I thought this was an interesting question from a speaker in the SpeakPro Academy. He said,

“How do you know when to use the word ‘hire’ vs ‘brings in’?”

Now that probably doesn’t make any sense to you right now so let me give you context.

When contacting people to hire you, I always tell people in the SpeakPro Academy to use a script that asks ‘Who HIRES speakers’ instead of saying ‘Who BRINGS IN the speakers’

Do you know why?

When you use the word ‘hire’ you’re implying that they pay speakers.

But when you use the words ‘brings in’ …they assume you want to speak for free.

So when you say ‘who brings in the speakers’ they will tell you to fill out an RFP, etc. Basically…you negotiated yourself out of getting paid and you didn’t even realize it.

(little details like this matter…that’s why I tell people to join the SpeakPro Academy)

The question he asked was a good one, but you have to be honest with yourself…

Should you charge or should you speak for free?

There are times when you HAVE to speak for free. Everyone wants to get paid, but you have to be 100% honest with yourself.

I’ve talked with tons of speakers who want to get paid but nobody sees them as someone worth paying for.

By the time you’re done watching this video, you’ll know if you should be getting paid or speaking for free: