Why Get Paid To Speak

Many conferences and some firms expect speakers to speak without payment. I find this is true no matter what industry they’re in… but the accounting and finance industries are big culprits of not only asking speakers to speak for free… but some also ask speakers to pay them to speak! After all, “you could get some business”. And it does happen sometimes, when you speak for free, that you do gain a client or two.

You could be asked to speak at 7 am or 7 pm and it would take you a few hours or a plane ride to get to the event.

Worst yet, is when a business doesn’t want to pay for a speaker.

What I learned is that if an organization doesn’t value its speakers, the audience won’t either.
At that time, I started attending the National Speakers Association and became an Affiliate Member. Boy was I surprised to learn what members were being paid for an hour talk!

What are you paid for as a speaker?

1. The knowledge you bring to the subject along with the cost (time and money) it took you to become an expert in the topic.
2. The time it takes to customize and create a talk or workshop.
3. The value the talk brings to an organization’s members or a firm’s employees.
4. Most speakers will promote the events they speak at to their elist, on their blog, and through social networking.
5. And then there is the cost of time, meals, travel and hotels.  Know that it takes 20-25 hours to create a PowerPoint Presentation, and 6-10 hours to customize a PowerPoint you’ve already created.

On the other hand, when an organization values it’s speakers, it pays them. If it doesn’t pay, for sure they can find a business to sponsor your talk. It can also pay some of the fee by offering in-kind payments.

Here are some true stories about situations that are very common. Learn by my mistakes.

1) I was requested to submit a detailed proposal A.S.A.P. This was a lowly paid event. I spent the weekend working on the proposal. The organization never got back to me, although I called and emailed. I learned that someone else was hired for this gig because I read a notice that they posted online.

2) I was asked to speak in return for lunch. As a professional speaker, I can tell you that it’s never good to eat before a talk, talk while others are eating, or removing the table setting. Anyway, we’re worth more than a $35 meal.

3) I was called to see if I was interested in speaking at an event by a designee of a gigantic organization who wanted to meet with me. A meeting was scheduled. When I arrived, the lead person decided to stay “home” and the meeting was held via speaker phone. One of the things I learned was that because my talk wasn’t technical and because I lived in the same state as the event (2 hour drive away from my town), I wouldn’t be paid. I went home, thought about it for a few days, bit my teeth and declined.

4) I am sometimes asked to create a new program and speak for free to an audience that is full of my ideal prospects. I always clarify that indeed my ideal client is attending and there are plenty of them at the event. Once I created a new program and it worked out wonderfully, but most often I tell them they have to use a program I already have.

5) I am sometimes asked to speak at a conference for free. Most of the speakers are being paid; except for those who are in a new “track”. Unpaid speakers who receive free registration, and a trade show table. The organization will put your handout in a CD that is handed to members. They will video or audio tape each speaker. Speakers are not allowed to sell from the stage or mention their website. To make sure the speaker complies, they provide a PowerPoint template that promotes their company, not our firm or copyrights. I say no.

6) I was contacted to speak in return for in-kind payment. I agreed to conduct local PR with their newspapers and place the speaker’s information on their website with a link to my website. I called and emailed the conference organizer because I didn’t see my info on their website. No one returned the call or email. Finally, a week before the event I tracked down someone in the organization. Ends up that they hadn’t lived up to their part of the agreement. I canceled. They got really pissed that I pulled out.

7) A non-profit organization asked me to speak for free for 1 hour and the meeting was an hour’s drive from the event. I requested in-kind payment and provided an extensive list of things the organization could choose from. The organization got pissed that I had the audacity to ask to speak and “be paid”! They canceled.

8) Large company, in my niche, asked me to conduct a webinar. They were not going to pay me. Nearly 8 times they had me change the description of what I was going to speak about (meaning that I changed the PowerPoint presentation a few times). Eventually the talk wasn’t something I was willing to do. I canceled. They had the head of the organization call me to tell me how unprofessional I was being.

9) I was asked to speak and part of my payment was that I could submit future speaking engagements to their calendar. After the talk, I sent a notice for their site. The engagement didn’t appear and I called the person I was working with. I received an email back stating that their rule is that only members can submit events.

Did all the above really happen? YES! This and more.

But…thank goodness, for speakers’ sakes, that there ARE organizations and companies who treat speakers with the respect they deserve! Honestly, when you see an organization or company not treating you with the respect you deserve — run!

©2007, updated 2017 Maria Marsala,