The world of speakers is full of forms and contracts: the two most important are the contract you’ll fax to the meeting planner who’s agreed to hire you, and the pre-show questionnaire you’ll send to the planner before the event.

Your credibility is at stake with each of these documents: they must be highly professional.

Here is an example of a reservation contract:

reservation contract

_____________________________________________ (ABC

Corporation) has agreed to hire ________________(Mrs. Spokesperson)

to speak at the convention held at ______________ (time)

_____________________________ (rental) in

_______________(date.

Deposit and cancellation policy:

o A 50% down payment is required with the return of the signed agreement.

o In the event of program cancellation, Ms. Speaker will rebook the program at

or a mutually convenient date without penalties. Due to potential loss of income for the speaker, cancellation on this date less than 30 days prior to the event incurs a non-refundable deposit penalty.

Travel and accommodation:

o All fares are as quoted, plus travel expenses. Ms. Speaker will book the entire economy class airfare and expenses will be billed once the program is complete. Airfare is always prorated when the itinerary involves multiple customers.

o The speaker’s lodging, meals, and ground transportation will be billed directly to your organization.

Support materials:

o Please note that the speaker’s materials, written, oral, or visual, are copyrighted and may not be used or reproduced without the speaker’s written consent.

o Participant brochures are billed separately.

Audiovisual

o No recording, audio or visual, may be made without the

prior written authorization of the speaker.

o The speaker reserves the right to make books available

and A/V materials for sale or viewing purposes to participants with customer approval.

While it is standard practice for the client to cover travel and accommodation expenses, some speakers charge a flat fee to cover travel expenses. It does less paperwork and is something the client can budget for ahead of time.

I recommend having a flat fee policy, as it means that payment for expenses will be included in the final check you receive on the day of your speaking engagement.

Another benefit of having a flat rate policy means there is no

surprises for the customer long after the event is over and they receive

a huge bill for expenses.

Regardless of how you decide to handle expenses, it is important to inform clients in advance and to be consistent with each client.

Once hired, you should send the client a pre-program questionnaire to help tailor your pitch to the needs of this particular group. This questionnaire should cover such things as confirming the time, date, and location of your speech, the program’s agenda, whether there will be other speakers before or after your speech, the topic of the conference, the expected number of attendees, and any other information to help you do so. better stage work.

Professional contracts will make your job much easier and make you look highly professional, which of course you are!