Yes, I Want to Speak at Your Event

Oh my goodness this is so perfectly written. Says every thing I need to say. Want to say. HAVE TO SAY to the speaking requests. LOVE this.

I just read this for inspiration. My biggest goal is to become a paid speaker. I am currently working on a book about leaving abusive relationships (from my own real life experience) and am going to begin reaching out to Women’s shelters in my area.

If I may ask briefly, how did you land your very first speaking gig, and how did it go?

CC, thanks for putting this out there. I go through the same thing and anything we can do to help conference organizers understand the best way to organize and budget in order to secure experienced and talented speakers is great. Because, it really is *their* attendees who benefit and will come back for more.  

Thanks for writing this, CC, and with such a positive spin. I’ve worked in a number of other industries, from nonprofit to corporate, and our burgeoning social media and marketing world is one of the few I’ve encountered that presumes that speakers are free talent as a default that should want to appear gratis in exchange for “exposure”.

Expertise of any kind costs, and that’s what’s being shared when you hire an industry professional to speak at your event. We don’t expect the personal trainer or the consultant or the dentist to work for free, and I think the asks you’ve laid out are perfectly reasonable and standard for a professional asking to be compensated for their time and expertise in any capacity. And in my experience, many speakers – including me – are flexible and adaptable if the event is professionally run and holds attendance and participation benefits aside from compensation. The important distinction is that those perceived benefits are in the eye of the speaker, not the event organizer.

I’m sorry that we have to keep having this discussion, but I’m glad you lent your voice to it. Thanks.

You have listed common professional courtesies and essential factors when taking a speaking gig. None of your requirements is beyond the pale or unreasonable and should be standard reading material for anyone charged with securing speakers for their event. 

Thanks for drafting this. Best, M.

Just be glad you’re not a musician.  I have actually lost track of how many conventions and festivals there are that charge stiff registration fees, yet not only don’t pay their musical guests but in some cases actually expect bands to pay a submission fee or even an appearance fee.  It’s as though our time isn’t worth anything, only how many of our fans will buy tickets.

Maybe we should just call it a “Non-refundable value-based performance deposit.” Speaking fees are so last century…!

I’m relatively new to the speaking circuits but have learned a ton over the past 2 years. I think it’s important, as in business, to know when to walk away from a potential speaking gig even if it’s paid. If they are asking the world of you and nitpicking every single detail, it’s probably not worth your time, the headaches or the money.

I’ve always wondered if there was a place for speakers to be rated so organizations can know what they’re getting when they pay someone? Obviously we’re all going to say we’re amazing speakers, but it’s different when you have glowing recommendations from previous events. In this world of social media, it’s sometimes hard to set yourself apart from the experts/gurus if you’re new at speaking.

Great stuff CC and I hope to speak along side you sometime soon! 

I may have to borrow some of your wording  I am jumping up and down screaming THANK YOU for writing this. I’ve been told I was unrealistic and *greedy* to ask to have my travel covered or get a speaking stipend. To be truthful, I speak fairly often but am not an A-Lister (such as Gary V or Brogan) and have been told I should be thankful to be offered the opportunity to speak and to consider it exposure. Exposure doesn’t feed my family, sorry.

I don’t think you’re off base at all CC and I’m in agreement with just about everything you’ve had to say here. Unfortunately, I think people often undermine the amount of work that goes into building a solid, quality presentation. It’s a lot of work. But man it feels damn good when you knock it out of the park. 

Anyway all of that to say that yes, as professional speakers, we should be compensated for our work and our time. Especially if the conference is a paid event, with sponsors, etc.

Thanks CC for saying outloud what we all wanted to but were afraid of doing so!

I think that because you said this so well and it is a message we want to be shouted out from the roof tops, that we all should put up similar page to all of our sites where we talk about being asked to speak.

If everyone would do that and follow through, the events & conferences would have to pay us as speakers. 

So my question to my fellow speakers is-will you stand strong so we can elevate our profession to the level of respect it once had as a business.

Great post, clear, and expectations are covered.  No surprises.  Good luck!

C.C. – A
solidly written post that clearly explains the framework of speaking from the
perspective of speakers.

Having booked
speakers before, I understand the pressure that many organizations feel to
spend dollars from their budget. Some hold the misguided attitude that the best
will come to any event free simply for the exposure – not so at all.

As someone who
also speaks and consults, I see both sides. Speakers earn their fees based on
quality, skill and preparation (among so many other things). Often times,
non-speakers joke that ‘It must be nice to get (insert fee) to just talk for an
hour!” Seldom do they think about the hours or days of preparation put
into that one talk, the research to keep up to date (a la Facebook) on industry
changes, and the years it took to hone your craft up to this point in time.

Most speakers
that I know of are, as you say, trying to keep a roof over their kids head. We
are using our skill set to share knowledge & content, to help people do
better & achieve more, and of course to connect with other amazing folks.
We love doing it, but no one can afford to do it for free.

This should be
a standard read for anyone booking speakers =). Well said!

btw there are several good reasons for organizers to ask for
slides a month or two in advance.  I know you are always well prepared CC
and you are right to tweak your presentation as late as possible to make it as
current and relevant as possible to the audience.

But on the other hand, not all speakers are alike. I have seen countless
speakers who are completely unprepared to give their talk. Asking a speaker you
are not familiar with is a great way to ensure they are going to deliver quality
content to attendees.

Great post C.C.!  I live and breathe every word you say. It took me awhile though to have the confidence in my value, but now that it is there, I can comfortably say no to that which is unreasonable.
As for slides, if they are so good and rich with content that the speaker is diminished, then the slides are not that great. They should support the speaker and not the other way around. I don’t like to share my slides, but if they ask, I make a judgement call on the client relationship.

Yep CC, so many events miss out on offsetting their costs across the board with “tiered” sponsorship levels. Especially stage front exposure. The other “grey” area is providing your slides for post meeting download by attendees, especially when you have intellectual property stuff like workflow concepts, etc. Best to have a “topline” summary for that purpose.

CC… here’s a tip to put in your contracts for free speaking engagements. Have a clause that you are willing to commit to the date for free assuming you don’t get a paid offer at least 30 days before the event. If you do get a paid offer more than 30 days before the event, you’ll cancel your contract without any penalities and take the paid offer. That gives you an out to take a paying gig and also makes the person securring you for free think twice.

BTW, as someone who has hired more than 3,500 professional speakers…your post does not offend me in anyway. As a meeting professional, I like knowing exactly where my speaker stands and what they need. That speeds up the negotation process faster.

Unfortunately today, I don’t hire speakers like I used to. I just recommend them to other conference organziers.

I tried to post another reply earlier but it got lost on the interwebs and Tim beat me too it =p. There are a couple of points I would like to add to the conversation.

There are several good reasons for organizers to ask for
slides a month or two in advance.  I know you are always well prepared CC
and you are right to tweak your presentation as late as possible to make it as
current and relevant as possible to the audience.

But on the other hand, not all speakers are alike. I have seen countless
speakers who are completely unprepared to give their talk. Asking a speaker you
are not familiar with is a great way to ensure they are going to deliver quality
content to attendees. You know as well as I do lots of speakers are hit and
miss. Sometimes they give a blockbuster talk and sometimes they bomb. By asking
for a speakers presentation (be that slides, summary, etc.) in advance the
conference organizer is serving their attendees by assuring they will get good
quality content.

As for pitching from the stage; again there are all sorts of
models out there. Some events including several tech conferences are all
pitches, but the attendees at those events expect to be pitched.

At our event it is strictly verboten. Most of us including
speakers do have something to sell. Sometimes it is the content you are
delivering in your talk. If that’s the case, and you are good at it, you
definitely deserve to be compensated.

I hope Chris Garrett won’t mind my dropping his name here
because he has said this publicly in other comments before, he never pitches in
his talks (including his speaking gigs at BlogWorld) but he always ends up with
new business as a result of his talks, because he is speaking at events where
people need his product. By giving good content in his talk, he earns business.

When it comes to speakers getting paid, that is individual
for every single speaker and every single event organizer. The models run the gamut
from every speaker being paid, to no one being paid. From travel and expenses
being covered to having to pay for your own pass to the event for the privilege
of being allowed to speak.

I have paid for my own registration fees at events I have
spoken at, received only a free pass for the day I spoke (not the entire
event), a free pass for the entire event, travel covered and even been paid a
significant sum for speaking. I view every event differently and weigh the
value of attending and speaking vs. my time and effort to do so.

Imo that is how every speaker should view potential speaking
opportunities.

One last note, everyone believes all conferences make lots
of money. Trust me some do and some don’t. Very few people understand how much
it costs to produce a quality event regardless of how much or how little
speakers are compensated.  

Nicely done C.C. 

Even more than saying “you need to pay me to speak” I think we’d all be a lot better off if we just listed what we charge to speak on our sites. Will save a lot of time on the phone or email with event organizers that have a budget, but not THAT budget. 

The reality is that once you get to your level C.C. you can’t justify speaking fees based on time spent. It’s really about opportunity cost, and how many tickets your reputation can sell for the organizers. And those two things differ for everyone, so being very upfront about the range we charge for speaking would be a benefit to all. 

I’m not sure what the benefit is for all of us to be so cagey about what we charge. 

Love this – all of it – every single word. 

Our minds are our product and that is not worth a plate at the deli tray and the “opportunity” to meet new prospects. The speaking IS part of our business. I had an organization approach me recently then pulled out the “we’re not sure about budget” so I included one in my proposal. It is curious strategy when companies or conference organizers want free speakers to address their paid constituents. 
 
We must know our value and stick to that or we have no one to blame but ourselves. Organizers don’t get an hour or a day or a couple of days of our time or prep time they are asking for our entire career worth of experience.