Hire A Motivational Speaker - Inspirational Speaker's Fees

This article outlines a few helpful tips for negotiating with a motivational speaker on his or her fee. The first piece of advice is: Don't do business with a motivational speaker that answers your question about their fee with "What's your budget?"

Take this as a big, red flag—this person either isn't working enough and will take whatever you're offering or they don't know what their value is to the marketplace. Either scenario is not good for you—they're not really a professional keynote speaker.

You want to hire someone with a valuable message and experience—that's what the fee is for—you are, after all, hiring a professional inspirational speaker so you don't have to worry about these things...

Negotiate With Your Motivational Speaker
Now, that said, you do want to get the best deal you can for your group. By asking the initial question about fee, you'll get an idea of how this motivational speaker sees him or herself in the industry. You want to someone who has a fixed fee, but you want to get them at your meeting at maximum value.

So, now that you know their starting point—ask them if they'll take less—offer 80% and see what they say…it never hurts to ask! If they agree—fantastic! You've just saved your group 20%! And, if they come back with a counteroffer, then you've saved something anyway. As the buyer, you always have the option of coming back and saying yes to their full fee if they say no. The best advice I can give, though, is when you're ready to hire them, offer a specific figure. Don't just say "Can you offer us a discount?" This isn't a buying question, this is a non-specific, soft question that doesn't give the speaker anything firm to negotiate against.

Or, if your group really doesn't have the cash to pay their fee, but you'd really like to have them present at your meeting—what else can you offer them? Do you have separate budgets for different slots that the one motivational speaker may be able to fill? For example, could your motivational speaker do a breakout session and a spouse program as well? This will save travel expenses for you as well.

Another tactic you might try is bartering if you can't come up with the entire amount in cash. Does your organization have something that would be of value to the inspirational speaker? Are you an office supply company? Do you have a trade magazine that has advertising space? Can you commit to having the same motivational speaker back at the next meeting to do another program?

Maybe you have an educational materials budget that you could buy a copy of their book for each person in attendance in lieu of a portion of the motivational speaker fee.

Negotiating your motivational speaker's fee should be straightforward—just make sure you've done some thinking ahead of time if you know you're working within budgetary restrictions. Most importantly, treat the speaker with respect and tell them how much you'd like to have them at your meeting. Speakers really love to hear that and most will work with you to make it happen!

Finding The Right Motivational Speaker For Your Event

If you need to hire a professional motivational speaker for an approaching corporate conference, here - in a nutshell - are the facts you should know. Along with close to everything else, the world wide web has altered the way many event professionals track down motivational speakers. That said, you still need to have a crystal clear understanding of the potential pitfalls so you don't end up with egg on your face. And so, if you need to hire a keynote speaker, here are some important pieces of advice to think about.

Piece of advice # 1: Motivational speakers should have a brief online video which you can look at at once. A true speaking professional will be pleased to point you in the direction of his/her online video. Bear in mind that the speaker can't stuff all his/her topics into a brief video clip. The majority of keynote speakers have a assortment of speech titles you can choose from - think about the demo video as a good representation of their speaking style.

Piece of advice # 2: Are your prospective motivational speakers able to clearly outline what concepts they have to present? Speech titles and program descriptions will be very helpful to you when making a decision on which speaker to choose. That said, don't make the colossal blooper of rejecting a superb speaker because his/her speech title doesn't immediately correspond to your meeting theme - titles can be customized, the essence of what the speaker talks about ought to be the main focus.

Piece of advice # 3: Don't dismiss a potential speaker simply for the reason that he's really witty. Remember, significant does not have to mean "dull as ditch water". Many event planners connect serious with important. This is an additional, common error. Don't mistake the importance of the content with the solemnity of the speech. Incidentally: There are a ton of unbelievably uninspiring speakers with bland material out there.

Piece of advice # 4: Does the speaker list his/her keynote speech fees on their website? Understandably, one of the foremost issues that bothers people looking for a professional motivational speaker online is the suspicion they might get ripped off. The way out of this dilemma is ridiculously simple...Are you ready? Only contact speakers who list their fees online.

Mull this over, do you want to be dealing with someone who chooses not give you their fee beforehand? Don't fritter away a ton of time describing the needs of your audience. Find out, up front, if the keynote speaker is within your budget. When it comes to speaker fees, don't be shy. Let's be honest, one of the major issues you have is booking a first rate speaker that's relevant to your audience and within your price range.

Piece of advice # 5: Remember, great professional speakers get hired months in advance. If you would like to book a speaker, do it early. The more time you defer, the less likely you'll get the motivational speaker you want at the fee you can afford. Take action, today. Imagine how cool it would be to hire a professional motivational speaker just before her book becomes a best seller. This scenario plays out time and again and nets you a gigantic deal.

Let me know how you get on...