There are now and then articles about payments for conference speeches. There are multiple perspectives. Let me share the one from the conference organizer (www.agiliaconference.com). The requests for conference payments come mostly from US-based speakers. It seems in the US the conference is a money-making activity and industry of its kind. Conferences are large, entry tickets cost a fortune, and naturally, the speakers are getting their share. There are many professional speakers, who have their main income from conference speeches. Conferencing is a hard business. Contrary, there is a European perspective. A conference is a place for exchanging ideas. Facilities are less fancy, entry tickets cost a fraction of the US and speakers speak for free. Because speaking is also part of their marketing communication.
The conference is organized by the company (for legal reasons), and the tickets are covering only a fraction of the total expense. If the speakers would be paid per presentation, it would not be possible to organize the event. It takes a bit more than one year to prepare the event and the organizing crew works all this time. Their salaries are the highest expense even if they are often below the national average. You will not get rich by organizing conferences. The inner crew is small, 2-4 people, and there are many helpers, who are volunteers without pay. They work during the event and one-two months prior. Further, the highest cost is marketing and ticket sales, sponsorship sales, and only then comes venue, catering, accommodation, and other perks. Sponsorship in Europe is usually small, we can speak about a few hundred EUR per sponsor. The sum only rarely exceeds €1000. Still, without sponsorship, the event is hardly sustainable.
The event is very much about the quality of the speakers. In my observations, those demanding pays were often rated significantly inferior, so the cost/value ratio is questionable. I have seen many speakers have their speaking as a way of holiday, aka conference tourism, traveling the stream of events in a row. And it is what conferences should be not about.
The organizer's work is very hard - curating the content, creating an atmosphere, and balancing the interests of various stakeholders. Our research repeatedly shows that interests among the three main stakeholder groups - speakers, sponsors, and delegates - practically do not overlap.
In a good conference as a speaker, you can count on some small perks, like entry to the entire event, personal brand promotion, accommodation, perhaps some small support for travel to/from the venue, and perhaps some small paid work opportunity. The conference is also a venture among those 3 stakeholder groups, so speakers have to actively participate in creating the event, too. Following the guidelines of the organizer. Just to come, deliver a speech, take the fee, and go home is unacceptable. Therefore I advocate continuing with a good practice of no speakers fee. So far I saw all speakers are registered freelancers in their home countries, so payments would not be an issue. Challenging are sometimes cross-country payments, and today there is a huge space for creativity.
Finally, let me share one of our promo clips that illustrates many aspects of the conference event:
