Once you’ve found the right keynote speaker and agreed on the date and fee, there’s one more important step before you start imagining the standing ovation: the contract. A professional speaker agreement does much more than confirm that someone will appear at your event. It establishes who is responsible for what, when payments are due, what happens if plans change and dozens of other details that are much easier to resolve months before the event than at 7:30 a.m. on keynote day. For meeting planners, the goal isn’t to become a contract attorney. It’s to make sure everyone understands the agreement. Here are some of the most important things to look for when contracting a keynote speaker.
1. The Speaker, Event, Date and Location
Start with the basics—and check them carefully. The agreement should clearly identify the speaker, contracting organization, event name, event date and location. If the program is virtual or hybrid, that should be specified as well. Dates deserve particular attention. Conferences often span several days, and the conference dates aren’t necessarily the speaker’s appearance date. A simple mistake here can become a very complicated mistake later.
2. The Speaking Fee
The contract should clearly state the agreed-upon speaking fee and what that fee covers. Does it include one keynote presentation only? A fireside chat? Q&A? A breakout session? Meet-and-greet? Book signing? Executive reception? Don’t assume an additional appearance is included simply because the speaker will already be at the event. If you want something, put it in the agreement.
3. Deposit and Payment Schedule
Professional speakers commonly require a deposit to secure the engagement, with the remaining balance due according to a schedule established in the contract. Meeting planners should know: How much is due when the contract is signed? When is the balance due? How should payment be made? Those aren’t glamorous event-planning questions, but accounting departments appreciate knowing the answers well before the invoice arrives.
4. Travel and Expenses
The speaking fee and travel expenses are not always the same thing. Depending on the speaker and agreement, the client may be responsible for airfare, ground transportation, hotel accommodations, meals or other reasonable travel expenses. Some speakers use a predetermined travel buyout instead. The contract should make the arrangement clear. This is also where experienced meeting planners pay attention to details such as airfare class, hotel requirements, ground transportation and who is actually making the reservations. Nobody wants to be figuring out who’s picking up the keynote speaker at the airport while the speaker is already standing at baggage claim.
5. The Exact Presentation Format
“Keynote” can mean different things to different people. A contract should identify the anticipated format and approximate duration of the program. A 45-minute keynote is different from a 60-minute keynote plus 20 minutes of Q&A. A moderated fireside conversation is different from a prepared speech. A keynote followed by a breakout session is two program commitments, not necessarily one. Make sure the agreement reflects the program you’re actually planning.
6. Audio/Visual Requirements
The contract may include or reference the speaker’s technical requirements. These can cover microphones, projection, presentation computers, confidence monitors, lighting, internet connectivity, video playback and other equipment. Some requirements may seem minor until they’re missing. A speaker who relies on video clips needs reliable video playback. A speaker who moves around the stage may need a wireless lavalier rather than a podium microphone. A presentation containing detailed visuals may require a screen large enough for the back of the ballroom to see.
Meeting planner tip: Get the speaker’s current AV requirements to your production team well before event day.
7. Recording, Streaming and Photography
This one has become increasingly important.Hiring a speaker to present at your event does not automatically mean you have permission to record, livestream or redistribute the presentation. Speaker presentations may contain copyrighted material, licensed media, proprietary frameworks or other intellectual property. The agreement should specify what recording is permitted and how any approved recording may be used. There is an important difference between recording a few clips for an internal recap and posting an entire keynote publicly online. Ask first.
8. Promotional Use of the Speaker’s Name and Image
Meeting planners naturally want to promote their keynote speaker. The agreement may establish how the speaker’s name, biography, photograph, likeness, trademarks or other promotional materials can be used in connection with the event. Use the approved biography and current headshot supplied by the speaker or bureau whenever possible. That prevents the unfortunate situation where your conference website announces a speaker using a photograph from 2007 that somebody found on Google.
9. Cancellation and Force Majeure
Nobody books a keynote expecting to cancel it. Contracts still need to explain what happens if cancellation becomes necessary. Cancellation provisions may address fees owed at different points before the event and circumstances outside either party’s reasonable control. Depending on the agreement, those circumstances could include severe weather, transportation disruptions, government restrictions or other events that make performance impossible. Read this section before signing—not when you need it.
10. Speaker Substitution and Emergencies
Speakers are human. Illness happens. Flights get canceled. Family emergencies occur. The contract should help establish what happens if the speaker cannot fulfill the engagement. This is also one area where working with an experienced speakers bureau can be especially valuable. If an unexpected problem occurs, having professionals who already understand your event, audience and objectives can make finding a solution considerably easier.
11. Changes to the Event
Events evolve. The 800-person ballroom becomes a 1,400-person ballroom. The 9:00 a.m. keynote moves to 4:30 p.m. The in-person meeting suddenly becomes hybrid. Someone decides the keynote would be even better if the speaker also joined a VIP dinner the night before. Some changes are easy. Others materially change the engagement. If the date, location, format, audience, presentation time or speaker responsibilities change after contracting, communicate those changes promptly rather than assuming they won’t matter.
12. Additional Appearances and Activities
A keynote speaker can sometimes add significant value beyond the keynote itself. Depending on the speaker, that might include an executive session, VIP reception, book signing, photo opportunity, meet-and-greet, panel discussion or moderated Q&A. But availability doesn’t necessarily mean inclusion. If an additional activity matters to your event, discuss it during the contracting process and make sure it appears in the agreement.
A keynote speaker contract can contain a lot of details, but meeting planners can simplify the process by focusing on a few essential areas. Before signing, make sure these six pieces of the engagement are clearly addressed.
The Keynote Speaker Contract Checklist
Before signing, a meeting planner should be able to answer a handful of fundamental questions: Who is speaking? When and where? What exactly are they doing? What does it cost? What additional expenses are involved? When is payment due? What does the speaker need? What can we record or promote? And what happens if plans change? If any of those answers are unclear, that’s a good reason to ask another question before signing. A good contract isn’t supposed to make an event more complicated. It’s supposed to make expectations less complicated.
Why Working With a Speakers Bureau Can Make Contracting Easier
Booking a keynote speaker involves more than finding someone with an impressive biography. There are contracts, deposits, travel arrangements, production requirements, schedules, promotional materials, pre-event calls and last-minute questions to coordinate—often while the meeting planner is simultaneously managing hundreds of other details. That’s one of the advantages of working with an established speakers bureau. Speakers.com helps manage the process between the client and speaker so both sides understand the engagement and important details don’t get lost between the initial booking and event day. And if something changes, you know whom to call.
From Contract to Keynote
The best speaker agreements are often the ones nobody thinks about once they’re signed.That’s because the expectations were clear from the beginning. The meeting planner knows what is required. The speaker knows what is expected. The production team knows what it needs to provide. Accounting knows when payments are due. And everyone can get back to concentrating on what actually matters: creating a great experience for the audience. Speakers.com has helped corporations, associations, universities, government organizations and meeting professionals book keynote speakers for more than 30 years. Find a keynote speaker for your next event and let Speakers.com help you navigate the process from speaker selection and contracting through the day of your event.
This article provides general meeting-planning information and is not legal advice.