Seminar Expert Asks: Should You Speak For Free Or For A Fee?

A faculty colleague of mine at a large university once quipped that ?Academic politics are brutal, even more so than governmental, for the precise reason that so LITTLE is at stake.?

An interesting view; and that reminds me of the perennial discussion about whether coaches, consultants, seminar leaders, and speakers of all kinds should build their careers on a foundation of free or fee-based presentations.

The argument for giving away speeches is obvious. If you have no substantial experience, and you want some, why not get up on your hind legs and perform before service groups such as Rotary, Kiwanis, and so forth?

They need and want speakers, but have no budgets, and you need experience and exposure, and they?re willing to provide these benefits to you.

But the downside to vying for free work, and here?s where the political barb applies, is that there?s way too much competition at the bottom. There?s so little at stake in free speaking that every neophyte in the world is trying to break into the business this way, so it?s actually challenging to get gigs.

Wouldn?t the aspiring speaker be better advised to charge a modest or even an average fee and to market his or her ?act? directly, to paying organizations?

Moreover, and this may be peculiar to my experience, free speeches beget more free speeches. If you?re good, the Rotarian will ask if you?re available to talk before another nonprofit group to which he belongs.

You?ll stay busy, of course, but where is the payday in all of this, you?ll come to wonder.

Let me mention, and I?ll develop this at length in another article, there are several ways to be ?paid.?

Money works, to be sure.

But if you can negotiate in advance a strong letter of reference that you can leverage to get future paid speaking opportunities, then that free talk you?re giving can be considered one that is done for compensation.

Or, if you?re addressing otherwise hard to reach executives when they?re in a mood to listen, as they may be at a meeting of their favorite charity or university, well, you couldn?t really BUY that exposure, so yes, in a sense, that audience?s attention to your and to your message, IS compensation.

Sometimes there are different ways to extract cash from your events. I spoke before an area meeting of Toastmasters and I was able to sell my books and tapes at the back of the room, after my talk.

I netted a very decent amount, so yes, I gave away the talk, but still got paid.

Sharing the platform with me that day was Mark Victor Hansen, before he became a Chicken Soup server, and he did a robust job of selling his materials, as well.

Perhaps the best reason to consider accepting free dates is that in doing so you stay busy, you get to sharpen your skills, and you feel you?re making progress.

All of these outcomes are motivating, and they certainly beat sitting on the sidelines.

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Economic Growth Continues - More Than 5.3 Million Jobs Created Since August 2003
On June 2, 2006, The Government Released New Jobs Figures – 75,000 Jobs Created In May. The economy has created about 1.9 million jobs over the past 12 months – and more than 5.3 million since August 2003. The unemployment rate fell to 4.6 percent – lower than the average of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

The Economy Remains Strong, And The Outlook Is Favorable

Revised Report Shows Fastest Real GDP Growth In Two-And-A-Half Years. Real GDP grew at an annual rate of 5.3 percent for the first quarter of this year. This follows our economic growth of 3.5 percent in 2005 – the fastest rate of any major industrialized nation.

Productivity Increased At A Strong Annual Rate Of 3.7 Percent In The First Quarter.

Real Hourly Compensation Rose At A 3.2 Percent Annual Rate In The First Quarter.

Personal Income Increased At An Annual Rate Of 6.7 Percent In April. Since January 2001, real after-tax income has risen by 12.9 percent, or 7.3 percent per person.

Real Consumer Spending Increased At An Annual Rate Of 5.2 Percent In The First Quarter.

Employment Increased In 47 States Over The Past 12 Months Ending In April. Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 41 states in April.

Industrial Production Increased 4.7 Percent Over The Past 12 Months. Over the past 12 months, manufacturing production has increased by 5.5 percent.

President Bush Has An Aggressive Agenda To Keep The Economy Growing

This Week, President Bush Nominated Henry Paulson As Treasury Secretary. Paulson has an intimate knowledge of financial markets and an ability to explain economic issues in clear terms. For the past eight years, Paulson has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Goldman Sachs Group, one of the most respected firms on Wall Street.

The President Has Expanded Tax Relief And Is Working To Make His Tax Relief Permanent. Two weeks ago, President Bush signed into law a bill that extends the tax cuts on dividends and capital gains. This legislation also contains an Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) patch enabling millions of middle-income families to avoid paying higher taxes in 2006.

The President’s Tax Relief Has Helped Spur Growth By Keeping $880 Billion In The Pockets Of American Taxpayers. The Administration reduced taxes for every American who pays income taxes, doubled the child tax credit, reduced the marriage penalty, created investment incentives for small businesses, and put the death tax on the road to extinction.

Growing The Economy And Reducing The Deficit Depend On Controlling The Spending Appetite Of The Federal Government. Every year since the President took office, the Administration has slowed the growth of discretionary spending that is not related to the military or homeland security. The President's last two budgets cut discretionary spending that was unrelated to the military or homeland security, and we are on track to cut the deficit in half by 2009.

If The Emergency Supplemental Bill – Which The President Has Requested To Help Fund The War On Terror And Hurricane Recovery – Includes Non-Emergency Or Wasteful Spending Or Exceeds The President's Set Limit Of $92.2 Billion Plus Funding To Prepare Our Nation For A Pandemic Flu Emergency, He Will Veto It.

In The Long Run, The Biggest Challenge To Our Nation's Budgetary Health Is Entitlement Spending On Programs Such As Social Security And Medicare. We call on members of both parties to join us in a bipartisan commission to address this critical issue.

The President Will Continue Working With Congress To Restrain Spending In Other Ways, Including Passing A Line-Item Veto. A line-item veto would allow us to cut needless spending, reduce the budget deficit, and ensure that every taxpayer dollar is spent wisely – or not at all.