Having an incredible line-up of speakers at your event can quickly help gain traction and interest from your target audience. So how do you get an all-star speaker, let alone multiple, to join your event? This answer is twofold, but in this article, we will look at how to negotiate fees with potential speakers. Not all speakers will charge a fee but many will and for this reason let’s explore how to approach this conversation with all potential speakers, how to negotiate when a speaker says they require payment for their service, and some best practices to keep you on your feet before, during, and after a negotiation. 

Approaching the Conversation

Sometimes it can be tricky to start the conversation with a speaker about paying them a fee, or not. More times than not, you will be the one to initiate this part of the conversation when asking an expert to speak at your event. At first it might feel a bit awkward to speak about money, but it is important to know what you are willing to pay the expert before starting any negotiations. 

When you are ready to begin the conversation, it can be helpful to ask the speaker what their expected fee is. Your first offer will be based on their response to this question. Whether you can agree when the first number/expectation is shared or not, your response here will set a precedence for the remainder of the conversation. Therefore, it is important to be thoughtful in your response, do not to over promise, and (even if you do not have the budget) do not completely shut the conversation down.

How to Negotiate a Mutually Acceptable Fee

The most important thing you can do when negotiating is to be honest. Do not over promise and under deliver as it sets a poor precedence for future interactions with a speaker. If you are working with a smaller budget it is imperative that you are up front about it. If the speaker’s initial ask is too high, this is where honesty will be your best friend. Tell the speaker that the price is too high and that you want to work with them. At the same moment, ask the speaker if they can be flexible with the price of their fee or if they are willing to trade. The trade could be for a service, a sponsorship, or opportunities to monetize their appearance by offering a workshop or training session.

When you are unable to offer a monetary fee to a speaker it is ok to offer a sponsorship to the speaker or their company in exchange for presenting at your event. Many experts who are looking for speaking engagements appreciate the added exposure of a sponsorship as well as a session slot on the main stage. It may not seem like much for some, but when you are faced with resistance put on your salesperson hat and have a conversation about the benefits of having a sponsorship at the event, not to mention how coupling a sponsorship with a speaking slot adds to their experience.

Best Practices

The two things that are best to keep in mind as you are negotiating are: know when to walk away and get everything in writing. Both are equally important for very different reasons, so let’s jump in and explain.

It is imperative to know when to walk away from a negotiation and to know your limits. This partly goes hand-in-hand with setting expectations up-front and being honest when beginning the conversation. So, how do you define when to walk away from a negotiation? The answer is based partially on your budget, partially on who the speaker is, and partially understanding that you cannot please everyone. As we mentioned earlier your initial response to the first ask or offer is going to set the scene for the rest of the conversation. With this, your first response should be honest and should nicely outline what you are willing to accommodate, no matter how small. Use this initial response to define when it is your time to walk away. For example, if the speaker is unable to lower their fee and is not interested in a trade of sorts, this would be where to thank the speaker for their time but that it simply will not work out for this particular event.

Conclusion

Why is it so important to get everything in writing? Having written documentation is incredibly important when negotiating. Not only can you review previous asks or offers during the conversation, but you can use it to make notes to share with your team and/or stakeholders. Having the negotiation conversation on email keeps it entirely in writing from the get-go, making things easy to review at a later date. Keeping notes during this process if the exchange is not on email is imperative because more likely than not you will need to refer to it at a later date. Your notes and documentation during the conversation will also greatly assist you in creating a contract for the speaker, but we will explore contracts in another article.