Amy Carroll » Ministry Development » Determining Your Speaking Level and Fees

Determining Your Speaking Level and Fees

Thank you for all the positive feedback you’ve been sending about this series! I’m so happy it’s useful information.

One of the most difficult things to assess is our own speaking level, so it’s also hard to set fees. The fee structure below is information my friend Leah DiPascal collected for a session at She Speaks. She gave me permission to use it for Next Step, and I’m excited to share it with you.

When you are trying to determine where you fall within these guidelines, remember that you may meet most but not all the requirements for a certain level. However, I love that it’s so thorough, and it will also give you some goals to work toward as you continue to grow, because growing speakers have growing qualifications.

Just Beginning

• Going through the P.I.T. (Put In Time).
• Speaking at a lot of events for free or charging a really small fee just to get the experience.
• Payment via plant, picture frame, Starbucks gift card
• Gain Experience – Build Confidence – Get Exposure

Level 1

• Speaking 3-5 times a year.
• Basic bio sheet.
• If you don’t have a bio sheet – Examples of them on P31 website

$150 – $450 plus travel and accommodations
1 session $ 150
2-3 sessions (one night stay)* $ 300
3-4 sessions (one or two night stay)** $ 450

* An event is classified as 2-3 sessions (one night stay) when the last session ends in time for the speaker to travel home the afternoon of the second day. If the last session ends late, requiring an additional overnight stay, that would be classified as a 3-4 sessions event with two nights stay.

** Additional sessions can be added. The cost for each additional session is based on the 1 session fee for that speaker.

Love Offerings – Recommendation: Level 1 & 2 is okay. Once you’re level 3 & up, we don’t recommend this on a regular basis. It’s too nebulous as you move up into the higher levels.

Level 2

• Speaking at least 7 times a year
• Doing events with a small budget
• Usually are breakout speakers for events – not the keynote speaker
• Mostly events within driving distance
• Designed bio sheet with 1 sample message on CD

$300 – $900 plus travel and accommodations
1 session $ 300
2-3 sessions (one night stay)* $ 600
3-4 sessions (one or two night stay)** $ 900

Level 3

• Speaking around 8-12 events a year
• Garnering larger speaking fees
• Sometimes you are the main speaker and sometimes the breakout speaker but doing larger events
• Writing articles published in recognized magazines
• Doing more out of state events and flying to those
• Professionally designed and printed bio sheet with 2 messages on CD or DVD

$500 – $1600 plus travel and accommodations
1 session $ 500-$800
2-3 sessions (one night stay)* $ 1,000-$1300
3-4 sessions (one or two night stay)** $ 1,300-$1600

Level 4

• Speaking more than 12 times a year
• Larger events with larger budgets
• At most events you are the keynote speaker
• At least 1 published book or other unique exposure as a voice in the Christian world
• Doing mostly out of state events that require flying
• Professionally designed and printed bio sheet with 2 messages on CD and DVD clips you can provide the church for promo purposes

$850 – $2000 plus travel and accommodations
1 session $ 850-$1100
2-3 sessions (one night stay)* $ 1,700-$2,000
3-4 sessions (one or two night stay)** $ 2,000-$2,500

Level 5

• Speaking more than 20 times a year
• Larger events with larger budget
• Keynote speaker
• Has multiple published books
• Flying to all events with an assistant – only driving to events within 4 hours from home

$1000 – $4500 plus travel and accommodations
1 session, depending on travel $1,000 to $ 2,500
2-3 sessions (one night stay)* $ 2,500 to $4,000
3-4 sessions (one or two night stay)** $ 3,000 to $4,500

I want to add a caveat. From talking to other speakers, I think this fee structure works in most parts of the country but not all. The churches in your particular area may not be able to support these fees.

Next week I’ll write about how to talk about your fees and how to decide about requests to cut or reduce your fees. If you have any questions about this structure or feedback, I’d love to hear!

Amy

 

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11 Comments

  1. Oh my word, this is SO helpful! The amount to charge was something I just couldn’t figure out!
    I do have a question, if we think we’re somewhere between level 1 and 2 but we also have a book and are published in known magazines, etc, do we still default back to level 1 fees?

    1. Amy Carroll says:

      I think lots of people might be interested in this questions, Jaime, so I’ll answer it in the Live in the FB group today. See you there!

  2. Lorena Profit-Spencer says:

    Terrific content. Looking forward to more of your posts. Thank you, Amy! Blessings.

  3. Mary Smith-Moore says:

    Faith and Forgiveness Empowerment Expert: Tks for sharing, wonderful advice, a great guide to levels of charging. And special consideration for churches

  4. Great advice Amy, thank you. You do a great job at what you do – guiding us newbie’s down the path to maturity.

  5. Wow, so helpful! Thank you, Amy. Definitely filing this away for the (near) future.