Tips for International Clients Booking Speakers Based in the United States

As one of the world’s leading full-service speakers bureaus (based in the United States), we are pleased to offer top-rated keynote speakers and trainers on a variety of topics, including: sales, motivation, leadership, team building, communication, change, globalization, world economy, international business, innovation, and a variety of other general and specialized topics.

We have staff that can respond to emails and speak conversationally in Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, German, Czech, Slovak, Spanish, French, Dutch and Italian. We can also translate correspondence in almost any other language. So, feel free to send us your speaker request in either English or your native language.

SPEAKING.com Speakers Bureau gives you access to almost any speaker in Canada and the United States, including politicians, celebrities, compelling authors, business gurus, top motivational speakers, media personalities, sports heroes and others. We are also adding more speakers located outside the United States, including in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. So, if your preference is to book someone from your country, just let us know and we can help you there too!

SPEAKING.com will help you navigate the specific challenges related to booking a United States and/or Canadian based speaker, including:

• Passport and Visa issues
• Travel arrangements
• Local taxes / treaty declarations
• Pre-event publicity and marketing
• Customs
• Language and translation
• Scheduling conference calls, meetings and shipping
• Tailoring speakers’ presentations to local needs and etiquette
• Security
… and more!

Speaker presentation fees for American and Canadian speakers are around 50-100% higher than fees for events held domestically. This is because international events take more travel time, international travel can be more complicated and customizing international presentations is more work. Most speakers we represent start at around $15,000USD to present at international events; the median fee is around $25,000USD and world-renowned speakers are upwards of $60,000USD. All speakers require business class travel and some will require first-class.

Here are tips and some pertinent information you’ll need when booking an American or Canadian speaker for an international event:

1) Some very high profile American speakers will only accept a few international events per year (if any). If you are looking for a world-renowned personality, it will be helpful to have flexibility with your date, plan at least a year in advance and possibly dovetail your event with another client event in the same country and/or when the speaker is planning a tour of your country. Your SPEAKING.com account representative can help you during this planning stage.

2) Booking your preferred speaker(s) at least 6 months to a year in advance is recommended.

3) Payment schedule: speakers require a 50% deposit to secure a date at the time of booking and the remaining 50% balance is due four weeks before they begin travel. Funds are usually required to be transferred via wire in US dollars, but can be accepted in other currencies as well.

4) The cancellation clause in a typical speaker contract reads:

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Cancellation of an engagement causes loss of income that cannot be recaptured by Speaker. Therefore, if this date is canceled by CLIENT, a percentage of the Speaking Fee will remain due and payable to Speaker; cancellation penalties are:

• 90 days or less before Presentation Date, 100% of Speaking Fee
• 91 or more days prior to the Presentation Date, 50% of Speaking Fee

The full presentation fee will be returned (or the speaker rescheduled) for cancellations caused by natural disaster, health concern outbreak or terrorism/war.
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Agents at SPEAKING.com have dealt with emergency situations ranging from natural disasters to travel delays; so they are seasoned to help assist clients to navigate difficult, unforeseen circumstances.

5) When booking a speaker, it’s always important to give your SPEAKING.com Account Executive as much detailed information as you can about your speaker needs, budget and overall event goals.

6) Depending on your needs and the speaker(s) you are interested in, we recommend having your speaker also include a break-out session, do a book signing and/or consult with VIPs gratis during their stay in your country. You can also combine forces with another organization to help share travel costs.