In part one, Ed Rigsbee shared a few options for booking a professional speaker, along with the pros and cons of booking a speaker through a bureau versus booking directly. Read on for more direct booking resources and non-monetary ideas for sweetening your offer.
Go Direct?
If you choose to work directly with a speaker, the price you will assuredly pay is time. Time both in your search and selection process as well as time working with the speaker on meeting logistics. If this route is best for you, some advantages could make your time investment a profitable one. Some of the benefits to you could be, no lost communication through an intermediary, better negotiation possibilities (the Sam Walton dynamic) and the speaker offering programming ideas and insight that most likely would have never been transmitted through a third party.
Searching for a speaker directly has never been easier. An easy place to start is to do a Google search for a speaker by topic or keyword. Remember to look past the first search page because that is most likely where you are going to find the speaker bargains. A great source to aid your search is the website of the National Speakers Association (NSA).
National Speakers Association
NSA is an alternative method for finding speakers. NSA has an open online search capability that anyone can access at nsaspeaker.org. Only NSA members are indeed listed, which does limit your possibilities just a bit, but the NSA website is a valuable source in your search for the right speaker. NSA offers its members a certification called Certified Speaking Professional (CSP). While the CSP designation does not guarantee a speaker’s success at your meeting, the process through which a speaker goes to receive a CSP designation is not an easy one. The CSP is a good indicator that the speaker is truly a professional.
Approaching the Speaker
Never approach a speaker, out of the gate, by asking if they negotiate their fees! What the speaker hears is, “I’m calling to ask you for a discount and offer nothing in return.” That’s a turn-off in anybody’s book. Besides, everything in life is a negotiation—just assume that they will. A better approach is to first talk with the speaker about what you want—engage them in conversation. After they have affirmed that they can deliver what you want, then move into the “we have a budget issue” phase. Do this by first suggesting some of the things your organization can do for the speaker to create extra value for them. Also, ask the speaker what creates value in their life. Perhaps you have value to offer a speaker that you had never realized? What do you have that costs you very little but delivers high value to professional speakers?
Keynote Vs. Breakout
Believe it or not, more speakers will be willing to talk to you about your budget challenges in a general session vs. breakout or concurrent sessions. The reason for this is exposure and product selling capability. If a speaker is going to fly across the country to speak at a meeting, which do you think is more valuable to the speaker — speaking to 40 people, or 400? Naturally, it is the 400. More people can potentially recommend the speaker for future events and more products will surely be sold to 400 people than to 40 — but, rarely do planners think about this.
For more on the pros and cons of booking a speaker directly versus through a bureau, check out part one from Ed Rigsbee in our December 2024 guest column.