Frequently asked questions about Speaker Agent Representation
Public relations campaigns are my primary service.
Speaker representation began as an added benefit that I offer my clients.
1. Who have you represented in the past?
I've represented hundreds of speakers; however, for multiple reasons, sadly, most never asked me to negotiate their contracts, thereby increasing their fees. Many were willing to speak for free, for small honoraria or barter their time. Others purchased my contract template so they could negotiate their own agreements with confidence. One of my high profile speakers was Margaret Atwood, well-known novelist and poet. Another was book publishing expert, Dan Poynter.
2. What's the difference between a speaker agent and a speaker bureau?
A bureau works in the best interests of the sponsor (audience). An agent works in the best interests of the speaker, negotiating better fees, amenities and contract terms. Neither one actively procures engagements for individual speakers.
3. What's your experience with advocating for speakers?
I've advocated for myself since 1977, and for other speakers on and off since 1990. My goal is always to increase a speaker's fees in increments over time.
4. Is there a fee to be represented by your agency?
Yes, but it's affordable: $99 for a year. I do this because in the past I found that some speakers were turning down engagements that I booked for them to avoid paying commissions. So I now require a listing fee for public page I create of you on this site. Sadly, some inexperienced (and some unprincipled) speakers will go to great lengths to avoid paying commissions on fees that were obtained for them. And, truthfully, it's difficult to establish that a meeting planner found you on our web site first than on yours. So I collect a small fee – about $8 per month – payable upfront.
5. Can you guarantee that I'll receive a certain number of bookings at the fee I want?
No, because that is out of my control. In fact your success is mostly up to you. How much are you willing to invest in positioning and marketing yourself as a fascinating expert so meeting planners want to hire you? Here are some things YOU can do to better your chances of a good speaking fee and frequent bookings:
A. Hire a personal public relations firm to position you and make you visible and credible and build a following. In order to be booked as a speaker, you need to be a draw that will help meeting planners increase attendance at their meetings and conferences.
B. Increase your public speaking and performance skills by using the additional services that are available to you through this website.
C. Develop good promotional materials that meeting planners want to see. I publish/sell a handbook of examples of appropriate speaker documents you can use as templates.
D. Post a significant amount of information about yourself on your own and this website.
E. Start charging a fee or increase your fee to a respectable amount. I publish/sell a report on setting and quoting fees.
F. Develop professional looking speaking contracts or agreement letters. I can teach you how to construct your own agreement letters or contracts with my contract template and private consult.
I'm still adding pages to this site that will promote the manuals.
6. Will you be calling meeting planners to book me?
No. That is not what speaker agents (or bureaus) do. It's not what personal public relations firms do, either. If you need marketing support, my own public relations services are available to position you so that meeting planners will eventually find and contact you.
7. Will you be providing me with a private, personalized promotional campaign?
Yes, I can, but not for free; I don't provide a personalized visibility campaign at no cost. My primary service is public relations to ensure that my clients are newsworthy, credible and visible.
You can hire me or anyone else to provide a private campaign to promote your expertise and help you generate paid speaking, writing and consulting assignments. Whether or not I negotiate your speaking contracts you have access to many of my promotional ideas in the manuals I publish. I can provide a private campaign, starting at $5,000 per month for a minimum of 3 months. (Public relations and marketing is my original, primary service.)
8. How many bureaus will you contact on my behalf?
I don't plan to promote speakers to bureaus, because bureaus don't work in the best interests of speakers. Bureaus are welcome to check you out on this site and your own site and contact you directly with an offer. I would hope you would then contact me to represent your interests in contract negotiations so I can increase your fees, amenities and contract terms.
9. If you represent me can I speak for free?
No. Working for speakers should be win-win-win for all three parties. If you don't charge a speaking fee, I don't receive any compensation for my efforts, and I lose. Also, if you accept merchandise or trips in lieu of money, it would be difficult to give me a portion as my commission unless you're willing to pay for an appropriate percentage of the value of the services or products received.
10. As a speaker agency, why you are limiting representation to only one speaker for each subject or niche?
I do this to avoid conflicts of interest. In a bureau if there are 20 speakers who can speak on time management, for example, the bureau will try to book the speaker with the highest fee and celebrity status, passing you by completely. With only one speaker in a niche, I avoid that unfair practice.
11. What's the benefit for me to have you represent me as a speaker?
There are at least 35 benefits. I think you'll find most of these are advantageous to your career.
12. What would be unacceptable speaker behavior?
Interfering in the negotiation process, taking over negotiations midstream, talking to the sponsor in secret, undercutting the agreed upon fee, changing the agreement in an effort to avoid paying a commission, providing misleading or false information on your Speaker Questionnaire and profile, sabotaging another speaker's contract or negotiation, etc.
13. Must I commit to exclusive representation?
Yes. It's in your best interests for us to develop a two-way relationship of trust. If I agree not to represent any speakers who compete with you, you must also agree to bring all inquiries and invitations to speak to me. And Exclusive Representation means a lower commission payable by you, half the industry rate.
14. What is exclusive representation exactly?
I agree to not represent another speaker with your narrow area of expertise – you must be a specialist, not a generalist – and you agree to not accept any speaking engagements without having Andrea Reynolds advocate and negotiate on your behalf. Exclusive means you agree to have Andrea Reynolds handle ALL your bookings -- even the little ones and the free ones which, as a professional, you have likely phased out by now. To do otherwise would be "cheating".
15. Can you help me respond to an invitation to speak without having you negotiate for me?
Yes, there are at least two ways we can work together.
a. If you want to draft your own agreement, I can "critique" it by suggesting where you might reword it to your advantage.
b. You can pick my brain in a quick consult by phone or email.
16. What do I have to do to have you represent me?
It's a 4-step process.
a. Order and read my collection of tips articles for speakers, "The $30,000 an Hour Speaker."
b. Complete the speaker questionnaire on this site. Before submitting print a copy for yourself. Be sure every required question (*) is answered or the form won't get sent to me and your submitted information will be lost.
c. Once we decide to work together, on your own website's contact page and speaker info page, post the following: "Represented exclusively by Andrea Reynolds, Speaker Agent/Advocate, www.AndreaReynolds.com/(your last name, all lower case).html" You will be linking to your own profile page on this site... which I will create for you.
d. Whenever you receive an inquiry or invitation to speak, send a copy to me, and I will follow up right away. My email is AndreaReynoldsPR@gmail.com. You can also use the feedback page on the site.
17. How much time do I have to get my information to you for posting on my page?
As short a time as possible. Here's why. One of the problems meeting planners tell me about is how difficult it is getting information from some speakers. They hate that. The most professional speakers get all their material to me within a few hours, then it's available online for any meeting planner to see who is seeking to book you. I've seen some speakers "forget" to provide info for several months despite my repeated requests. It doesn't make sense to represent speakers who work against their own best interests.
18. Why does this web site look so simple? You need some splashy graphics.
There are two good reasons why I keep the site simple:
A. The first reason is to appeal to meeting planners who visit. Meeting planners are in a hurry and want web sites that give them the information they want quickly and with no fuss. They want to quickly print out the info about speakers they want to consider. Graphics slow them down and waste ink. (However, I do want you to post your head shot and book cover graphic.)
B. The second reason is to appeal economically to speakers. Yes, I could hire someone to create a fabulous looking (expensive) web site, and in time I may do this. Then I could charge you and other speakers $1000 a year for visibility on my site. Wouldn't you prefer that I keep overhead low?