What are the most effective ways to negotiate your speaking needs with event organizers?

2 Understand their needs

The next step is to understand the needs and goals of the event organizers. What are they looking for in a speaker? What are their expectations, challenges, and constraints? What are their budget, timeline, and format? How do they measure the success of the event and the speakers? Understanding their needs will help you tailor your proposal, presentation, and delivery to their specific situation, and also show your respect and empathy for them.

3 Establish rapport

One of the most important aspects of negotiation is rapport. Rapport is the connection and trust that you build with the other party, through your communication style, attitude, and behavior. Rapport can help you create a positive and cooperative atmosphere, reduce tension and conflict, and increase the likelihood of reaching a mutually beneficial agreement. To establish rapport, you can use techniques such as active listening, mirroring, complimenting, and finding common ground.

4 Negotiate assertively

Once you have built rapport, you can start negotiating your speaking needs with the event organizers. Negotiating assertively means expressing your interests and requests clearly, confidently, and respectfully, without being aggressive or passive. It also means being flexible and willing to compromise, without giving up your core values or principles. To negotiate assertively, you can use strategies such as framing, anchoring, trading, and reframing.

5 Confirm and follow up

After you have reached a verbal agreement with the event organizers, you need to confirm and follow up with them in writing. Confirming and following up means sending them a written contract or agreement that outlines the details and terms of your speaking engagement, and asking them to sign and return it to you. It also means keeping in touch with them until the event date, and updating them on any changes or issues that may arise. Confirming and following up will help you avoid misunderstandings, disputes, or cancellations, and also reinforce your commitment and professionalism.

6 Deliver and evaluate

The final step is to deliver your presentation and evaluate your performance. Delivering your presentation means preparing well, arriving early, checking the equipment and venue, engaging the audience, and handling questions and feedback. Evaluating your performance means asking for testimonials, referrals, or feedback from the event organizers and the audience, and reflecting on your strengths and weaknesses as a speaker. Delivering and evaluating will help you showcase your value, satisfy the event organizers, and improve your skills.