About how much should an organization be willing to pay for a guest speaker?
About how much should an organization be willing to pay to have a consultant/speaker talk to a group of their employees (~25 people)? Or does anyone know of online resources where I can find the answer to this question? The types of consultants/speakers I'm thinking of are Myers Briggs discussion leaders or someone who would give a presentation on nutrition, etc. How much for a single 1-hour session versus a series of weekly talks over 2 months? What other factors should I consider?
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Oct 10, 2015
The most important element is the return on investment you will get. You can negociate with the trainer/ speaker also a follow-up session. I suggest to have a minimum USD 10- k budget excluding travel and accomodation.
Feb 6, 2015
I agree with Andrew. Some people will charge $1000, $5000, $10,000 for an hour (depends on how well-known the speaker is). Some people will do it for free or very little (a few hundred dollars) because they see opportunities to gain clients. I'm a coach, and I've done workshops for the lower end because I can gain coaching clients from sharing some of my knowledge in the topics of communication skills, conflict management, career satisfaction and managing stress. If you want to save money, look at someone local who will not have airfare, hotels, meals, etc. to add to your costs. And the technology route is a great way to go to keep costs down.
Feb 4, 2015
I am a paid speaker and typically charge 5000 + travel for the type of "day" venue you are looking for. More people increases the cost and a pre-event discussion would occur to ensure understanding of the audience, goals, and any customizations that need to be developed. Weekly talks over a period of time- I would give the potential client two options- fixed price for upfront payment, and per session cost, which is a little more. Hope that helps.
Feb 4, 2015
Well I think Its not that why - I think we shall never think of how much to pay for a single hour speak , We cannot value one hour speak in terms of cost , We shall ask or think of the advantages or gains out of it , In terms of money I consider paying any amount for one hour speach is not much , because one our profissional speaker may change the whole situation in any company , may bring total change of clients thinking in any products ,So the most important is How to choose the right one .thx
Jan 31, 2015
More often than not you do get what you pay for. Make sure you are able to discuss the session with the speaker prior to the session so they tailor it to your needs. There's an oversupply of guest speakers and experts so make sure you don't settle. If it's a one off session, expect to pay higher but if you want to start a relationship with the person/organisation to begin a series of engagements, you can usually make an arrangement. Look in to mindfulness, wellness and coaching. You can do all the psychometric tests online and then have an expert come in for one session to explain the groups profile - then have a team building day focussing on the results of the team profile. Wellness and nutrition - start off with someone coming in then have incentives for staff to continue with the healthy lifestyle - more often than not the wellness expert will be able to offer this online.
Jan 31, 2015
Generally it can run from a few hundred dollars to well over 5000 dollars depending on everything from expertise to travel expenses.
Jan 31, 2015
A speaking engagement is no different than anything else you may have to hire someone for...no speaker worth their salt are going to quote you pricing here. Nor should anyone.
They would need to have a great deal more information from you in order to properly price an engagement. And sure, you can get inexpensive and you will get high fees. It all depends on YOUR goals, budget and desired outcome.
Jan 30, 2015
Lindsay, estimate the value/impact you expect to have as a result of speaker engaging you teams. Pay what it is worth to you. Consider investing in a professional business coach to help you make optimal decisions affecting your business.
Jan 30, 2015
I would answer this by assessing your expectations and what you are looking for in a speaker and seeing if you can match that with someone who has similar goals to yours. The cost is not as important I don't believe as the expectations, therefore financial remuneration should fit those expectations...I always looked at this like high price, mid price and low price speakers...And not all low price speakers are not necessarily ones to avoid, maybe they just speak part time, or speak as a hobby...I go back to expectations...
Jan 30, 2015
It depends on a variety of factors. Is the speaker your thinking about local or do you have to pay for flights and hotel accommodations. Is the person well-know or does he or she have a celebrity status. How far in advance are you planning on booking this person? For the topic you are discussing I would be hesitant to pay somebody more than a thousand dollars. I would go to your local university and hire a professor who may do it for free or cheap. Weekly talks over two months will be much more expensive and I would suggest changing the speakers each week.
Jan 30, 2015
The question should be driven by the perceived and actual value provided by the speaker.
Because topics have varying degrees of value to different companies, you'll be hard-pressed to find a simple slide-ruler style response here.
Generally, speakers call into one of two categories: entertainment and productivity improvement.
In the first, there's absolutely no ROI - it's just a function of employee happiness/satisfaction.
For the second, remember to calculate the cost of labour to have your staff attend the meeting and add it to the "ticket-price" of your speaker. That, in a nutshell, is how much "value" your company should be able to get back out of the employee's education/training/whatever.
Jan 30, 2015
There are tons of great speakers out there that are willing to speak for free - especially if you live in larger city.
Jan 30, 2015
I have conducted presentations in the areas of business marketing, promotions and advertising for free. The price should be up to the organization and speaker. I love to give young beginning entrepreneurs free information focused into marketing, promotions and advertising their business. When I started out in business more than 25 years ago I wasted a bunch of money in different areas, which I learned by experience.
Jan 30, 2015
I'm in several professional organizations that have monthly meetings and don't pay most of the speakers for dinner meetings (speaking ~1hr, free dinner). People use the opportunity to market their services. For half day or longer events we charge the attendees, subsidizing the event at the organization level by about 20% allowing us to offer a 20% discount to members, and pay costs (training materials prep, snacks, room) without spending a lot. We are in the Washington DC area so we have many local options.
Where are you? Try a local college, and chamber of commerce.
Jan 30, 2015
Hello from Athens,
I am a clinical dietitian / psychologist by profession, and an international and inspirational speaker myself. (3 times award winner), and thought it would be interesting to discuss this question.
First of all think of what is your aim with this invitation. You are doing this for your staff/employees so that what? narrow down your answer into one sentence.
From there, research the different speakers,(their website, facebook etc..) ask for prices, pick what you think you like, and attend one or some sessions yourself, and then invite someone from the ones you have already heard. Go and have the experience yourself. Is this something that you want your employees to experience as well? why? In other words, don't offer your employees cake when you have never tasted cake in your life.
You want your speaker to be inspirational and not just passing on information. An inspirational speaker is something that is taught but mostly a gift. Not everyone can be an inspirational speaker.
There is also a difference between giving a talk, and that is paid by the clock. (I charge one price for a 15 minute talk, and double for a 30 minute talk). And having an interactive experience, which is like a workshop. An interactive experience is more of a learning experience, but it's more expensive than a talk.
If you want to invite that person for several sessions over a number of weeks, then consider that it's an interactive session divided on a period of several small session.
My advice is to take the interactive version, not the talk. This way your employees would learn more and have more fun.
In other words, have a say in what the cost is going to be. and make the money worth it.
Jan 30, 2015
Depending upon the topic and experience level, you will find speaker prices all over the map. You are not really paying for the 1 hour -- you are paying for their years of experiences and expertise. It is the intellectual property that they are selling, as well as their ability to convey that material in an entertaining and pragmatic way.
It will also depend on the ROI for the speaker. If your group is the speaker's target client or target market, you may be able to negotiate. If you will be able to provide them with additional business such as additional training, regular sponsorship to their events, or one-on-one coaching for your employees - they often give the talk for free (with the agreement of future sales).
p.s. Most non-celebrity speakers charge between $1,000 and $5,000, plus travel, while experienced and nationally recognized speakers can have fees ranging from $5,000 up to $100,000. Typically, the earlier you begin the scheduling process the better.
Just get on the phone and talk with a few people that you are interested in bringing in.
Jan 30, 2015
Lindsay: I am not sure what your end goal is, but since you mentioned Myers Briggs, if it has anything to do with assessing your employees and the manner in which they communicate or work together, I suggest you look at Birkman (http://www.birkman.com/). That said, if you were to use a firm to implement the Birkman and then review its assessment in a group setting, for 25 folks it would probably run between $20K and $37.5K which would include the assessment test and the time for the consultant to review in a group setting (plus travel).
Again, not knowing exactly what your end goal is, have you considered Webinars?
Jan 30, 2015
It depends very much on the experience of the speaker but most importantly on his/her notoriety. If you need a speaker on nutrition I can recommend getting someone with a lot of experience in the company Herba Life. If not LinkedIn is a valuable resource where you can find a lot of skilled people.
Jan 30, 2015
Lindsey. ...you certainly got a lot of response. Maybe...not as much help though...?
You mentioned 25 employees.That indicates to me a small company with limited budget.
So you likely want the cost to be in the hundreds.
Therefore...1. Go local. You want people within an hours drive.
2. Contact your local chamber of commerce. Ask the executive director if he/she knows anyone well versed in the topics. People active in the chamber can be a bit gregarious and can speak well.
3. Look for local businesses that offer related services and contact the owner. They are often a treasure trove of knowledge on the related topic and will be honored to speak about it. Sometimes at no cost other than some business.
joe
Jan 29, 2015
Hi Lindsay!
To be honest I think it always depends on the subject and on the proposal you can come up with the person.
1. If you're talking about a one single talk, than most of the times it only requires you to pay the transportation costs.
2. If you're planning to have a session delivery during 2 months you can always negotiate the amount you would pay to the person vs the inkind things you can offer (for instances, transportation/meals).
I guess for you to have a clear idea on how much you should spend, you have t first define key things such as:
a) Why do you want to have that series of talks (to empower your employees? to showcase best case practices? to inspire and motivate them? What is the output you want the plenary to take out of it).
b) What is the type of content that would be more accurate with your purpose? (leadership empowerment, time management, life balance?)
c) Who are the people that will be good on delivering the message? (Create a potential list of people that might be able to help you)
d) What can you offer to the speakers? (What's your HR budget/ inkind offers)
e) How can your offer meet the speakers' needs? (negotiation)
I know this is super general guidelines, but I'm sure it will be useful for you to consider this as well.
Other than that, I would say that around 20 to 30€ per session (during 2 months) are OKAY values, depending on how many sessions you'd like to have.
Hope this helped you.