Interview With a Speakers Bureau – Speakers Corner

Here at Speaker Sponsor we want speakers to have every opportunity possible to get out and get paid to speak, whether you’re getting a paycheck from a meeting planner or getting paid by a sponsor for a free speaking engagement. Another big part of your speaking career will be your relationship with a speakers bureau. Between the Speaker Sponsor podcast and this blog, we’re interviewing speakers bureaus from around the world. We want to learn how each one operates and how they like to work with speakers.

Here is an interview with Nick Gold, MD of Speakers Corner and Chairman of the EASB (European Association of Speaker Bureaux)

1. Can you give us some info on your background?
 I have been working at Speakers Corner since my path crossed with our founder Cheryl Goldhill, just as I was looking for an opportunity to grow my own company and create something new. Coming from a corporate background, I found the challenge of serving the corporate sector exciting, and the prospect of meeting inspirational people every day was something I relished.

2. How is the speaking industry different in Europe than the U.S.? 
 There are many differences in the speaking industry between the US and the UK, primarily the fees paid to speakers are far higher in the US, but on a more interesting note, the really traditional motivational speakers are more popular in the States, whilst European audiences have historically been more interested in booking speakers with high profile brands behind them and tangible business experience.

3. When should a speaker start approaching speaker’s bureaus and how would you like to be approached? 
 We love meeting speakers at any stage of their careers, whether they are established speakers looking to branch out and meet new clients, or whether they are embarking on their speaking career and are just at the beginning of the road, and we can mentor and nurture them in the best methods of preparation, marketing etc.

4. What is the one thing you wish speakers should know about working with a speaker’s bureau? That we are their best advocates and that as a speaker bureau, we are working with their best interests at the heart of what we do, and will only place them in a job or brief that fits their area and skills – and that we know best what those jobs are!

5. Who is your perfect speaker client? Our most exciting challenges come when clients don’t know who they want and we are tasked with finding them the perfect speaker, at which time we can start selling amazing people who are not household names but have inspiring and unique stories and messages to share.

6. Is there one book you would recommend all speakers read? Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences, by Nancy Duarte

7. What do you see changing for speakers, meeting planners and speaker’s bureaus and how would you use innovation to improve the speaking industry?
 At Speakers Corner we value complete honesty and transparency above all else. As soon as the industry cracks down on undercutting, and all bureaux begin to work together, the marketplace will become a venerated industry, and will move forward in a way that will benefit clients, speakers, bureaux and audiences.

Nick, thanks for your time and for your industry insight! Speakers Corner speaker’s bureau has a skilled team with over 40 years of industry experience and an expansive knowledge of the best international motivational speakers, after dinner speakers, conference facilitators, keynote speakers and awards hosts.