One of the most interesting things I have found as a professional speaker is the amount of people who still think that they can book you for free. For many years I did a lot of my own bookings, a cardinal sin for any budding speaker, and got involved in the emotional tangling of negotiating price. I still get a lot of speaker enquiries with universities (especially entrepreneurial societies?) being the biggest culprits thinking they can get free speaking. For me the clue is in the title. Professional speaker. This article is aimed at professional organisations and bodies (not schools and colleges) who wonder why it is I charge a fee. The Research There are a plethora of speakers out their. Motivational, after dinner, business, youth, inspirational and whatever other title is the flavour of the month. Many of us include speaking and lecturing as core part of our business model. Whether we take bookings directly or through agencies we charge a healthy fee for this. The reason being is that we speakers, the ones worth their salt, have spent … Continue reading →