9. Speaker Agreement – The Importance of Your Cancelation Clause

Speaking engagements get canceled. When it happens, the difference between getting paid to speak or not often comes down to what is written in your speaker agreement.

In Episode 9, I continue to share how the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic is impacting my speaking business and the speaking industry. Whether you're a brand new speaker or you've been speaking for a while, I encourage you to listen to the previous two episodes. They are filled with raw truth as well as practical steps you can take in your business to navigate tough times.

• Episode 7: You ARE Still in Charge
• Episode 8: Meeting Canceled — Now What Do I Do?

In this episode, I share how my business was hurt years ago by an unclear cancelation clause in my speaker agreement. Listen in to make sure you don't make the same mistake.

An Inside Look at This Episode:

In Episode 8, we looked at the customer-service side of dealing with a speaking engagement that gets canceled. In this episode, we look at the speaker-contract side of dealing with cancelations.

1) Bonus: A positive question you can ask yourself during difficult times

• Question: What does this make possible?
• Action: Download 5 Keys to Creating a Speech That Pays

2) Keep your speaker agreement as simple as possible

• Be clear, but keep it simple
• Don't add unnecessary clauses

3) Changes/Cancelation Clause

• Why your cancelation clause is so important — a real-life example from Kent's speaking business
• Craft a cancelation clause that is a win-win for both the organization you are serving and your business
• Be clear about what happens with the deposit and the timing for rescheduling the event

4) Act of God Clause

• An Act of God clause describes what happens when circumstances outside of human control occur (usually a natural disaster such as a flood, hurricane, earthquake, pandemic, etc.)

Episode Resources:

• 9 Ways to Get Paid as a Speaker
• 5 Keys to Creating a Speech That Pays

Thank You for Listening!

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Until next time, continue to move from #DREAMtoDO as a speaker.