Articles An invitation to speak?

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Ian Benjamin's Article - An invitation to speak!

- what to do when you have one

Speaking is a great opportunity for consultants to promote their businesses, to build profile and to get engagements.

When we are invited to speak, the problems are:

How much will they pay?
Will I forfeit the invitation if I ask for a fee?
Is it worthwhile anyway?

Here are some insights into how we go about handling these issues:

Step 1:

Say: ‘Thanks for the invitation (name)’.

Ask what they want you to speak about, and who else will be speaking.

Ask who will be in the audience: Numbers and their quality as prospects. (You will also need to know who will be in the audience for your talk to be effective - identify client needs).

You will also need to know the date and time. If it does not suit and their date is fixed, do not reject the invitation yet as it may turn out to be better use of your time that what you have already planned.

Step 2:

Then ask, ‘On what basis do you propose to engage me?’ Direct, clear and inoffensive.

If they say we do not pay speakers, decide: if the audience is high quality in terms of prospects or offers some other form of brilliant exposure, then accept but ask for expenses, and for the right to attend other sessions.

If the audience is poor in terms of prospects, either decline or say, ‘ I am rather busy (prove it!) and then say I usually do one free address per month, and the next free date is ...’

Step 3:

If they ask for your fee, give them your pre-calculated fee (type I job, speaking - you should have a price ready).

If there is any difficulty, ask how many people will be coming and how much they are paying. Is there any sponsorship?

You can then make out a rough calculation on how much they can pay you or, you can make a recommendation that they increase the fee the delegates pay

There are other ways to package it. I sometimes offer to do a job for the organisation that the client actually works for as distinct from the professional association or body on whose behalf they are seeking you as speaker. The client's organisation pays and I do the talk to the activity group for "free".

Remember: