What Actually Happens Behind the Scenes When You Book a Professional Speaker

When most event planners think of booking a speaker, they believe it to be a simple process: find someone good for the job, negotiate a fee, send in the event details, and show up. Unfortunately, there’s much more behind-the-scenes movement than most people anticipate. Familiarizing yourself with this process before embarking on booking a speaker can save you some major unforeseen costs.

The Introduction

When you are first introduced to the speaker in question, chances are you’re not talking to them directly. Agents, speakers bureaus, and management oftentimes are the eyes and ears who filter information to allow the speaker to focus on content. This shouldn’t dissuade you; this is the process. However, do note that there may be longer chains of communication than you’d like.

The first step is checking availability. Although an online calendar may say a date is free, speakers often have holds on dates while they await other events to finalize their decisions. Therefore, that Tuesday in March may be available as of now but may not be available tomorrow if someone else finalizes a quicker agreement.

Assuming interest is on both sides, a speaker packet or media kit goes out. This packet includes a bio, headshots, video samples and testimonials and, sometimes, standard contract language. This is also when negotiations begin.

The Fees

Understanding fees is not as easy as it seems. First and foremost, fees make sense to someone who understands how they operate. A quoted fee is for the speaking engagement – for that hour on stage or 45-minute keynote presentation.

Travel expense is almost always an additional charge. Plane tickets and car services generate additional costs (and sometimes speakers travel with an entourage). A $10,000 speaking engagement fee turns into $13,000 when you add on first class tickets from across the nation and an extended hotel stay since the speaker is going to be in your area for three more days.

Other additional, oftentimes unforeseen fees come into play when booking a speaker as well. An overnight event with a VIP dinner for select guests requesting the speaker to stay? Extra charge. Private meet and greet? Depends on the speaker. A recording of the event? Depends on rights. All of these have fees associated that you may not anticipate upfront.

The Contracts

Professional speaker contracts are more comprehensive than one would think. They’re not just saying they will show up on that date for that fee. They’re complicated agreements that state what happens if things go wrong.

Cancellation agreements work to both parties’ advantages. If you decide to cancel your event, when do you still have to pay the speaker? Most speakers offer sliding scales; cancel 90 days out and you’re only responsible for half of the amount; cancel two weeks out and you’re paying full price.

If they cancel on you as well, same thing exists but with more force majeure included in their contract (survival of emergencies).

The technical rider is also complicated. This gives intricate details to the speaker’s needs in order to provide their presentation. Are they mic-ing themselves (lavalier vs. handheld vs headset)? What are the projection specs (screen width, projectors needed) and lighting needs (specific colors)? The AV provider should know all of this ahead of time or else the presentation quality will be diminished and no one wants to get stuck without help.

The Anticipation Time

Assuming all went well with the contract negotiations and both parties signed on the dotted line to agree, now it’s time for planning. Professional speakers typically require customization of their content for your group so they will need your details.

Anticipate questionnaires about your audience – their titles/roles and challenges and how familiar everyone is with the subject matter at hand (a good speaker doesn’t want to repeat what a captive audience has already heard several times). They may need to know who else is speaking during the event or else they’ll dwell upon something someone else is going to bring up. They’ll want insider recent news from the company or lexicon-specific terms.

Around 30 days before the event, the logistics emails really pick up. The speaker’s team will want confirmation of every detail, exact presentation time, room setup, whether there’s a stage or just a riser, how they’re being introduced. For those who want to book a business speaker through professional services, much of this coordination gets handled by the booking agency, which can take a lot off your plate.

The Technical Advance

Two weeks out is when a technical advance will take place. This is where your AV provider and the speaker (or their representative) communicate all technical needs and share the presentation PowerPoint file.

This matters more than one knows; perhaps the speaker uses a clicker for their presentation but your venue only allows for specific clickers so they must adjust their presentation style (or find a different venue); maybe they want video but there’s a question as to whether your venue supports high-res; all of these subtleties make a drastic difference during the presentation.

The Day Of

On event day, speakers who take pride in professionalism will arrive hours before their speaking time begins; they want to check everything out, stage setup, slides, lighting, mics. They’ll run through all the scenarios.

Additionally, they’ll want a pre-briefing session, who’s introducing them? What audience energy are they going to walk into? If someone made an announcement earlier in the day that contradicts something they’ve planned on saying, should they adjust?

Final logistics will also occur; where should they wait until time comes? Should they be cued for five minutes left? How should they exit?

The Final Step

Once they’re off stage that’s not always end of line. There may be discussions about what went well what didn’t and recorded sessions may necessitate review for cut footage before anything can go public.

Whether or not payment happens right away or within 30 days post-event differs based on agreement, 50% up front or 50% down, but travel reimbursement operates separately with receipts provided.

Timeframe Shifts

With all of this time added into behind-the-scenes action, consideration is paramount in planning. If your event is in six months, you should reach out within six months now; top-notch speakers are booked at least one year or more in advance before popularity transpires; even if they’re available at first glance, reservation takes time.

Give yourself more time than less, and allow yourself extra space for potential fees; contracts may need legal feedback; equipment questions may involve rentals; customization questions could take longer if feedback isn’t timely.

Ultimately, there’s so much more that goes into the behind-the-scenes process than most anticipate as challenging when bringing in an external person but understanding this ahead of time helps properly plan better up front – but ultimately better results exist when speakers can do what they do best so long as everyone starts early and keeps good records throughout each phase.

also read: How Carmel Car Accident Lawyers Handle Insurance Disputes and Lowball Offers.