You’re planning your next member event, staff retreat, leadership development day, or meeting and looking to bring in an expert thought leader to engage, educate and entertain your audience. You are excited at the opportunity to bring your people together and want to ensure they are truly inspired, motivated, and educated to move forward with the tools and strategies to navigate the world today. Despite your excitement, you’re a little nervous as you have heard that professional speakers can charge a significant fee and wondering if you can afford someone great.
What do you do when you are on a tight budget and want to blow your audience away with an expert keynote speaker? I love working with clients to get creative and brainstorm ways they can come up with the funds to invest in a great speaker. Everyone deserves an excellent speaker, regardless of their budget!
Generally speaking, in Canada, professional-level speakers (depending on several factors) charge between $5,000-$20,000 per engagement. They are, after all, experts in what they do and have spent a significant amount of time honing their craft. Speaking in front of others is the number one fear (in front of death) and is far from easy. Not just anyone can rock a stage; it takes time and practice, practice, practice! People’s time and expertise are the most valuable, so it only makes sense that the investment on your part would reflect accordingly.
In this article, I have put together a list of ways you can get creative to afford a professional-level speaker. I hope these ideas ease any worries and help you brainstorm as you plan to educate, engage and entertain your audience at your next gathering.
Sponsorship: Sponsors love getting involved in sponsoring speakers. This is an excellent way to align their vision and mission and showcase their support through the speaker on stage. Often speakers are more than happy to provide one-on-one time with the sponsor, bring the sponsor into their message, or even sign books at their booth. It’s a nice feel-good feeling when you sponsor the person who will change the minds of those in the audience and help them with a specific challenge. A good speaker loves making it a win-win and working with you to help secure the funds you need so they can make a lasting impression on your audience.
Partnerships: Are there other organizations and groups you could partner with to bring in a great speaker with a similar mission and vision to yours? This is a great way to share costs and resources and get the speaker you want. Other groups would be more than pleased to partner if you can showcase the mutual benefit of bringing in a specific thought leader. The speaker loves this, as the more people they can influence with their message, the better! Ask yourself, “Who can I partner with to make this a win-win for all?”.
Virtual Delivery: The beauty of the hybrid world we live in today is that virtual is still very much alive. It is here to stay for specific events and meetings. Virtual allows the speaker to present from the comfort of their home while saving time on travel away from their families. In turn, you save on the travel costs to get the speaker there, potentially a bit on the fees, and it opens you up to a new group of speakers from across the world. If it suits your event, virtual is an excellent way to get a higher-quality speaker for less. Make sure they have presented virtually before and have the proof to show it. Virtual is a different ball game, so research and ask the right questions when vetting the speaker.
Local Speakers: When things are tight, staying local is an excellent tactic. There are many great local speakers, and supporting where you live is a great way to support your community. Ask yourself, “Is there someone local who is an excellent speaker I can tap into?”. While you can be limited in whom you can book, and finding the right local speaker might be harder, it’s possible. It does not hurt to explore your local options.
Multiple Bookings: Can you book the speaker of choice for more than one engagement? Speakers are usually happy to provide a deal if you can commit to multiple bookings and tap into multiple budgets. Who does not want to have more business from the get-go? Do you have east coast and west coast conferences? You may have multiple leadership and staff meetings throughout the year. Do you have different locations and offices? All great ways to look beyond just one speech and provide the speaker more business in return for a discounted rate.
Funding, Credits & External Support: If you are an NFP Organization, the government has a variety of grants available to support professional development. Do some research and see if there may be funding available that you can tap into to help cover the costs of the speaker fees. Often these grants go unused and eventually disappear, do not let this happen to you.
Revise your budget: You have no idea the number of events and meetings I have personally attended where the planning team has provided merchandise and giveaways left on the chairs and tables of those at the conference. Too many! Not only is this killing the environment, but those who take home these items either get thrown away or end up in the corner of a closet, never to be looked at again. There is nothing wrong with having merchandise at your event, but this could be an area where you could take from and use that budget for your speaker. After all, people remember three main aspects of an event, the food, the AV, and the speakers! Keynote speakers capture your entire audience and directly reflect back on your organization; why not look good with a true pro?
Adjust Your Expectations: Are you putting too much weight on getting a “known name” speaker? Of course, names help bring in attendees but so does the proper marketing and promotion. Sometimes a name is less important than you think. The everyday speakers who practice their craft daily tend to be better than some celebrities. Just because they have a name doesn’t “necessarily” mean they will be a great speaker. Speakers love helping you win and bring in the audience you want. Many love creating promo videos for you to share and get people excited for their session; some can even post your event on their own social networks. You can do interviews with them ahead of time to share with your audience and so much more! The reality is that you may not be able to afford the investment of a big-name speaker, but you can still draw in the audience you want in other creative ways.
Added-Value beyond the Keynote: A professional speaker is not just committed to the Keynote they can deliver; they are committed to ensuring the actual transformation of your audience through their messages. A great keynote speaker can offer much more than just a 60-minute address! Are you also running breakouts? How wonderful would it be to secure your keynote speaker for a breakout session and check two things off the list? They may have additional online courses they can offer. The speaker could provide coaching sessions for your leaders if they are also established, business coaches. The beauty of a speaker who has delivered hundreds of speeches is guaranteed that they have seen and done it all. You get what you pay for, as they say! Their ability to be creative and bring fun and added-value offerings is incredible. Bring them in early so you can work with them and integrate their messages and offerings throughout your event. Speakers are often more than happy to add additional value vs reducing their rates; it never hurts to ask!
This article has left you hopeful and with some great ideas for bringing a paid professional speaker to your next event or meeting. Everyone deserves a professional thought leader regardless of budget; it may take creativity and a bit of strategy. It may not be easier than asking a speaker to donate their time, but anything worth it in life is never easy!
