Speaking can be a great way to boost your personal brand, reach a new audience and if you’re new to it, improve your confidence in front of a crowd. As I increase my speaking engagements and talk to other business owners who speak at various events, it is apparent that the need for an event speaker contract has been growing in importance. 

But I am not talking about a speaker contract that is issued to you by an event organiser. I am talking about a speaker contract (or terms) you issue when you are asked to speak at an event. A document you create and control. In this article, I explore why you need a speaker contract and what it should include so that you can charge your true value.

Speaker Fees

When starting out as a speaker, you cannot always command a fee for speaking at an event. But what is important is to at least ensure you aren’t expected to pay to be a speaker. Sometimes events are run using this business model, asking you to pay to speak as a form of “advertising.” So, ensuring you are very clear about what is involved when you agree to speak at an event or on a webinar is imperative. 

If you are not getting paid, it is important that the event audience aligns with your target audience and at least you should have a contract in place that clearly outlines the expectations of what you are required to deliver. 

Event organisers can sometimes assume people will be prepared to speak to an audience for ‘the exposure’. But unless you are fairly confident that you are likely to earn some clients for the effort, speaking at an event is a lot of time out of your workday and does take you away from other paying businesses, especially if you need to travel to the event and pay for accommodation

If you have agreed to an unpaid speaking gig, I recommend you negotiate something in exchange for your contribution. Perhaps negotiate that you will receive a professional video recording or photographs of you on stage or presenting that you are free to use in future on your website or elsewhere. Otherwise, if you are prepared to do it because there are a lot of ideal clients in the audience, even if you are not going to be paid, still send your regular speaker fee along with the discount that shows a 100% discount. This is helpful in ensuring the event organiser sees your regular speaking fee and puts a clear value on your time, preparation and presentation. 

Another negotiation option in place of videography or photography may be to request to be promoted a certain number of times on the social media accounts of the event organiser. Or in some instances, you may be able to request that you be given the email addresses of the people registered at the event so you can send them out an email or some kind of marketing collateral after the event. Because, let’s face it, very rarely do people rush up to a speaker and engage them after the event. But, given a well-timed email popping into the inbox of an event guest the following week, there is a greater chance that the person you spoke to last week might have an idea how you can help them.

Scope of Presentation

Getting clarity on the type of speaking engagement you are signing up for is also important. Will you be a keynote speaker or will you be one of a few people on a panel? Take into account the amount of preparation that will be required before the event as that may be a factor in how you set your fees.

If you are going to an event to be on a panel, it’s unlikely you will need to prepare a great deal or provide resources. Instead, you may need to attend a speaker briefing. But, if you are giving a keynote for the event you will most likely need to create your own slides for your presentations and perhaps a handout for guests as well and this takes a lot of time. So be sure to detail in the event speaker contract what you will and won’t commit to as part of your speaker fee.

Deposit Fee

If you are being paid a speaking fee you should look at charging a deposit and clearly outlining in the speaker contract whether that is refundable or non-refundable. Ideally, you want a deposit to be paid before you book travel for the event. Because in the event that it gets cancelled, you may not be able to get your accommodation or airfare expenses back. You don't want to be out of pocket for these types of expenses.

Additional Expenses

Next, you need to look at extras in addition to your speaker fee and determine if they should apply. I am not talking about Mariah Carey style diva requests about certain types of food and a dressing room full of Cristal Champagne. But, in all seriousness, in many cases, you may well have travel and accommodation costs to get to the event. Some speakers’ agreements I have written for clients specify particulars like travel expenses to make sure they are not left out of pocket. In the event that the event organiser is responsible for your travel and accommodation, you may also benefit from detailing your minimum requirements. For example, a minimum four-star hotel, or your flights must be business class or with a preferred airline. This would normally apply to the more experienced speakers than someone starting out but it highlights some of the considerations that can be easily overlooked. 

Facilities and Equipment

This one is often forgotten. Your speaker’s contract should take into account what the facilities are at the event function space. If you require a lectern, a whiteboard, writing implements for attendees etc, that should be documented in detail. Most importantly, your speaker agreement should also outline what you require in terms of the audiovisual and technology set up to ensure your presentation can be delivered professionally.

It is not uncommon that a speaker has, for example, a Macbook and then they get to the event and the event organisers do not have an adapter to plug the computer into. Or consider that your presentation slides are in Canva but you can only use PowerPoint at the event. Get all these things ironed out early.

Reputation Management & Exclusivity

When committing to speak at an event, your reputation will be associated with the event organiser. For this reason, you may wish to request to know who the other speakers are to determine if they fit in with your values and expectations. This can also be helpful to identify if a competitor will also be speaking at the same event. 

It is helpful also because you must ensure that your topic will fit in the theme or plan for the day. Ideally, it is good to have in your contract that you have exclusivity over the general theme of which you are talking about. 

Cancellation Conditions

Finally, and perhaps most importantly given what we’ve experienced in the past 18 months, you need to look at a cancellation clause or what we call a force majeure clause. That is, that you are covered in the event that you cannot fulfil the speaker contract based on unforeseen circumstances. While we haven’t seen it used greatly in law, now with the pandemic it is important for all involved to know what will happen if you are unable to travel or if the event is cancelled. That will include details about whether your deposit needs to be paid back or whether the event will go virtual if it cannot be delivered in person.

You need to weigh up for yourself whether you want to have the freedom to choose whether you elect to continue to speak if the event moves online or is delayed. This can all be documented clearly within your individual speaker contract.

It's a good idea to have an event speaker contract in place because it is important to know what's expected of you as the speaker. A speaking engagement is never just about the time you are on the stage. It is also about writing your presentation, preparing resources, promoting the event and, in some cases, travelling. 

It is also wise to have your own speaker contract to ensure that the event organisers will take into account specific elements you will require to deliver a great presentation. So even if you’re not yet at the level to be paid to speak, an event speaker contract is still a wise idea.

Given what’s happened in recent times, now is as good a time as any for speakers to take back some power in event environments. After all, your time is precious and you want to make sure that you’re getting the maximum benefit from taking a day or two out of your business to speak at an event.

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Interested in getting your own Speaker Contract? Take a look at our template here. Think you might need something more customised? Book in a time to speak with Emma here.