Day #4 - How much do you get paid as a speaker?

Let’s talk about money!


I'll skip to the good part and come back to the provisos, disclaimers & quid pro quos after.

So here’s a general guideline for keynote speaker fees: (when I say the number of talks I mean big ones, where you're the star!!)

💲 New speaker, establishing your brand, fewer than 5 talks: $500-$2,500

💵 Proven expert, 5+ talks, first-time author: $5,000-$10,000

💸Industry leader, 15+ talks, several books or other social proof (>5k followers): $10,000-20,000

🥇 Bestselling author, years of speaking experience, social media influencer (>100k followers), celebrity: $20,000+

Obviously this is just a guideline.

As I talked about yesterday there is huge value in starting out speaking for free.

There’ll be times in your speaking career that the pro-bono event is still worth it. TED and TEDx events DO NOT pay- but they are probably the greatest speaking currency there is.

Even as an established speaker the opportunity to speak in front of hundreds of potential clients can be worth a low fee.

Bring up money early!  Ask organizers what the speaker budget is and how it’s spread between speakers. If you never ask, some organizers will be happy to assume you’ll speak pro-bono when they do in-fact have a budget.

Ask whether travel and overnight accommodations are paid for. Many events will cover those expenses but not all.

How to negotiate within a certain tier? Well, there are a few questions to ask that can give you a good idea as to how much to ask for, or whether the offered fee is appropriate

- Are you the keynote or side speaker?
- How long will the talk be
- How much preparation will you need? Is this your standard talk or an entirely new or unique one for this event?
- How many audience members?
- Who will the attendees be (title, level of seniority)
- What’s the context of the event (conference, professional development, client appreciation event)


⚡ Know your value as a speaker! ⚡

You are an expert and your voice and time are valuable- you should be compensated fairly.

⚡ Be firm in your decisions ⚡

It’s easy for people to try and convince you that your value isn’t what you say it is. You have every right to say no!


If this was TLDR and skipped to the end to find out what's tomorrow...On Day #5 I'll get into the final thing you'll need - your application tool-kit.