Articles by Ruth Levine

 
Talking Heads
By Ruth Levine

Association Meetings, Dec 1, 2004

While the economy may be turning around, meeting planners are still being asked to do more with less. This makes program planning challenging when booking professional speakers — in the last few years, professional speakers have been that rare breed that has continued to raise fees amidst a receding economy. So what do you do for your 2004 program when you find that the speaker you considered last year for $10K is now $12K — and to make matters worse, your budget has been cut back to $8K? Here are some suggestions:

Hire a speaker with multiple talents to do more than one job. Suppose you need a keynote speaker, an emcee, and an awards host and you have a budget for each of these. Why not hire a talented speaker who can do two or even all three of the jobs? Not only will booking fewer people help you save on expenses, but many speakers' full-day fees are not much more than their standard keynote fees.

Find out which other groups will be in-house at the same time as your event, and call them to see what speakers they've booked. The cost of a well-known speaker can often double after adding travel expenses such as a cross-country plane ticket, hotel, ground transportation, and meals. Other than booking a speaker who lives in the same city where your meeting is to avoid paying travel expenses, you might consider doing a “piggyback booking” and select a speaker whose expenses are already contractually covered by another company. In some cases, splitting these expenses may be the ethical way to go, but even this will be half of what you would normally pay.

Provide a contractual promise for your speaker to sell books and training materials on site at the event in exchange for lowering the honorarium. Often, most of a speaker's income comes from product sales. Your speaker might want to promote a new book or training programs on CD or tape.

Book next year's speaker this year. Since some of the most popular speakers on the circuit have raised fees by 50 percent in the last five years, booking your speaker in advance allows you to secure tomorrow's speakers at today's prices. Speakers in high demand typically raise their fees annually. Many fee increases occur on January 1, and some speakers increase prices mid-year as well — for example, in June for speakers who are slated to present at the Million Dollar Round Table Annual Conference. (MDRT is an association of financial professionals.) If a speaker has not raised fees in a number of years, that may not only be an indication of his or her waning popularity, but also a warning signal that they will not bring your attendees to their feet.
— Ruth Levine

Forget “Rah Rah”
Business speakers are in high demand at many conventions across the country, edging out “rah-rah” motivational speakers. The new themes are a direct result of big shake-ups in politics and business over the last few years.

Meeting planners today are looking for speakers who have either been in the corporate trenches or have worked alongside our nation's most successful CEOs. Many have written best-selling books and teach at top business schools. Jim Collins, a best-selling business author, has coined the new phrase we hear most on the podium: It's all about going from “good to great.” Collins accepts few engagements, but many top business speakers use the Collins way of thinking in their messages.

Most active CEOs cannot accept an honorarium or sign a speaking contract. An alternative is to hire a CEO who is retired — and there are many former Fortune 500 execs on the speaker circuit.
— RL