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VIRTUAL KEYNOTE SPEAKER COST

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How Much Does A Motivational Virtual Keynote Speaker Cost?

This is a question that we have been advising on since the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic.

It is not only companies and clients asking this question. Speakers are also asking the question as we have all entered into a new world of virtual service delivery. What we have is inexperience and no established cost model in place for virtual speaking. This part of the speaking circuit remains ambiguous in terms of pricing.

After six months of the pandemic and speaker requests both from globally recognized companies and virtual conference organisers, we do observe that unacceptably low offers are being put across for experienced speakers. ‘Don’t pay for a Mini and expect a Rolls Royce!’

In this article, we provide helpful advice on guest speakers and their fees for virtual keynote delivery.

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(An example of some of the great speakers we book for real and virtual speaker events)
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(Living with Coronavirus: Good examples of leading speakers and their topics of discussion)

Don’t Assume A Virtual Keynote Speaker Cost Is Less Expensive

Speakers have traditionally factored in travel time to and from conferences.

Consider if a conference location is remote or without nearby airports and regular flights. Unless the speaker is local to the venue their commitment or time away can be two or even three days of travel. This means lost time and for highly in-demand speakers, other bookings can’t be accepted due to travel time.

Just because the talk is online, which means no travel time is needed by the speaker doesn’t always mean the speaker will charge less for their keynote delivery.

Another point of view is that travel time is irrelevant to the speaker’s fee. The speaker is paid to deliver a keynote on a topic in a location. How they get to the venue and however long it takes is unrelated to the guest speaking fee.

Some of our speakers have queried reducing fees for virtual or even pre-recorded inspirational speaking. The valid point that they made is that: ‘ film stars and musicians don’t discount their fees when recording movies or music videos, so why should a speaker.’ Speakers are also performers after all!

The speaker still has to invest the same time and energy in preparing their keynote content and presentation. A briefing call and now added is a check on the speaker’s home audiovisual set-up are mandatory requirements in the virtual setup.

Some speakers report that they are still collecting 100% of their normal speaking fees for virtual talks. This is likely to occur when the speaker has been previously booked by the company with success.  Speakers are reminded that agents work in a more competitive landscape than speakers themselves. Agents make recommendations and work to the available budgets. Agents have a wide array of speakers to choose from which is to the client’s advantage.

Our Position on Virtual Keynote Speaker Cost

We advocate finding a balance for virtual speaking costs that sits well with everyone. In this case, it is the clients booking them and the speakers themselves.

A good agent provides strong advice and the ability to generate the best value in selection of the speaker to meet the clients requirement.

Reaching Agreement Virtual Keynote Speaker Cost post 1024x536 - VIRTUAL KEYNOTE SPEAKER COST (Reaching agreement on keynote speakers costs)
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(Finding the balance for paying for booking virtual keynote speakers in a new world)

Virtual Speaking – Key Factors

  • Virtual talks require no travel time
  • Not all speakers are good or experienced delivering talks to a camera with no audience for feedback
  • Preparation time for a virtual keynote delivery is significant which includes testing the speaker’s AV and video conferencing set up
  • Speakers should not be expected to suddenly give talks for free or for a fraction of their standard speaking fee
  • Virtual talks are normally shorter to keep the user’s attention (20 – 45 minutes we advise)
  • Virtual talks can be turned into a mini-series focusing one or multiple speakers on bite-sized topics from leadership, sales, coping with Coronavirus etc.
  • Innovation eg. we can have copies of the speaker’s books signed and sent to coincide with the virtual session
  • The more well known the speaker, the less likely a discount will be made for a virtual live or recorded session. This also applies to the traditional speaking model
  • Access to a far greater range of speakers for virtual keynote delivery over the traditional model with travel

Virtual Keynote Speaker Cost: Conclusion

Virtual speaking services should be less expensive. But by how much is based upon an individual basis and the speaker’s status.

We don’t think any speaker should be devaluing their professional speaking fee by more than 25 to 50 percent of their in-person on stage fee. But we do feel that in most cases clients agree that a 25 to 50 percent reduction in standard speaking fees is acceptable. This won’t apply to all speakers as there will be those at the top who clients will need to pay their full speaking fees to secure their services.

We have a responsibility to professional speakers to help not have speakers income reduced further. We have already seen great loss with the temporary shut down of conferences worldwide.

“Our belief is that speakers can and will play a very important role in bringing positivity and learning to companies during and post Coronavirus.”

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(Speakers are great for communicating positivity in the times we are living in)

There should be a higher volume market for virtual keynote delivery as companies familiarise themselves with video conferencing solutions. This is positive for those speakers who’ve made the leap successfully to speaking online.

We are here to help advise, recommend, and negotiate with leading conference speakers to bring their talks online.

If there is anything we can do for your group or organization to set up an event online please let us know.

Jonathan Curran

Managing Director

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Guide To Delivering High Quality Virtual Keynotes And Webinars

Promotivate Speakers Agency Green Screen backdrop e1591786499695

How To Set Up The Perfect Virtual Keynote

We run virtual keynote delivery and webinars for companies with relative ease at these times. We’d like to share some of our good practices with our audience of speakers for whom this is relevant.

We also wish to inform clients who maybe unaware of the simplicity of how easy it is to set up virtual talks. They are significantly lower in cost to host than traditional conference stage based sessions which involve time away and travel costs. With access to good speakers we are finding ways to bring strong positive communications to clients and their partners, improving positivity at a time when all of us are being asked to keep social distance.

Why?

Companies everywhere are scrambling to find virtual speaking solutions to communicate messages of positivity to employees working remotely. They are also a great method for showing employer empathy and delivering upskilling. Last but not least, these sessions can provide a welcome break from the monotony of long periods of isolation and reconnect people.

But…

Companies don’t need speakers to focus on the negative content regarding Coronavirus. These messages are dominating our news networks, so the focus of the session should be steered away from CV-19 and 99 per cent directed on providing the solution.

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How Many People Can Attend A Virtual Keynote Or Webinar?

From 2 to 10,000 attendees online, virtual keynotes are easily set up using the right platform, that supports the size of the audience. Here’s an article we published about the video conferencing platforms and costs here.

How?

In order to demonstrate how a well-composed virtual keynote delivery should run, we’re going to use a real conference that we delivered with 100% success this week in May. You’ll see video links within this post that show the outcome by recording our screen.

‘Success’ for a virtual keynote delivery is when all of the online audience watches and interacts without any service interruptions, and sound and picture quality for the duration of the virtual event are perfect.

In our case, none of our global pharmaceutical companies audience of 400 employees, based worldwide had any connectivity issues whatsoever.

The moderator is in the office studio and the speaker from home. Both had high-quality green screen backgrounds in operation giving the audience a highly professional appearance. It helps that the speaker was excellent. Virtual speakers need more than content they require the ability to talk to a camera unable to see, feel or hear the emotions of 400 people reacting to what he was saying.

What Does A High Quality Virtual Keynote Look Like?

A top-quality virtual keynote will look close to the stage production when done well. To achieve this is not as technically difficult as it appears. The selection of a great speaker on a relevant topic for the audience is essential. Getting this wrong will lead to a bored and ungrateful audience. Getting this right will help motivate the group and who will be grateful for the gift of the virtual session. They’ll be encouraged and inspired to make positive actions going forward.

How To Build A Home Studio To Deliver Virtual Talks

The studio can be at home or from a professional recording studio. This will depend on the location of the speaker and regional social distancing rules. Finding a recording studio may also be preferred if you wish the speaker to be alongside the moderator. But as we are showing you here in the examples, the speaker was transmitting live from his home in the UK and the moderator was at the client’s main offices in Denmark. We want to tell you how easy it is to set up a solid home recording studio.

If you plan to stream a high-quality keynote or an interactive Q&A session with a speaker then don’t have the speaker simply staring into their computer screen or camera. They should be standing up with a fully interactive background, which requires a green screen, professional microphone, high definition recording camera (though these are found on higher-end home computers) and strong lighting in the room.

Green Screen - Guide To Delivering High Quality Virtual Keynotes And Webinars (A typical Green Screen or what the Speaker places behind them)

Studio lights can be bought for about $50 on Amazon.com for three lights which include two umbrella reflectors. Alternatively, a simpler solution is to use a couple of angular desk lamps. We had a look at mics and one of the most popular and best looking is the Blue Yeti which costs about $130.This kit is not as expensive as it seems with many packages in the $200 – $400 range. It is also possible to use green fabric or even paint the wall green behind the camera.

“If a speaker delivers a really good virtual talk, the small investment in this equipment is for the long run in this rapidly evolving space. If any of the AV variables which includes the internet connection fail or drops off, clients will be extremely unhappy and unlikely to either rebook this speaker or potentially other speakers.”

Here is a link to recent buyers guide for home recording studio packages. The internet connection should be wired by ethernet cable and have a speed of at least 20mpbs. Running wirelessly is to be avoided, as no matter how strong the connection, wireless connections are prone to dropout. Test your connection speed immediately for free via Speedtest or Fast.

Promotivate Speakers Agency Green Screen backdrop - Guide To Delivering High Quality Virtual Keynotes And Webinars (Here’s our example of what the Green Screen is replaced by as seen by our virtual audience in the background)

Green Screen Software

Speakers should want to adjust the content that appeared on their stage presentations for the virtual version. This will mean that any videos, slides and sound can appear behind the speaker for both prerecorded speaking and live sessions.

This is complicated if you lack knowledge of video editing. Thankfully there are many platforms and apps available online will allow for simple editing and addition of special effects that can be trialled and tested. The simplest package that we found was one called Camtasia 2020 which is available for Windows and Mac. Buying an individual licence appeared to cost about $250 on a one of purchase basis. Apple users might also look at Final Cut Pro X which at the time of writing this article has a 90-day free trial.

Recommended Video Conferencing Platforms

When in-person communication isn’t an option, video conferencing is preferred for feeling connected with co-workers. There are numerous applications and platforms for video conferencing and collaboration.

Some, such as Cisco WebEx, are industry standards but can be expensive. Others are growing in popularity and may even be offered free or at a low cost.

Based on our actual experience in recent times we have ranked the Top 5 video conferencing platforms in the following order when considering the quality of service, usability and price.

Zoom is one of the most popular video conferencing solutions for businesses. It is feature-rich, with various plans based on business size and needs. Prices range from free for basic personal meetings to $19.99 per month (with a minimum of 100 hosts) for large enterprises.

Zoom screenshot 1024x664 - Guide To Delivering High Quality Virtual Keynotes And Webinars Source: Zoom
Microsfot Teams - Guide To Delivering High Quality Virtual Keynotes And Webinars Source: Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams has been widely adopted as part of the Microsoft 365 office suite. Teams is useful for big companies. It is possible that for small enterprises the expensive costs outweigh the benefits, but for big corporations, Teams works great to unify the company on a central hub and standardizes the tools needed for work. It is arguably the best platform for running video conferencing to the big screen for large events as the image below shows. The costs vary from free to $20 per month for small to mid-sized businesses.
Cisco WebEx is an industry-standard service, especially for those with a large number of team members or an exceptionally large enterprise, Cisco’s WebEx video conferencing service enables joining meetings online or via the phone, depending on the participant’s location and ability at the time. Pricing starts at $13.50 per month.
Cisco WebEx screenshot - Guide To Delivering High Quality Virtual Keynotes And Webinars Source: Cisco WebEx
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GoToMeeting has many useful features, including instant meetings or meeting scheduling and in-app meeting messaging between participants. It is not free and GoToMeeting pricing starts at $14 per month for groups of up to 10 meeting participants and costs $29 per month for larger groups of up to 150 participants.
Google Meet is an upgraded version of Google Hangouts. It is designed for G Suite users. Google Meet is for video meetings among team members, with similar features to Zoom. With many users operating their business email accounts via Google’s servers we expect Meet will quickly rise up the rankings.
Google Meet screenshot - Guide To Delivering High Quality Virtual Keynotes And Webinars Source: Google

What Are The In-Demand Virtual Speaking Topics?

Coronavirus has led to demand from expert speakers on a range of established speaking topics. The topics and the skills required to best manage difficult circumstances are directly applicable to companies working with isolation and social distancing measures well which are affecting performance at employee and company level. Here they are:

#Resilience – Overcoming adversity by being more resilient in changing and challenging times

#Change Management – How do employers and employees make the seismic shift in mindset that is required to adapt to a new world and new way of working

#Culturalchange – Many organisations will be forced to make personnel changes and recruit locally to replace internationally diverse teams. What policies can be adopted in order that the change is effective and seen positively

#Communication – How do we communicate effectively using available technologies and how often should we be communicating

#Sales & #High Performance – How to retain and even grow sales pipelines under isolation. How to build your own network of sector experts that will help growth when we are socially distancing

#Motivation– All speaker inputs should be #motivational for all of these topics, communicating positive messages. A pure motivational speaker can be engaged virtually to inspire groups in challenging times

#Leadership – How do you lead and inspire teams to perform in times of extreme difficulty. How often should be speaking to remote employees? What messages should a strong leader give out and what comments should be avoided?

#Futurework – Where does your company want to be in the future? What are the likely changes to infrastructure; changes to work/life balance, the need to be flexible and adaptable to change.

Here are speakers and the topics that they are well placed to speak virtually to audiences:

The Set-Up And Technical Requirements For Virtual Talks

Choose a strong moderator who either knows about or they will research the company and sector. A good moderator will pull the strings, give energy and is the interaction between the online audience (who will send questions for the speaker) and the speaker. If possible we recommend that the leadership of an organisation moderate as it provides airtime and shows empathy from above.

‘The moderator is, therefore, the face of the company.’

Select a strong speaker on a relevant topic of interest, from those we mentioned above. The speaker should in addition to their experience have the home studio recording setup that we’ve been outlining above. Another option is to travel to a local recording studio or even the client’s office to record the live stream from. There are recording studios in most cities who provide these services.

Screenshot 2020 05 15 at 14.04.05 1024x531 - Guide To Delivering High Quality Virtual Keynotes And Webinars Jim Lawless: Green Screen
bear grylls 2 - Guide To Delivering High Quality Virtual Keynotes And Webinars Bear Grylls: Teaser Video – Click image to play
Brief the speaker at least 3 days before the talk to discuss the objectives and desired outcomes. To help build the audience, have the speaker send a maximum two-minute ‘Teaser Video’ announcing their participation and a summary of what they will be talking about. Here is the teaser Bear Grylls recorded by way of example for an up and coming conference.
Limit to 35 – 30 minutes for keynote delivery followed by Q&A. Our experience shows that going beyond a total time of 45 minutes is likely to be counterproductive. Consider that the viewers are sitting in front of computers with access to the internet, email and other distractions. We also work with speakers who are very comfortable and effective communicators for up to 90 minutes. But for most groups, the shorter duration is advised.

The 9 Key Elements & The Order of the Virtual Session should be as follows;

(1) The virtual waiting room area opens 5 minutes before with a looping speaker video c.30 seconds

(ii) Exactly on-time the Moderator will welcome guests, set the scene and introduce the speaker.

iii) Play the speaker’s introductory video (usually up to 3 mins in length>

(iv) at around 30 minutes the speaker concludes their keynote and opens for questions.

(v) the moderator will select questions from the audience, which can be sent using the chat room facility on most video conferencing platforms. Or for greater interactivity using an app like Slido for running polls and generating useful feedback from the online audience. This session lasts for as long as the Moderator feels fits the situation.

(vi) The Moderator will close out the entire session within 45 minutes (be aware that some free versions of video conferencing software have time limits on duration. Zooms free version allows up to 100 users and limits the conference to 40 minutes, and automatically turns the session off if the user goes beyond their time limit.

(vii) Take feedback on the same day from your audience whilst it is fresh in their minds. Did they enjoy it? Was the session valuable? What did they learn most? Do they have suggestions to make improvements? Would they like to participate in future virtual sessions?

(viii) Share the feedback with your audience as much as possible. We recommend also asking the speaker to produce a summary of their key points and include this. See the example on the right we sent out for a recent virtual talk by leading speaker Jim Lawless to 400 people at a global pharmaceutical company.

(ix) Finally, review the entire virtual process. It should be very easy to organise and set up. If it was not, then look at where the problems arose from the audience feedback and fix them for the next session.

Example Follow Up Recap The Ten Rules For Taming Tigers Recap for client name removed May 2020 copy - Guide To Delivering High Quality Virtual Keynotes And Webinars (Follow Up Notes of Jim Lawless after his virtual keynote)

In Conclusion

Virtual speaking is easy to set up professionally, cost-effective and should be an extremely effective tool for communicating positivity to isolated employees. Or perhaps for impressing client partners.

If you have any questions at all about how to run a successful virtual keynote or webinar speaker series we’re happy to speak on a video conferencing platform and guide you.

Jonathan Curran, Managing Director

Promotivate Speakers Agency