The Biggest Problem With Your Speaker Fees

I’ve reviewed a LOT of speeches…

In fact, I’ve studied nearly 100 professional speakers – including their full speeches and corresponding fees (for in-person and virtual events.)

And you know what?

One problem stands over and over again… fees.

To be specific, the fees most speakers quote don’t match the experience they deliver on stage – or the market’s perception of their worth. In other words, speakers are charging too much!

Are you also suffering from inflated perceived value? How do you know?  And how do you fix it?

That’s our topic for today, my friends.

But first, a story…

The “Meh” Speaker Who Was Actually “GREAT”

Any disparity between a speaker's quotable fee and the experience he delivers is a major problem.  To illustrate this, let me share the (true) story of a speaker I know…

Let’s call him “Aaron.”

Aaron is a mid-level speaker who used a speaker’s bureau to book a gig at a small-ish conference near a big-ish city.

After the gig, the bureau rep contacted the event organizer to see how things went.  The conversation went sort of like this…

“Hey there!  Just following up on the small-ish conference to see what you thought of Aaron’s speech.  How was he?”

“Oh wow… Actually, he wasn’t that great.  He just didn’t feel worth the $25K we paid for him.”

“Hang on, $25K?  You must be mistaken.  We only charged you $15K for Aaron’s speech.”

“Well, in that case… for $15K… Aaron was amazing!  We loved him!”

Once things were sorted out, the client was even happy to give a glowing testimonial stating how much they loved Aaron’s speech. It just goes to show how the perception of your speaking fee can influence the experience the event organizer, audience, and (most importantly) any referral will have.

That’s worth repeating…

The one thing that greatly affects your ability to generate quality referrals and grow your business is what I’m calling Fee Parity.

The 3 Sides of Your Fee Parity

To understand Fee Parity, picture a triangle with your Quotable Fee in the center. The supporting sides of the triangle need to be in alignment.  The three sides represent:

1. Your demand in the marketplace,
2. The experience you deliver,
3. And the organizer’s perception of your value in the marketplace.

When all three sides of the triangle are aligned, you know your Quotable Fee is perfect for the experience you’re delivering, the marketplace demand, and the organizer’s perception of the marketplace.

But when parts of your triangle are misaligned, your Quotable Fee is off.

For Example: