[Part 3] Booked Without Burnout: Getting Paid to Speak

Visibility is valuable. But visibility plus revenue? That’s power.

Speaking isn’t only about sharing what you know. It’s about owning your expertise, modeling equity, and showing what women leaders are worth on stage.

So how do you go from free talks at local events… to $2,500, $5,000, even $10,000 keynotes and workshops?

This is Part 3 of my 4-part series on how to land more speaking engagements. In Part 1, I shared outbound strategies: what to do when you pitch yourself. In Part 2, we talked about inbound strategies: how to set yourself up so event organizers find you. And now, it’s time to talk about getting paid to speak.

Because here’s the shift: when you position yourself as a thought leader who delivers transformation, not just information, you move from being “a nice-to-have” speaker to an essential investment for event organizers.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The signs that you’re ready to start charging for your talks.
• How to position your value in terms of audience transformation and ROI.
• What typical fee ranges look like across associations, conferences, and corporate.
• The exact question to ask organizers that opens up budget conversations.

  
  

Getting paid to speak is absolutely possible - and once you start, you’ll open the door to bigger stages and bigger impact.

Want help creating your signature talk, packaging your expertise, and building a strategy that leads to paid opportunities?

• Join our online Thought Leader Academy for step-by-step coaching and a proven process to elevate your message.
• Prefer in-person? Attend our 1-Day Speaking Accelerator in Orlando and walk away with your talk and action plan.

Links:

Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/443/ 

Discover your Speaker Archetype by taking our free quiz at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/quiz/

Attend our 1-day in-person Speaking Accelerator workshop in Orlando: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/orlando/ 

Enroll in our online Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/ 

Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcox

Related Podcast Episodes:

• Episode 442: [Part 2] Booked Without Burnout: Speaking Invitations that Come to You
• Episode 441: [Part 1] Booked Without Burnout: A Smarter Way to Land Speaking Gigs
• Episode 422: How to Create a 10-Out-of-10 Keynote that Leaves Your Audience in Awe
• Episode 373: From Free to Fee: How to Get an ROI from Speaking

JOIN US: Our in-person Speaking Accelerator Workshop is coming up in Downtown Orlando on October 30, 2025. Create and practice your signature talk in one day using our proven framework, so you can confidently share your message and attract more opportunities. It's a fun, supportive environment where you get personalized feedback, professional photos, and more. Limited to 15 attendees. Get the details and secure your spot at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/orlando/.

Episode Transcript

Carol Cox: How can you get paid to speak? (00:00):
undefined
That's what we're looking at in part three of
our series Booked Without Burnout.
On this episode of the Speaking Your Brand
podcast. More and more women are making an
impact by starting businesses,
running for office and speaking up for what

(00:20):
matters. With my background as a TV political
analyst, entrepreneur,
and speaker, I interview and coach purpose
driven women to shape their brands,
grow their companies, and become recognized
as influencers in their field.
This is speaking your brand,
your place to learn how to persuasively
communicate your message to your audience.

(00:43):
Hi and welcome back to the Speaking Your
Brand podcast. This is your host,
Carol Cox. As you know,
speaking is incredible for building
visibility and credibility.
But at some point you wanted to also bring in
revenue. You may not just want to speak,
you want to get paid to speak.
So how do you go from free talks to earning

(01:04):
$2,500, $5,000, even $10,000 for keynotes and
workshops? That's where we're going to look
at today. This is part three of our new
series on how to land more speaking
engagements without burnout.
Part one was about outbound strategies what
to do when you pitch yourself.
Part two was inbound strategies.

(01:26):
How to set yourself up so opportunities come
to you. And now in part three we're looking
at how to make the leap into paid speaking
engagements. Because here's the truth.
When women get paid to speak,
it's not just about the money.
Although of course it is also that it's about
modeling equity, owning our expertise,

(01:48):
and changing expectations of what leadership
looks like on stage, including who gets paid
to speak. So I'm going to share with you
three specific strategies you can use to
confidently ask for fees and get paid.
Strategy number one know when you're ready to
charge. And here's the thing.

(02:09):
It's probably sooner than you think.
So here's what I tell my clients when they
ask me, when am I ready to start charging?
Or I don't feel like I'm worth getting paid
to speak yet? If you've delivered your talk
enough times to know that it lands or you've
done enough speaking, whether it's virtual or
in person and workshops count in addition to

(02:31):
maybe what you consider conference
presentations or keynotes.
If you've done enough speaking that you feel
comfortable in that role.
If you have a framework or a methodology that
provides transformation,
not just information.
And if you have some social proof,
photos, testimonials, video clips,

(02:51):
if you have these things,
then you're ready.
The biggest obstacle I find to getting paid
to speak is ourselves.
We put these expectations and limiting
beliefs on us that someone else deserves to
get paid to speak. But we don't.
But we do. For example,
I remember one of my clients and she's not

(03:12):
alone. She had been speaking for free for
years. And again, if you look back at the
past two episodes in this series,
there can definitely be a time and place to
speak for free. So it's it's not never to
speak for free, but there are instances where
it does make sense to get paid.
Well, the first time this client asked for a

(03:33):
fee and she was hesitant to do so,
she really didn't want to.
She landed a $5,000 workshop.
She had been ready for a long time.
She just needed to give herself permission to
ask and to receive.
So that's strategy number one.
Know when you're ready to charge and most

(03:54):
likely you already are ready.
Strategy number two position your value,
not just the talk itself.
This is where many speakers get stuck.
They describe what they do as a presentation.
But event organizers aren't investing in a
presentation. They're investing in outcomes.

(04:14):
They're investing in an experience for their
audience that makes them look good and makes
sure that the audience raves about the event
or the conference and wants to come back.
So instead of saying, for example,
I give a talk on leadership,
say something like, I help leaders build
teams that innovate faster and retain top
talent. See the difference?

(04:36):
One is information giving a talk on
leadership. The other is transformation.
Helping leaders build teams that innovate
faster and retain top talent.
This is the same thing that you do in your
business with the services and the programs
that you market is focus on that outcome.
Focus on the transformation that you're
providing to the audience for that event.

(04:59):
This positioning moves you out of what I call
the expert trap and into thought leadership.
And that's what event been organizers paid
for. Strategy number three is to make sure
you know what your pricing is when asked,
so that you can say it back with confidence.
There are different ways that you can
structure your speaking fees.

(05:20):
You can have a flat fee for,
say, a keynote or a workshop,
or you can combine things together.
Maybe you have a speaking and a consulting
package that goes together,
or a speaking with some additional training
along with it. Here's what I often see that
different types of places pay associations

(05:41):
will often pay $1000 to $5000.
Corporations tend to have bigger budgets,
so they'll pay 5 to $15,000,
maybe more for conferences.
If you are a breakout session speaker in,
say, a multi-track event,
they may pay an honorarium,
but most likely not.
Oftentimes you'll just get a free ticket to

(06:03):
that conference. So if you get an inbound
speaking requests. Someone has found you and
they reach out to you and they're interested
in having you speak at their event.
Perhaps they mention in their message that
they have a speaker budget,
or they want to know what your speaker fee
is, or even if they don't mention a fee at
all. The key is to schedule a phone call or a

(06:25):
zoom call with them.
So often what I think happens is that you'll
get that imbalance speaking request,
and then you just send back a reply with,
oh, here, here are some of my topics and
here's my fee. Or maybe you don't mention a
fee at all. And then it kind of just dwindles
from there. Instead, think of it as a regular
lead for your business.
You want to get them on a consultation call

(06:47):
because you want to learn more about their
event. What makes a successful speaker at
their event? What have successful speakers
look like in their past events?
What do their audiences look like?
What their audiences want?
What kind of experience is the event looking
for? Once you collect that information,
then you'll know number one are you a good

(07:07):
fit for their event?
And then number two you can position your
presentation. See.
Strategy number two that we just talked about
as that transformation you're providing for
the audience not just information.
Then during that phone call or zoom call they
may ask you what is your speaker fee.
And then you can confidently tell them

(07:28):
whatever it is, whether it's $2,500,
$5,000, $7,500, $10,000,
whatever it happens to be,
you can confidently say that back to them.
You can also ask them,
what is your budget for speakers?
Sometimes they'll go ahead and tell you what
that is, and then you can decide if it's a
good fit for you and for that event.

(07:49):
Sometimes if you ask them what is your
budget, they may come back to you and just
say, well, we don't really know what,
what is your fee? And then you can go from
there. So it is a negotiation.
So get comfortable with your negotiating
skills. The worst thing that happens is that
you quote something high.
And it is just way more than that that they
have a budget for or that they're comfortable

(08:10):
pain. And so that's not necessarily a bad
thing, especially if it involves travel.
It may not make sense for you to travel.
Leave your business. Leave your family for a
fee that's not high enough to compensate you
for that time away.
So it's okay if it's not a fit,
but just be excited that you're getting these
inbound speaking invitations,

(08:30):
and you're going to collect data,
and you're going to learn what type of fee is
in alignment with these different types of
events. So let's do a quick recap.
Number one, know when you're ready to charge.
And I think you already are.
Number two position your value around
transformation not just information.
And number three package and price with

(08:50):
confidence. Remember getting paid to speak is
not just about adding revenue.
It's about stepping fully into your thought
leadership, owning your expertise,
and setting a standard not only for you,
but for other women speakers out there too.
If you would like to work with us to create
your compelling signature talk,
position your value, escape the expert trap

(09:13):
and step into thought leadership and build a
strategy that leads to paid opportunities.
Join us in our online Thought Leader Academy
program or at our one day in-person Speaking
Accelerator workshop in Orlando.
You can get the details on all of our
programs and workshops at Speaking Your
Brand.com under the Work with Us tab.

(09:35):
In the next episode, we're going to wrap up
the series Booked Without Burnout,
and I'm going to talk about should you Ever
pay to speak.
So we just covered getting paid to speak,
but is there a time and place where it
actually makes sense for you to pay to speak
somewhere? And what would that look like?
Make sure to hit follow in Apple Podcasts or

(09:58):
Spotify so you don't miss next week's
episode, as well as future ones.
Until next time, thanks for listening.