An Overview of Speaker Agreements
A speaker agreement is a mutual business contract between the speaker and the event organizer for the event they are participating. It’s purpose is to describe the scope of services to be provided including any compensation that will be paid and who will be responsible for specific tasks and expenses such as travel. Its also used by both parties to plan anything that may need discussing such as A/V needs or room setup.
What does a speaker agreement include?
✓ Name and contact information for all involved parties
✓ Title of the event and the role of the person, organization or company for which you are volunteering
✓ Responsibilities of the speaker including but not limited to additional costs such as materials and travel
✓ Responsibilities of the event organizers including but not limited to setup and materials
✓ Responsibilities of each party regarding the media and social media coverage of the event, presentation and participants
✓ Booked or potential dates and times for the event
✓ Details regarding copyright (usually it’s "you retain ownership of the IP") and use of the video presentation after the event and in what format
✓ Sponsor information
✓ Cancellation terms (from both sides) and what happens to the fee/expenses if cancelled.
✓ Confirming all the details discussed between the speaker and the event organizer.
When do I use a speaker agreement?
In most circumstances when you are doing a presentation for an outside organization – even if you’re getting paid. It’s a good way to make sure everything that was discussed gets documented so each side knows they’re responsible for different items. For example , ensure who is making the hotel reservations and paying for the cost. Do you need to deliver your presentation on a USB drive or do you send it to the person who organized your presentation before or after the event? Have your presentation recorded or filmed, if so do you need to sign a release to use your likeness or register for a license agreement.
These are just a couple of things that come up when not defined in advance. For sponsors, would would the actual sponsor to also be documented as one of the organizing parties and whether or not they can pass on your slides to their digital or print media partners.
We have also used a speaker agreement when we volunteer to be a board member or volunteer committee to help bring in speakers. There is usually great interest in what is happening in various industries, but formalizing the agreement with the conference or summit presenter for up to three years helps to ensure that guests don’t have to go through the same process repeatedly.
Essential Elements of a Speaker Agreement
A speaker agreement template should hold details that are vital to the speaker, as well you the hosting organization. Here are some key components to include in a speaker agreement template:
Event details: All events details should be outlined in the agreement including the date, time and duration of the event, location, contact information and any material requirements/catering requirements.
Payment terms: Issues regarding payment for appearances should be addressed in the agreement. For example, how much will the speaker be charging or how much the organization is paying the speaker; at what point the speaker will be paid; and, what mode the payment will be issued (e.g., delivery of a check after the event, bank transfer, etc.).
Confidentiality clauses: Include a confidentiality clause that restricts the speaker from sharing confidential information about your organization. In addition you may wish to make the speaker provide a confidentiality agreement to the host organization.
Cancellation policy: The event organizer may want to consider including a policy for cancellations in the agreement to protect everyone involved in case last minute events should take place such as inclement weather.
How to Personalize Your Speaker Agreement Template
Customizing a speaker agreement template is all about giving the document a personal touch. Although these agreements often look similar, there may be things you need to add or remove according to the engagement. The tips here will make it easier for you to customize the agreement:
How to Adjust the Non-competition Clause
This clause may not be necessary in some agreements. A lot of writers and speakers cover similar topics, but if you want the exclusive right to discuss certain subjects, you should keep this section in your agreement. If the event in question will include other speakers, you may want to cut this clause. It may also be unnecessary if you’re giving a talk that’s related to something you do for a client but it’s therefore not a direct competitor. If you are giving a talk that directly competes with another speaker or professional service provider, you should keep this clause in the agreement.
When to Add or Remove the Indemnification Clause
Most speaker agreement templates don’t have this clause and many speakers don’t need to add it. It’s really meant to protect the organizer from claims against them due to the content of your speech. However, if your speech or talk has the potential to become controversial (like a talk that discusses cancer treatment options), it may be worth including. There are two parts to this clause. 1) If someone makes a claim against the organizer because of something you said, you may be required to pay for their losses. 2) You’ll be responsible if you say something illegal or defamatory and your clients are sued as a result.
Amendments and Modifications
What if you and the organizer decide to change something in the agreement after it has been signed? You can put a clause in place that permits the modifications to be made on a specific date, or on an ongoing basis. This clause would apply to any changes that could affect price, schedules, performances, time spent preparing, speaker substitutions, cancellation amounts, etc.
Legal Issues with Speaker Agreements
While this speaker agreement template is designed to help you cover the essential clauses in any speaker agreement, you still need to ensure that you comply with the laws applicable to you and your organization, and most importantly, the content you are agreeing to have published. Depending on the speaker and agency, or the nature of the event, and whether it is commercial or non-commercial in nature, there may be some other legal items that you wish to include in your speaker agreement template. For example, intellectual property rights and dispute resolution procedures may be necessary to mention in your speaker agreement template, and you should always check to see how long your jurisdiction gives you to amend the speaker agreement template after signing.
Common Pitfalls in Speaker Agreements
The main issue you should avoid when it comes to speaker agreements is creating vague and unenforceable agreements which don’t contemplate the necessary terms but, instead, have terms which may be lacking the specificity required by law. You always want to ensure you include all the parties in the speaker agreement, a detailed list of the duties, responsibilities and obligations, a list of the rights, an explanation of what exactly the deliverables are and what happens if the terms of the agreement are violated.
You want to make sure, of course, that the speaker agreement specifies who owns the intellectual property rights in the content provided in connection with the event as well as the trademarks and any other proprietary information . You want to specify whether there’s a chance for termination of the agreement if the speaker fails to deliver on what they’re supposed to be doing. You want to make sure that it’s clear whether or not you have to provide additional services before, during and after the event and what those are and whether the compensation listed provides for the actual payment terms, for example, how they’re getting paid and when they’re getting paid.
For all of the foregoing reasons, it’s important that you have a formal speaker agreement in place signed and agreed to by all the parties prior to commencement of any work.
Resources for Developing Speaker Agreements
Many tools and resources are available to help ease the process of drafting a speaker agreement. Among them is an industry-standard template. It can be further customized, as needed, but offers solid guidance and suggestions for what to include in addition to the speaker’s name, presentation title, and date. Further, resources such as legal software, writing checklists, expert glossaries, and professional services facilitate agreement drafting.
Legal writing software with customizable templates, checklists, document assembly programs, and other tools streamlines the drafting process. Some technology also allows cloud-based collaboration, allowing legal counsel and the event planner to work on the same document from separate locations. Newsletters and legal blogs offer guidance and resources for agreements between entities that plan conferences and conventions and their speakers. Legal blogs, in particular, can also provide insights into current trends and issues affecting the speaker.
Speaker Agreement Template Example
For most agreements, it’s a good idea to document the terms of an agreement in writing. The one for a speaker engagement is no different. You can put together a simple speaker agreement or follow this more complex template. How do you use this sample speaker agreement template? It’s pretty straight forward: customize it to fit your engagement. Then have the other party review it. Do they have a new lawyer? If so, get that person involved. Make changes and send around a final version. Review the sample speaker agreement template and see how a typical one is structured. The following describes the three sections of the speaker agreement template.
Section 1: Description of the Event. Include the name of the event, where it will be held, the projected attendance, and topics it will cover. If you have a timeline, include it. If there are phone calls, webinars, or videos leading up to the event, mention them. Be specific. This event is called [EVENT NAME]. The event is set to occur on [DATE] at [TIME] until [TIME] in [LOCATION]. [Include any additional description and as much detail as possible.]
Section 2: Compensation Structure. Most likely, you’ll be paid in several ways . For example, maybe you’ll get paid to deliver your speech, get an honorarium for a special appearance, receive book royalties, and sign books. You can include all of those types of compensation in your agreement. Show how much you’re getting under each part of the agreement. If your payment is contingent on ticket sales, what’s the minimum number of tickets that need to sell? What fee will you get if fewer than that? For example, let’s say there’s no minimum. Then you could say you’re getting a 10% agent commission or a specific fee, whichever is higher. Include the specific payment terms. Is it 30 days after the event? Some of the terms you may include are: Payment due, in full, upon receipt of invoice. 30 days after invoice date 2 years after invoice date plus 90 days 10 days after invoice date
V. Miscellaneous Provisions. This section really is just the beginning of the end. It includes information about who the parties are, when the agreement starts, whether it can be assigned to another party, and whether it can be modified in writing by the parties. VI. Signature Blocks. Include signature blocks for both parties. This section gives the parties room to sign. It may be easier to include spaces for signatures next to these paragraphs.