How to Negotiate with a Speaker

 

Professional keynote speakers are an investment. I’m not saying they’re not a good investment—they are—but it’s true … speakers aren’t cheap. How do you negotiate with a speaker?

What if you find just the right speaker for your conference and then discover there’s a gap between your budget and their fee?

The goal of any negotiation is to find a win-win scenario, so here are a few ideas you can use to close the price—value gap.

How do you negotiate with a speaker? If you’re spending for a big stage with iMag screens and a camera crew, you’ve built a set that any speaker would love to shoot on. Offer your speaker a professional two- or three-camera video shoot with some audience B-roll and you may find them willing to lower their fee. You’ll have the production team on-site anyway so that recording probably won’t cost you anything.

So how do you negotiate with a speaker? Another way to get value out of your speaker is to ask them to offer a breakout session or two on top of their keynote address. After all, if they’re going to be there at your event, why not keep them busy adding value for your audience? If your keynote speaker can conduct two workshops, that’s two more speakers you no longer have to hire—and that savings can close the price gap.

Many organizations have a professional development and education budget that’s separate from their conference budget. Most speakers are authors so why not offer to buy a book for each attendee? That purchase can come out of the education budget and because it will help reinforce your speaker’s valuable message, it’s a worthwhile investment.

And remember that professional video shoot you offered? Is there money in the education budget to license that keynote video and the added workshops so you can share them on a members-only basis and get repeat value from the performances?

How do you negotiate with a speaker? Some keynote speakers are one-and-done—they speak and that’s it—but others offer workshops, courses, coaching sessions, consulting services, and other programs. If your organization invests in professional development, you might negotiate a better price for a whole package of services that are contingent on whether your audience offers positive feedback. Once an inspiring speaker has delivered sound strategies and built rapport with your audience, doesn’t it make sense to discuss how they can help with implementation?