Most speaker bookings go fine. We do them every hour of every day.
We've learnt how to see those warning signs early and stop them from ever getting to our clients.
Here's a list of the type of things we deal with, so you don't have to!
They quote you a different fee verbally than what arrives in the contract. This is the single biggest source of last-minute disputes. Always get the fee, and what it includes, in writing before you tell stakeholders or announce.
The bio is in third person, the bio reads like a Wikipedia article, and it has not been updated since their last book. They are coasting on past credibility. That's fine for some events; not for an audience that wants someone who's currently doing the work.
A fee that doesn't break out what's included. A good contract lists: the talk, the Q&A (if any), the meet-and-greet (if any), the rights to record and use the footage, and the travel.
If your contract is just "£X for the appearance", there will be meaningful risk you will receive a later bill for everything else.
Rights asks that creep. A reasonable speaker is fine with you filming, using clips on social, and using the recording internally. Watch for clauses that ban any external use, require approval over every clip, or limit the recording to "this event only, no archive".
Negotiate these out before signing, not after.
A "force majeure" clause that says you pay the full fee for any cancellation by you, but pay nothing if the speaker cancels.** Insist on symmetry.
In the rider
A long, weirdly specific dressing-room list. It's not the demands themselves, most are entirely reasonable. It's the volume. A two-page rider for a 40-minute keynote suggests this is a speaker who experiences events as a transaction to manage, not a room to win.
No-photography or no-quotation clauses with the audience. You are paying for content the audience can't use, take home or share. Why?
When things drift after signing
Email replies take five business days. It will not get better closer to the event.
Last-minute slide changes the day before. This happens occasionally with good speakers. If it happens twice, your run-of-show is at risk.
A handler arrives who you've never spoken to. Insist on the named primary contact from the contract.
The right speaker for your event is also the one who is easy to deal with.
We'll help you secure the perfect speaker for your event.
We have the scars, experiences and grey hairs to prove it :-)
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