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Should You Do FREE Gigs?

Some speakers will scoff at the idea, but speaking for free might be smart business.

Getting booked

Marketing

Public speaking

Michael

Port

Co-Founder

minute read

Published on

November 18, 2024

Katie McDonald performing on stage. Photo source: Taken by Stephanie Ewens, provided by and shared with permission of Katie McDonald.

A few days after your latest event, that long-awaited email pops up in your inbox with the message: “Your speech would be perfect for our next internal event. Are you available on March 2nd?”

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The excitement starts to build as you add the potential event to your speaking calendar, start researching your future client, and prepare for the upcoming phone call. You anxiously dial the number and greet the energetic meeting planner. You’re prepared, and the call is going great—until you bring up your speaking fee.

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That’s when you hear something along the lines of: “Well, we have a pretty tight budget for this event, and we were hoping you could speak for free.”

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As the event planner anxiously awaits your answer, you’re probably thinking, “For free?!? Are you kidding me? I’ve got bills to pay and my kid’s college to save for and you’re asking me to do my job for free? The audacity!”

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Feeling frustrated or even slightly offended when event organizers ask you to speak for free is normal, especially the first few times it happens to you. When expecting to land a paying gig, the words “no budget” can be triggering.

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Perhaps you’ve found yourself in situations like this before. But rather than responding with anger, giving that event organizer a piece of your mind, and burning bridges that you might need later on, maybe you should consider speaking for free.

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Three Good Reasons to Do a Gig for Free

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The truth is, it’s actually smart business to take free gigs every once in a while. But it’s not for the usual reason event organizers give to convince you to do the gig for free–exposure. Sure, social media buzz, networking opportunities, and the amazing event location are nice perks, but that’s not why I’m suggesting you take free gigs. (People do die of exposure, after all.)

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However, when you’re starting out in the speaking industry—or when you’re introducing a brand-new speech—it can be hard to get those first few gigs that get the ball rolling. Speaking for free can be a great way to build momentum, uplevel your speech, and get a foot in the door with event organizers.

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Plus, if you’re honest with yourself when determining the value of your speech, unless you’re a celebrity, you’ll recognize that if you don’t currently have much demand for the speech, it’s hard to justify charging high fees for it. That’s not my opinion, that’s the Law of Supply and Demand.

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Here are three reasons why you should consider doing free gigs every once in a while:

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#1 To Build (or Nourish) a Valuable Relationship

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You’re not in the speaking business—you’re in the event-organizer relationship business. When you really internalize this truth, you’ll realize that doing a gig for free (or at a discount) as a favor for an event organizer who has hired you in the past (or one who you want to build a professional relationship with) can be a very good idea.

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You’ll solidify yourself in the event organizer’s mind as one of the easiest speakers they’ve ever had the pleasure of working with—and perhaps the most generous as well.

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One little favor can lead to positive recommendations, future paid gigs with the same event organizer, and stageside leads (which brings us to the next great reason to do free gigs…).

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#2 To Earn Potential Stageside Leads

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Stageside leads are the driving force of a sustainable speaking business. Simply put, stageside leads are speaking requests that come as soon as you step off stage or shortly thereafter; someone may call or write to you but the lead still came from the speech you delivered. It’s when someone who saw you speak loves it and invites you to speak at a future gig.

Full Transcript

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When you consistently earn one or more stageside lead after every speech, it’s a clear indicator you have a referable speech—and you’ll be well on your way to building a sustainable speaking business.

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If you speak for free at an event and earn one stageside lead, then that event earns you two more, and then those two events each earn you more stageside leads, just imagine how much you can earn—all because of one free gig.

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We call that the Power of Compounding Gigs. If your speech is compelling enough to generate stageside leads, it becomes its own marketing tool, allowing you to steadily raise your fees as demand grows with each successful delivery.

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The Power of Compounding Gigs Contextual Model, from GRAD | Speaking Business Mastery.

Just like this graphic shows, the potential earnings because of stageside leads that convert into booked gigs can make doing free gigs very good business.

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#3 To Improve Your Speech With the Velocity Philosophy

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The faster you get on stage and start performing your speech, the faster you’ll be able to improve your speech and get the stageside leads necessary to book future gigs and sustain your speaking career. That’s the velocity philosophy.

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But usually, when a new lead comes in, the gig can be months away. Rather than waiting for months to get on stage for the first time, finding free gigs to do in the meantime can help you grow your speaking career and improve your speech.

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The more you give your speech on stage, the more your speech will improve. You’ll get audience feedback to see what works and what needs improvement. And you can use it to test new content and make new creative decisions—with very minimal risk. It’s a great testing ground, and free gigs are a great way to rehearse your speech.

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One Free Gig Led to a $25K Coaching Deal

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Not too long ago, I received an email from Katie McDonald, one of our GRAD alumni. She successfully completed our Speech Writing, Stage Performance, and Speaking Business Mastery programs (in that order—it’s important to have a speech worth promoting before investing in education about the business of speaking).

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Katie is a keynote speaker, self-care strategist, and the founder of b.nourished, a coaching company for high achievers. As a high achiever herself, Katie didn’t just enroll in GRAD programs to learn how to create a sustainable speaking business. She came to do it.

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During the first week of the program, she secured her first free gig—to deliver her keynote at the Association of Leadership Programs annual conference. Though it seemed far away at the time, the big day finally came. And Katie put into practice everything she learned—splendidly.

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When the event organizer first spoke with Katie, she told her she would be speaking in front of an audience of 400. She later discovered it would only be around 40. It didn’t matter, because Katie prepared for it as if she was going to be speaking to a room of 4,000. She rehearsed every day, either on her own or with HEROIC rehearsal groups, iterating and upleveling her speech until she was ready for the big day.

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Before the event, she interviewed attendees and the local host. She was helpful to the event planner and easy to work with. So it was no surprise that when she arrived at the event, the organizer greeted her with excitement, saying “You are such a delight to work with, Katie!”

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At the event, Katie connected with other speakers, introduced herself to each event attendee before stepping on stage, and she even tested out using a new QR code with more resources for audience members.

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To truly and sincerely connect with audience members, speakers, and potential clients, she captured conversation notes on business cards and then followed up after the event with personalized messages.

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Long story short, she went above and beyond. Including sending flowers to the host the day after the event. Yes, that’s right. All for a free gig.

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Was it worth it? Well, for Katie, that one free gig led to:

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A gig to speak at a webinar for Global Leaders (she was referred by one of the speakers she connected with at the event).

Another virtual keynote opportunity with an audience full of prospective speaking and coaching clients.
A new coaching client who signed on for a $25,000 group coaching package.

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Katie said, “I had fun, and I felt so much better prepared and professional than I had in the past.” Her confidence and preparedness came from having the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in the business of speaking—and the commitment to actually put it into practice.

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“Dear HEROIC Faculty, thank you for helping me evolve into the transformational speaker I am meant to be. You all work so hard and I want you to know that your shared wisdom is being put into practice—by me and many others—and it is working. Lots to celebrate and lots of opportunities for growth (maybe in equal measure) so I’ll keep working. I’m so grateful for you all.”

Katie McDonald

Keynote Presenter & Self-Care Strategist

What Katie did was not challenging or difficult in and of itself. Yes, it takes some time. The truth is, many speakers aren’t willing to put the time and effort into nurturing relationships with event organizers. That’s why when you do, people notice, and big things happen as a result.

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“My ego sneered at the suggestion—but now, I’m a convert.”

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Katie confessed that when she first heard Andrew Davis and me actually recommend doing free gigs, her heart (and her jaw) dropped.

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She said, “I know how discouraged I was when you advised us to do free gigs. After having been paid $15k for things like Facebook webinars and other gigs, my ego sneered at the suggestion—but now, I’m a convert. You have transformed my understanding of free gigs.”

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It worked for Katie—for two specific reasons. Number one: the business principles and sales process we teach in GRAD | Speaking Business Mastery is based on years of real-life speaking business experience, and cold, hard data. It works. And number two: because Katie is a lifelong learner who follows the processes and does the work to grow her speaking business.

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When you do the deep work, you can transform your speaking business. You can nourish event-organizer relationships. And you can create the sustainable speaking career you’ve always dreamed of.

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So next time an event organizer suggests you speak for free, instead of sneering at the idea, you might want to consider the opportunity. When done right, it could be the spark that leads to paying speaking opportunities, coaching or consulting clients, and new ideas to uplevel your speech. After all, you never know where one free gig could lead you.

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Just like this graphic shows, the potential earnings because of stageside leads that convert into booked gigs can make doing free gigs very good business.

‍

#3 To Improve Your Speech With the Velocity Philosophy

‍

One Free Gig Led to a $25K Coaching Deal

‍

Long story short, she went above and beyond. Including sending flowers to the host the day after the event. Yes, that’s right. All for a free gig.

‍

Was it worth it? Well, for Katie, that one free gig led to:

‍

A gig to speak at a webinar for Global Leaders (she was referred by one of the speakers she connected with at the event).

Another virtual keynote opportunity with an audience full of prospective speaking and coaching clients.
A new coaching client who signed on for a $25,000 group coaching package.

‍

Don't

Katie McDonald

Keynote Presenter & Self-Care Strategist

‍

“My ego sneered at the suggestion—but now, I’m a convert.”

‍

Katie confessed that when she first heard Andrew Davis and me actually recommend doing free gigs, her heart (and her jaw) dropped.

‍

When you do the deep work, you can transform your speaking business. You can nourish event-organizer relationships. And you can create the sustainable speaking career you’ve always dreamed of.

‍

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