Professional Speaking Fee Schedule

George R. Walther, CSP, CPAE*

Effective: January 1, 2007

A Really Customized Presentation?

Yes. Of course you expect (and will receive) a superior presentation. It will not be a “canned talk.” I will interview members of your management team and representative audience members in advance. I’ll devour your bulging bundle of background materials, sales literature, company newsletters, etc. The examples I offer on stage will be pertinent to your business, gleaned from my research and interviews. My clients especially appreciate the degree of organization and industry customization I incorporate into my programs.

Morning Presentation Fee: $15,000

(Up to three hours.)

Keynote appearances may also include an additional program on the same morning with no additional fee. I will be happy to offer a breakout session, or have a private meeting with the senior management team or top performers. For keynote presentations, 90 minutes is the most effective duration. I will be glad to accommodate the schedule if a 60-minute keynote is more feasible. I can provide the greatest value for your audience by serving as the opening speaker. My presentation gets people wide awake quickly so they’ll focus on a productive day.

Full Day Appearance: $20,000

Many clients stretch their budgets by scheduling a full-day seminar or multiple programs in a single day. I can deliver the opening keynote for your convention and then offer back-to-back breakout sessions on multiple topics. Some clients feature Power Talking or Gut-Level Leadership for the morning opener. Then they offer attendees the choice of a Phone Power seminar offered in late morning or an Upside-Down Marketing program scheduled in the afternoon. Or, choose Heat Up Your Sales Calls. I’ll work with you to deliver optimal scheduling and value.

Inclusive Travel Fee: $1500

All engagements requiring travel from Seattle to destinations within the continental United States benefit from a flat $1500 travel fee that includes transportation from my office to the Seattle airport, parking while there, air transportation, en route meals and miscellaneous expenses, phone calls while traveling, expenses for my daughter if she travels with me, childcare costs if she stays home, champagne and caviar if I feel wild, courier services, etc. In other words, all expenses that result from my having to leave home. At your end, please arrange to have my local transportation, hotel and room service (I’m not extravagant) direct billed to your account.

* "CSP" and "CPAE" are bestowed by the National Speakers Association. “CSP” is the highest available professional designation: “Certified Speaking Professional.” The highest award for platform excellence is the “Council of Peers Award for Excellence,” also known as the “Speakers Lifetime Hall of Fame.” Fewer than 100 speakers worldwide have received both.

Explanation of
George Walther's "Travel Fee" Policy

For all speaking engagements that require travel from my home in Seattle to any destination in the continental US, I charge an all-inclusive, flat $1500 travel fee. Sometimes, clients wonder what it includes and have questions about the basis for this fee.

The purpose of this page is to answer your questions, and I invite you to let me know if there's anything further that you need from me.

The primary reason I converted from traditional itemized expense reports to the flat fee several years ago is to provide simplicity and predictability for my clients and to reduce dreaded paperwork for myself. You may have been unpleasantly "surprised" by employees' or vendors' expense reports in the past. They sometimes include curious charges that you have not authorized, or that you find to be unreasonable. This never happens with my flat fee policy. You know exactly what my travel expenses will be well in advance, and have a single invoice to process with no untidy receipts to track.

I have chosen to be a "one-man-show" with one excellent part-time assistant to help with my correspondence and other office functions. I despise paperwork, and flat-out refuse to collect and log receipts for parking, taxis, plane tickets, etc. Instead, I simply charge all of my miscellaneous travel expenses to my company credit card, and declare your travel fee check to the IRS as earned income.

The $1500 fee includes: Transportation from my office to the airport, parking while there, air transportation, en route meals and miscellaneous expenses, destination transportation, phone calls while traveling, expenses for my daughter if she travels with me, childcare costs if she stays home, champagne and caviar if I feel wild, courier services, etc. In other words, all expenses that result from my having to leave home, with the exception of my hotel room and tax, which I ask you to have direct billed to your account.

This travel fee is not an airfare charge, though it includes airfare. I fly first class 90% of the time, but do not ask you to process an invoice showing first class airfare, which nearly always (and often outrageously) exceeds $1500. I may use an airline certificate, or purchase upgrades, or combine my plane ticket with other necessary flights.
Because this fee is inclusive of, but not limited to, actual out-of-pocket expenses, no receipts will be provided. Some trips cost me less than $1500, others cost way more. The $1500 is an estimate of the average costs for a speaking engagement journey.
If you have any unanswered questions about my travel fee policy, I welcome the opportunity to address them.