FAQ

1. What's the benefit for me to have you represent me as a speaker?
There are at least 35 benefits. Send me an email with 35 Benefits in the subject line and I'll send you the list. I think you'll find most of these are advantageous to your career. AndreaReynoldsPR@gmail.com

2. Do you represent ALL speakers?
I specialize in specialists, not generalists. Rather than represent a speaker on the general topic of "leadership" I prefer to work with a speaker who may focus on "professional ethics in the dental profession."

3. How many speakers will you represent who have the same expertise I have?
No others. You will be the only one, which is why I ask speakers to specialize.

4. How many bureaus will you contact on my behalf?
I don't promote speakers to bureaus, because bureaus don't work in the best interests of speakers. I encourage bureaus to check you out on this site and your own site and contact you directly. I would hope you would then contact me to represent your interests.

5. Will you call meeting planners to book me?
No. That is not what speaker agents or bureaus do. And I don't recommend that you call meeting planners, either. You should already be so visible that meeting planners call you, or me, your agent. And if you're not yet so visible, I offer a program Get Bookings that will start bringing you attention and recognition.

6. What's the difference between a speaker agent and a speaker bureau?
A bureau works in the best interests of the sponsor (audience). An agent works in the best interests of the speaker, negotiating better fees, amenities and contract terms. Neither one actively procures engagements for individual speakers.

7. Will you work with me even if I don't have you represent me in contract negotiations?
Of course. I'm available to speakers for several services: critiquing contracts, providing recommendations, teaching, etc.

8. Andrea, if you're also a speaker isn't that competing with your own clients?
I haven't spoken publicly in many years and don't expect to be invited. I would accept a speaking opportunity only if my presentation in no way competed with a current client.

9. As a speaker agency, you are limiting representation to only one speaker for each subject or niche. Why?
I do this to avoid conflicts of interest. In a bureau, for example, if there are 20 speakers who can speak on time management the bureau will likely try to promote the speaker with the highest fee and celebrity status, passing you by completely. With only one speaker in a niche, I avoid that unfair practice.

10. Will you provide me with a private, personalized promotional campaign?
That was my original, primary service but I discontinued it. I no longer provide personalized promotional campaigns. Instead, you have access to many of my promotional ideas in the reports and booklets I publish. (To discourage requests for PR campaigns I would provide a private campaign, starting at $30,000 a month for a minimum of 6 months. That's $180,000 upfront.)

11. What do I have to do to have you represent me?
It's a 3-step process.
a. Complete the speaker questionnaire on this site.
b. Once we decide to work together, post on your own website's contact page and speaker info page the following: "Represented by Andrea Reynolds, Speaker Agent/Advocate, www.ExpertsWhoSpeak.org/(your last name, all lower case).html" You will be linking to your own profile page on this site... which I will create for you. No charge.
c. Whenever you receive an inquiry or invitation to speak, send a copy to me, and I will follow up right away. My email is AndreaReynoldsPR@gmail.com.

12. Can you help me respond to an invitation to speak without having you negotiate for me?
Yes, there are at least two ways we can work together.
a. If you want to draft your own agreement, I can "critique" it by suggesting where you might reword it to your advantage.
b. You can pick my brain in a quick consult by phone or email.

13. How much time do I have to get my information to you for posting on my page?
As short a time as possible. Here's why. One of the problems meeting planners tell me about is how difficult it is getting information from some speakers. They hate that. The most professional speakers get all their material to me within a few hours, then it's available online for any meeting planner to see who is attempting to book you. I've seen some speakers "forget" to provide info for several months despite my repeated requests. It doesn't make sense to represent speakers who work against their own best interests.

14. If you represent me can I speak for free?
Working with speakers should be win-win-win for all three parties. If you don't charge a speaking fee, I don't receive any compensation for my efforts, and I lose. Also, if you accept merchandise or trips in lieu of money, it would be difficult to give me a portion as my commission unless you're willing to pay for an appropriate percentage of the value of the services or products.

15. Why does this web site look so simple? You need some splashy graphics.
There are two good reasons why I keep the site simple:

A. The first reason is to appeal to meeting planners who visit. Meeting planners are in a hurry and want websites that give them the information they want quickly and with no fuss. They want to be able to print out the info about speakers they want to consider, fast. Graphics slow them down and waste ink. (However, I do want you to post your head shot and book cover graphics.)

B. The second reason is to appeal economically to speakers. Yes, I could hire someone to create a fabulous looking (expensive) web site, and in time I may do this. Then I could charge you and other speakers $1000 a year for visibility on my site. Wouldn't you prefer that I keep overhead low?

16. Is there a fee to be represented by your agency?
Not at the present time. However, in the past I found that some speakers were turning down engagements that I booked for them to avoid paying commissions. If this were to happen again I may have to require a listing fee. Sadly, some inexperienced speakers will go to great lengths to get around paying commissions on fees that were obtained for them. And, truthfully, it's difficult to establish that a meeting planner found you on our web site first than on yours. So if this happens again I may have to "go with the flow" and replace commissions with fees.

17. Can you guarantee that I'll receive a certain number of bookings at the fee I want?
No, because that is out of my control. In fact your success is mostly up to you. How much are you willing to invest in positioning and marketing yourself as a fascinating expert so meeting planners want to hire you? Here are some things YOU can do to better your chances of a good speaking fee and frequent bookings:

A. Hire a personal public relations firm (or do it yourself) to position you and make you visible and credible and build a following. In order to be booked as a speaker, you need to be a draw that will help meeting planners increase attendance at their meetings and conferences.

B. Increase your public speaking and performance skills by using the additional services that are available to you through this website.

C. Develop good promotional materials that meeting planners want to see. I publish/sell a handbook of examples of appropriate speaker documents you can use as templates.

D. Post a significant amount of information about yourself on this website and your own website.

E. Start charging a fee, if you haven't yet, or increase your fee to a respectable amount. I publish/sell a report on setting and quoting fees.

F. Develop professional looking speaking contracts or agreement letters. I can teach you how to construct your own agreement letters or contracts with my contract template and private consult.

18. What's your experience with advocating for speakers?
I've advocated for myself since 1977, and for other speakers on and off since 1990. My goal is always to increase a speaker's fees in increments over time.

19. Who have you represented in the past?
I've represented hundreds of speakers; however, for multiple reasons, some never asked me to negotiate their contracts. Many were willing to speak for free, for small honoraria or barter their time. Others purchased my contract template so they could negotiate their own agreements with confidence. One of my high profile speakers was Margaret Atwood, well-known novelist and poet. Others speakers commanded hourly fees of up to $30,000.

20. What would be unacceptable speaker behavior?
Interfering in the negotiation process, taking over negotiations midstream, talking to the sponsor in secret, undercutting the agreed upon fee, changing the agreement in an effort to avoid paying a commission, providing misleading or false information on your Speaker Questionnaire and profile, sabotaging another speaker's contract or negotiation, etc.

21. Must I commit to exclusive representation?
It's in your best interests to develop a relationship of trust with me. If I agree not to represent any speakers who compete with you, you must also agree to bring all inquiries and invitations to speak to me. And, Exclusive Representation means a lower commission payable by you: 15% and not the standard 25-30%.

22. What is exclusive representation exactly?
I agree to not represent another speaker with your expertise and you agree to not accept any speaking engagements without having Experts Who Speak's Andrea Reynolds advocate and negotiate on your behalf. Exclusive means you agree to have Andrea Reynolds handle ALL your bookings -- even the little ones and the free ones which, as a professional, you have likely phased out by now. To do otherwise would be "cheating" if you agree to exclusive representation.
NON-exclusive representation means that I can also represent another speaker with your same expertise who may command higher fees than you. You should let me know if the latter is acceptable or unacceptable to you. There is an advantage to both. You get to decide.

23. Do you have a newsletter I can subscribe to?
I will shortly. I have all the content prepared; I just need to set up the list.

24. Who is Andrea Reynolds?
You can read a little about me here: www.ExpertsWhoSpeak.org/about.html

Experts Who Speak: Increasing speakers' fees to $30K an Hour

Agent-Advocate for Speakers

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