experts who are not represented by a speakers bureau charge anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000 for an appearance.
So what are you worth? The answer to this question is directly related to the value you drive for the event organizer in creating the right attendee and sponsor experience.
Here are some key areas you need to focus on in determining your value as an expert:
1. Reach: Can you help the event organizer build attendance for the event?
- Are you a recognizable name for the event’s target audience?
- Is the source of your brand recognition based on your personal exposure or the organization you represent?
- How unique is the content you can deliver?
- How much exposure has your content received through media? Is it fresh, or has it been seen at other events in the industry or the geographic area?
- Can you help the event organizer attract sponsors?
- Can you help the event organizer draw media attendance?
2. Relevance: How important is your topic to the audience?
- How specialized is your content? This has an impact on the addressable size of audience you can effectively connect with.
- How much of your content could be perceived as marketing your product or service? Remember – for most events, even when your company is a sponsor, the act of pitching from the podium is not appreciated by audiences and event organizers.
3. Reputation: What’s your brand value?
- Have you received any media coverage? How prominent are some of these publications? Are they well recognized within a specific industry or do they have more general recognition?
- Have you been quoted as an authority by media outlets on a certain topic? Is this media related to the topic you are speaking about? Are you well respected as an expert or thought leader in your profession or within an industry? Are you known globally or in a defined geographic region?
- What are your key accomplishments in terms of the success you have had in your industry? Do you have detailed best practices, case studies or data from this experience that you can share?
Are you associated with any experts in the field or market-leading organizations that are well known and respected by audiences? - What are your credentials? Depending on the goals of the session, event organizers will consider factors such as academic background, professional designations, research and publications, as well as awards and past speaking experience.
- Do you have proven experience speaking? What kind of events have you spoken at before? Are they well known events?
- What event sizes and types of venues do you have experience speaking at?
- Are you being recommended by someone else on the event organizing committee? Are you being specifically asked for by name?
- What industry recognition have you received? Have you won any awards or has your work been featured in the press?
- Can you share attendee evaluations from past speaking engagements?
- Can you share testimonials from event organizers who have booked you for past events?
- Have you generated any repeat speaking engagements with the same event organizer? This is one of the top proof points that you have delivered significant value for attendees.
4. Research: Have you published work that is engaging audiences?
- Do you have any proprietary research you can share with the audience? Often this work is presented through case studies, which are very valuable to audiences.
- Have you published a book? Note that self-published work is gaining in popularity, but having a trade publisher for your work is seen as more credible.
- Can you show a portfolio of work? Most top conferences need to see visible proof of your speaking ability and style. A well produced video with some highlights of past speaking engagements is becoming a must have for many speakers.
5. Requirements: Are you the best suited to the format and scope of the speaking opportunity?
- What is the type of session you are speaking at? Note that keynotes generally have higher fees, as these speakers are often seen as a draw for attendance. However, the commitment for delivering a half-day workshop can be very time consuming.
- Your fees should consider preparation time. Keep in mind that fees can be offset depending on the opportunities for new business development. Many consultants value workshops as a vehicle to build their reputation and connect with new clients.
- How much time will be required onstage? Are there other events the organizer wants you to attend, such as a sponsor dinner or other functions?
- Are your materials being distributed to attendees? This is a key consideration in determining your fees if you have unique, copyrighted content. In many cases leaving detailed slides can be a problem in trying to maintaining some degree of freshness in your material.
- Does your session qualify for professional continuing education credits?
Where is the meeting being held? Does the venue require a fair amount of travel time to ensure you arrive well in advance?
6. Rewards: What financial compensation or other “soft” benefits are you expecting to gain from speaking?
- Is there a policy set by the event organizer that allows them to pay speakers within a fee range? Have they made exceptions for certain speakers? How has the event organizer historically compensated speakers? Do they provide a set honorarium or reimbursement for travel expenses? Often these expenses are capped at a set amount by the event organizer.
- What is the event organizer charging attendees for the event? Are there sponsors paying to be involved in the event? Is your session being sponsored by an organization? Answers to these questions can have a major influence on the compensation provided to speakers.
- Note that while many speakers will speak for other considerations and reduce or waive fees, some will insert specific protection clauses. For instance, as a speaker you can ask the event organizer to recognize a previous commitment clause. This clause states that if you receive a paid speaking engagement (within say 30-60 days) for another event, you have the right to cancel your commitment without any penalties and take the other offer. This can have a positive impact on your negotiations with organizers if you are a key component of their program.
- Is the event organizer offering you an all-access pass to other sessions at the event?
Are there other networking/educational events that you can attend free of charge? Note that pre-conference events such as golf tournaments and pre-conference workshops are usually charged as extra for attendees. In some cases these events can be negotiated into your agreement as non-cash considerations. Is there a speaker dinner that provides valuable opportunities for you to network with this peer group? This is a key consideration for many industry speakers, as these can be some of the most valuable connections made during an event. - What this extensive list of questions proves is there is no simple answer to what you can charge as a speaker. While it always comes down to what the market will bear, fees are determined by numerous factors. People often believe that conferences make lots of money, but this isn’t the case. Many organizers are just trying to cover costs, so it’s important that you understand this when negotiating your fees. Beyond speaker compensation, there are many other costs that an event organizer needs to consider in order to produce a quality event. It’s important to view every event opportunity differently and weigh the total value of attending, as well as speaking, against the time and expenses that you may need to commit.
Remember, there are proven ways to build your value with event organizers. At the core, it’s about developing unique, informative and engaging content for audiences. But the fees you command will be closely related to the job you have done to build your professional reputation and personal brand. As you move up the ladder within your profession, attendees are getting much more than just an hour or two of your time on the podium. They are benefitting from an entire career’s worth of experience.
Do you have any ideas on what speakers should consider when they negotiate with event organizers? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.