When you’re first starting out as a professional public speaker, that first check can feel like you’ve won the lottery. Many times your reaction will be, “People will actually pay me this much to do this?” It can feel like a dream come true. However, as you begin to book more gigs, better establish your expertise, and get increased interest in your services, you’ll naturally want to raise your speaking fees to better reflect the value you’re delivering.
However, you need to walk a delicate balance. If you raise your prices too quickly or by too much, you risk losing clients and having demand dry up. The goal is strategically raising your rates without scaring away clients or watching your calendar go empty. In this article, we’ll explore how you can do this by understanding your value, knowing how much you should charge, and strategically negotiating so you continue to get booked regularly.
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Understanding Your Value
Before you even think about raising your fee, you need to understand what clients are actually paying for. They’re not just paying for an hour of your time to be on the stage. The cost of your speaking fee can be broken into three main parts:
- Your expertise: When clients pay you to speak to their audience, they’re paying for the knowledge and experience you’ve accumulated that makes you uniquely qualified to speak about your topic.
- Your communication skills: In addition to paying you for what you know, customers are also paying you for your ability to effectively communicate it to their audience. Knowledge isn’t worth anything if you’re a poor communicator.
- Your time: Finally, of course, the client is paying you for your time. This includes the hour you’re actually on the stage, but also includes the time spent preparing your presentation, negotiating your contract, and traveling away from home.
If you’re providing more value than you cost, you’re worth whatever you charge.
Know Where You Fit in the Market
You should also have an understanding of where you fit in the typical market rate for speakers. Obviously nothing is one-size-fits-all, but these are the generally accepted ranges for public speakers:
- $1,000-$5,000: Education industry speakers and new speakers
- $5,000-$10,000: Corporate speakers with some experience under their belt
- $10,000-$20,000: Professional speakers with lots of experience
- $20,000-$50,000: Bestselling authors, professional athletes, B-list celebrities
- $50,000+: Big-name celebrities
If you’re just starting, $1,000 is a realistic first fee for most industries. Yes, you might have to negotiate down from there sometimes, especially when you need the practice and testimonials. But having that starting point gives you confidence and something concrete to work from.
Have a Logical Fee Structure
Don’t just pull numbers out of thin air when someone asks what you charge. Create a clear fee structure with different options. This may mean offering different kinds of talks (keynote, workshop, etc.), including in bundles. Having this written down gives you confidence and makes you look professional.
You should be very clear on your fee structure, but don’t post it on your website. You want potential clients to contact you first, build a connection, and understand your value before they see the price. If they see “$5,000” on your website and their budget is $3,000, they might never call, even though you might have been willing to work something out.
Knowing When It’s Time to Raise Your Fees
Now that you understand the necessary steps to having a clear and structured fee system, you may be wondering: “How do I know when it’s time to raise my fee?” Great question! One way of thinking about it that can be helpful is comparing it to occupancy rates at a hotel. If rooms are always booked out, a hotel will usually raise their rates. It’s classic supply and demand.
Now apply this to speaking. If you’re getting more requests then you can handle, consistently filling out your calendar, and in constant demand, it’s a good indication that you need to raise your rates. You need to walk a delicate balance here. You may lose certain gigs by pricing yourself out of them, but that isn’t a problem if you make up the difference in increased rate.
So, for example, if you’re booking 30 gigs per year at $2,000, you’re earning $60,000 from speaking. That’s a lot of bookings, so raising your prices would likely be justified. Let’s say you raise your prices to $4,000. As long as you book 16 gigs ($64,000), you’re making more money than you were at your old rate. If, however, your bookings go down to 10 per year ($40,000), you’re making much less than before. That’s why you have to make sure your price increases make sense and won’t price you out of too many opportunities.
Raise Your Rates Gradually
One of the keys to walking this balance is to gradually raise your rates instead of doing it suddenly and drastically. Going from $2,000 to $3,000 makes sense. Going from $2,000 to $10,000 will likely price you out of most opportunities. Small, steady increases are easier for your market to absorb.
You should also be careful when applying these rates to regular clients. If you’re getting a large number of gigs from a single source, you might consider offering them the old rate for a transition period, to show your appreciation for their loyalty and gauge their willingness to pay the new price.
Above all, always give clients more than what they paid for. You want them thinking “we got a deal” not “we paid too much for that.” It’s much easier to raise your rates when clients are raving about you than when they’re feeling buyer’s remorse.
Get The #1 Marketing Asset To Book More Paid Speaking Gigs Join us for the Booked & Paid Bootcamp — our NEW 2-day virtual event designed to help you start booking more paid gigs FAST. Over two 5+ hour days of live training and Q&A, our team of 6 and 7 figure speakers will give you the proven playbook you need to become a successful paid speaker.
Conclusion
When you raise your rate, you’re not just asking for more money. You’re updating your prices to adequately reflect the increasing value you provide to your clients. Your increasing brand recognition, expertise, and communication abilities should leave clients thinking they got more than they paid for.
Your reputation is everything in this business. Raise your fees gradually, justify increases with enhanced value, and always leave clients feeling like working with you was one of the best decisions they made. Do that consistently, and you’ll find that raising your fees becomes less about convincing clients and more about keeping up with demand.
Remember, there’s nothing wrong with starting at $1,000 or even speaking for free when you’re building your reputation. But there’s also no reason to be undercharging once you’re delivering real value. Find your sweet spot, increase gradually, and always focus on being worth more than you cost. That’s how you raise your fee without losing gigs.
