Who Can You Trust When Booking A Motivational Speaker?

Isn’t that the ultimate question? Your event and company reputation depends on one of the simplest yet elusive questions in the business of booking a motivational keynote speaker. Who can I trust? Make the right decision and your event could be a huge hit and professionally you’ll reap the rewards of success. Failure to make the right decision could lead to professional failure and potentially a pink slip confirming you didn’t have a process to go through when booking a motivational speaker!

The following are 5 tips on how to make the decision on who to trust when booking a motivational speaker.

Tip #5: Know the difference between a speakers bureau who outsources others clients and an exclusive agent 

At Celebrity Speakers Bureau, we represent the end customer not the celebrity talent who is being hired as a corporate speaker. So we have no conflicts of interest. When we negotiate a deal, we are always trying to get the best deal at the lowest price for our client. While most of the time the talent has a fixed fee and buyout for travel, we can influence many deals through our comparative analysis of similar speakers and what they have booked for lately.

Tip #4: Be clear on the Fee the agency takes

The shadiest move in the speaking business is how agency’s “flip” contracts and hide fees. It’s really a slimeball move. Agencies act as both the buyer and the seller’s agent. It creates an environment where the customer has no real contract with the keynote motivational speaker and the speaker only has a guarantee of payment and services from the middle man. BAD BUSINESS.  You should demand a contract directly with the talent who you hire as your celebrity speaker.

Tip #3: Have a Scope of work clearly laid out for the speaker 

Too many times the client/company who is booking a motivational speaker expects the celebrity to read their mind and execute flawlessly against things that were never discussed. Everything you want your speaker to do needs to be clearly articulated in a contract and/or a firm and binding offer letter. Most motivational keynote speakers are creatures of habit.  So if you direct them to do this or that, they tend to obey and do asks. Never assume anything when booking a motivational speaker. That assumption will not be received well.

Tip #2: Understand how much is required to be paid upon signature and how you get your money back if the event is canceled

Standard operating procedure and within industry standards is that when a company, organization or event hires a motivational speaker, the requirement is that 50% is paid upon dual signature of a contract. The balance is typically paid 2 weeks or 30 days before the event. The contract should always have protections and paybacks for failure to appear, cancellations, etc.

Tip #1: Coordinate a conference call prior to the event to discuss event specifics, theme, content of the speech and on-site logistics

One of the strengths of Celebrity Speakers Bureau is our speaker management. One of the most important executions is a conference call with the speaker no matter how busy they are. We always include a conference call on the contract scope of work, that way the celebrity speaker has a contractual obligation to speak with the event organizer and contracting party to discuss logistics, execution, etc. prior to arriving at the event. The necessity for all parties to come together and get on the same page prior to an event is crucial to ensuring the event’s overall success and keeping stress/anxiety levels down leading up to and during event day.

Ultimately it is imperative that a company, organization, non-profit or any event manager spends the time to vet companies that they are going to work with. Just being great in Pay Per Click (PPC) or SEO, which means you show up significantly on page one associated with the keywords customers are looking for, does not guarantee top-notch customer service, event execution, and talent management. A quality speakers bureau has ethics, experience and the desire to provide the customer who is booking a motivational speaker with the highest level of service available in the industry.

If you are interested in booking a motivational speaker through Celebrity Speakers Bureau, contact us today via email at booking@celebrityspeakersbureau.com.