AAE Speakers Bureau released their 2023 Speaking Industry Benchmark Report. I’ve pulled out highlights for you but link to the full report will be at the end of my post. Also note, I’ve included my thoughts along the way.
Topics event strategists are prioritizing the most in 2023 are:
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion (56 %)
- Leadership and motivation (56 %)
- Leadership and motivation (56 %)
- Mental health and mindset (44 %)
- Future of work (30 %)
- Corporate culture (28 %)
- Technology (21 %)
Speaking fees and costs:
- average speaker fee is $15,551 for in-person events. I would note, remember, this is average fee for speakers this bureau promotes. Bureaus typically work with speakers who have experience. As you read fee information, note that this bureau books speakers with fees up to $50,000. Averages can be skewed.
- speakers with 10 + years of experience, the average fee is $16,659.
- For virtual events, 80 % of speakers commanded a fee of less than $10,000.
- Most speakers expect the organizer to cover the cost of their hotel, air travel, and ground transfers. However, only 12 % include those costs in their speaking fee.
- More than half of speakers, 53%, say their fees are increasing in 2023.
- For event organizers working with this bureau, the average event budget for hiring a keynote speaker is $26,582.88. However, 44 % of respondents said their average budget is less than $10,000. Only 10 percent said their budget is more than $50,000.
Further, this bureau’s survey reports:
- 54% of meeting planners prefer in-person events, while 70% (!) of speakers prefer in-person.
- 29% of events will be virtual, only 17% of speakers prefer virtual.
- 16% of events will be hybrid, only 12% of speakers prefer hybrid.
Some other interesting finds:
- 50% say in person meetings are planned 2-6 months in advance. Note: I can’t imagine they are taking into consideration national association meetings.
- 33% of event organizers reported budgets lower or slightly lower than 2022
What will speakers be hired to do:
- 78% keynotes
- 52% Q&A, panels
- 25% host or moderator
Beyond speaking, additional duties organizers are requesting of speakers include:
- 66% meet and greet with attendees
- 42% social media promotion
- 38% book signing
- 31% meeting with executive team
How do event organizers measure event success?
- 87% attendance
- 50% survey responses
- Engagement with vendors, speakers, event tech
- 36% social media engagement
- 34% attendee/member retention
- 23% increased sales
- 14% website traffic
- 8% resource downloads
All this information should be helpful to you as you reach out for business. I do want you to remember, this report and these stats come from event organizers working with a specific bureau.
To get a copy of the full report visit https://www.meetingsnet.com/speakers-entertainment/hot-topics-top-fees-2023-speaker-study
Copyright 2023, Lois Creamer, Book More Business. Lois works with professional speakers who want to book more business, make more money, and fully monetize their intellectual property.
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