Is being asked to speak at a meeting without pay a nice compliment and a great promotional opportunity or a terribly demeaning insult?
Recently, LH, an executive with a marketing association of which I am a member, invited me to speak for free at an upcoming national conference.
That’s OK; many associations, LH’s included, do not pay speakers if those same speakers are also vendors who want to sell their services to the membership.
But here’s the insult: not only did LH not want to pay me to speak, which I expected and accept …and not only did he refuse to pay my travel expenses (mostly air fare and lodging), which surprised me…but he also expected me to pay to attend the very conference at which he wanted me to speak for free!
I replied, “I appreciate your consideration but I must let you know that it is disrespectful not to pay your speakers’ expenses, much less ask them to pay to attend, especially when you’re charging more than $100 for attendees. I would have liked to participate but under these circumstances I simply cannot afford to.”
A few years ago, my friend GB and I wrote a book and as a result were asked to speak at a dinner meeting of a local ad club.
When we got there, the meeting planner asked us for $45 each for our dinners.
“Uh-uh,” said GB firmly. “You invite someone to speak, you don’t ask them for money.” The meeting planner backed off and we did not pay. But it was awkward.
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If you get asked to speak for free, should you accept? Here are my guidelines to handling this situation to your advantage:
1. Make sure the audience in fact consists of people who are your potential clients. Otherwise, you are largely wasting your time.
2. Avoid speaking dates conflicting with important events such as the World Series. Otherwise, attendance at your speaking gig could be minimal, resulting in no business for you.
3. Don’t give the audience a sales pitch for your services. Instead, deliver the most useful and interesting advice and tips you can in your talk.
4. Write out a brief bio saying who you are and what you do, and give it to the meeting host to read when she introduces you.
5. Ask them if they are willing to video your presentation and give you a copy for your use. Then post the video on your site and to YouTube, or sell it as an info-product.
6. If it is a local meeting, don’t nickel and dime about expenses. Spring for the parking. For a national or other out-of-town meeting, the association should pay all your expenses