Speaking fees: what to charge when you are asked to give a talk

Speaking fees listed by speaker bureaus start at $1,500 to $5,000 for a keynote by an entry-level speaker, plus travel, and some industry conferences pay session speakers nothing at all. Those bureau lists are built around people with an agent, so a working professional who is not famous should price against the bottom of them. This post explains what the money words mean, which events pay, and how to set your first fee.

1. Bureau-listed fees are real, and they describe a different crowd

Speaker bureaus publish the most-quoted numbers, so start there and adjust down. National Speakers Bureau's keynote cost guide lists these tiers:

Post Carbon Institute's speakers bureau, which books talks by its own speakers, lists $1,000 to $10,000 for in-person talks and $500 to $3,000 for webcast talks.

Read these as bureau asking prices. They skew toward people whose name sells tickets, and a 45-minute breakout session at an industry event is a different product. (The person on the conference poster is not the person in Room 214B at 2:15.)

Short version: if you have never been paid to speak, price yourself against the entry tier, not the tiers above it.

2. Honorarium, fee and expenses are three different things

An honorarium is a thank-you payment where the host decides the amount. MIT's payment guidance defines it as a voluntary payment in recognition of a service such as a guest lecture "for which no fixed fee is set," and says the hosting department decides whether to offer one and how much.

A speaking fee is a price you name and the host agrees to before the event. That is what the bureau tables above describe.

Expenses are separate from both. NSB's guide says planners should expect to cover airfare, ground transportation and accommodation on top of the fee, and Post Carbon says its ranges "typically do not include" airfare, hotel, ground transportation or meals.

So when an organizer says "we offer a small honorarium," they are telling you the number is theirs to set. When you quote a fee, quote travel as a separate line.

3. Some industry conferences pay session speakers nothing, and say so

Assume an association or industry conference pays breakout speakers nothing unless it says otherwise. Two speaker pages show the pattern:

• The National Association of School Nurses' NASN2026 speaker FAQ says "No honoraria is provided unless special arrangements have been made," and that speakers pay their own lodging, travel and per diem, plus registration if they want to attend.
• The Minnesota Safety Council's speaker FAQ says it "does not pay speaker honorariums or travel expenses" except for approved Professional Development Course sessions (full or half day courses that attendees pay extra for) when the speaker travels more than 250 miles. Speakers get a two-day complimentary registration.

The Minnesota Safety Council's FAQ also says it fills its program through nominations and that "selection is competitive." When people compete for a slot, the host has little reason to pay for it. Paid invitations are more likely to come from somewhere else: a company asking you to speak to its team, a sponsor-run event, a keynote slot, or a webinar someone is using to sell something.

Decide before you reply which kind of invitation you have. If you submitted a proposal to an association conference, do not send a fee quote. If someone came to you and asked you to fill a slot, you can.

4. Quote a fee built from your hours, with travel on its own line

Price the talk by the time it really takes, at the hourly rate you would charge for advice. Count preparation honestly: it is the line people forget, and the hour on stage is the small part.

Build the quote from four lines:

• Preparation: writing, slides, one practice run, and a call with the organizer.
• The event: the talk, Q&A, and any dinner or meetings you are expected to attend.
• Travel time: the hours in airports, if the event is in person.
• Expenses: airfare, hotel and ground transport at cost, billed separately.

For a virtual talk, drop the travel time and the expenses. Post Carbon's webcast range sits below its in-person range, which matches that logic. If you need a starting hourly rate, our consulting rate calculator walks from a salary to an hourly number.

5. Here is a made-up example, with our arithmetic

Dana is a director of procurement at a regional hospital network who keeps a spreadsheet tab called "vendor horror stories." A healthcare software company asks her to give a 45-minute talk at its customer event in another city.

Dana uses $200 an hour, the rate she charges for advice calls. Her hours:

She rounds to a quote of $4,500 plus airfare and one hotel night at cost. That sits inside NSB's entry-level range of $1,500 to $5,000.

If the company asked for a webinar instead, Dana would cut the travel line and the event day to 2 hours. That is 14 hours at $200, or $2,800, inside Post Carbon's $500 to $3,000 webcast range.

If the company says its budget is $2,000, Dana can cut the scope (reuse a talk she has already given, skip the lunch) or say no. She should not do the same 22 hours for less.

6. Check your employer's rules before you accept money for talking about your job

Ask your employer before you accept a fee for a talk about your field. Your employer may treat speaking about your work as part of your work, and the conflict, confidentiality and approval clauses in our guide to moonlighting policies apply to talks the same way they apply to consulting.

US federal employees have a specific rule. Under 5 CFR 2635.807, a federal employee may not receive compensation from outside the government for teaching, speaking or writing that relates to official duties. That includes talks given as part of the job, invitations from someone whose interests the employee's work may substantially affect, and talks that draw substantially on nonpublic information. For most employees, travel expenses do not count as compensation under the rule. If you work for the government, ask your agency's ethics official before you quote a fee.

7. In the US, a speaking fee or honorarium is taxable income

Report what you are paid, whatever the host calls it. IRS Publication 525 says to "include all fees for your services in your income," and the IRS gig economy tax center says income from part-time or side work must be reported even if it does not appear on a form like a 1099-MISC or 1099-NEC.

If you are paid as an independent contractor, the IRS self-employment tax page says the rate is 15.3% (12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare) once net self-employment earnings reach $400, reported through Schedule C and Schedule SE. Set aside part of each fee, and ask an accountant how it fits your situation. This is general information, not tax advice.

8. Speaking is one of several ways to get paid for what you know

Talks can pay well per event but take many hours of preparation, and invitations come when they come. Our guide to getting paid to give advice compares seven other ways to do it, from expert calls to advisory roles and coaching, and our side hustle guide for engineers covers the options for technical people.

On Instant Expert, a buyer invites you to a specific paid call or a written or voice answer and sets the amount up front. You receive the full amount offered, and you can reply with a higher price. You can claim your profile, or see open paid requests on the request board.

Before you answer your next speaking invitation, work out your hours for that talk, multiply by your hourly rate, and quote that number plus travel.