Choosing Business Goals

Agents And Free Agents: Which Way To Go When Looking For Keynote Speakers

19 January 2019 by Wade Wheeler

Hiring a keynote speaker for your conference can be a relatively simple process, but there's one big decision you have to make before you start contacting people: Whether to work with speaker services or agents, or whether to work with speakers who do their own booking. At first you might think that an agency might be unnecessary, but there are some hidden benefits to hiring someone through a middleman.

Direct Negotiation or a Middle Man

First, that big advantage to cutting out the middle man. If you're negotiating directly with a speaker, you'll find out the speaker's fees and other requirements, and you'll know that the money you pay goes directly to the person you're hiring. None of the money you pay is for anyone at an agency who isn't a speaker. There's also less time spent going back and forth between you and the agency, and the agency and the speaker. Direct hiring can be fast and straightforward. So that's the big advantage to hiring a speaker directly.

Replacement Options

However, hiring through an agency can also be very helpful. For example, if the speaker you hire suddenly becomes unavailable, say due to illness or a family emergency, then the agency might be able to suggest a substitute speaker so that your conference does not end up without a keynote speech.

Full Contracts

Speaker services and agencies also have full contracts that spell out everything. If this is your first time hiring a speaker, you might not know what is appropriate or what odd issues might pop up. Chances are that the contract that the agency uses will cover as many contingencies as possible. That makes hiring and paying a lot easier for you, and it gives you a better idea of what you're really paying for and what you should pay for.

Complaint Department

No one wants to consider the possibility of the speaker turning out to not be that great. But if the worst happens, and you need to file a complaint, you can do that with the speaker agency. If you hired a speaker directly, and they turn out to be a poor speaker, you don't have much recourse. But if they have an agency or are hired through a service, then you can complain to the agency/service. And that's also where the aforementioned contract comes in, because that should address what you can do if things are not going as planned.

Keynote speakers can really pull a conference together and give attendees a sense of purpose. For the best hiring experience, start with a keynote speaker service or agency.

Share  

Search