A few considerations about getting paid to speak for #medtwitter, #womeninmedicine, and #SoMeDocs in response to recent thread from @arghavan_salles.
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Sometimes speaking and earning those lines on your CV are actually part of your job. In that case, you should have a clear understanding about protected time from your clinical/academic responsibilities.
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Also, depending on your institution and possibly your topic, you might be limited in your ability to accept external payment for speaking, or it might be owed to your department. Do your homework!
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Assuming you don't have those limitations, there are still many reasons you may want to speak for free or very little. Passion for a cause, boost in your visibility/credibility, just for practice, travel/vacation to a place you want to go, prestige of venue, etc
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Beyond that, simple professionalism is the backbone of any contract/payment negotiation. Ask about budget, and be ready to state your fee. Take time and travel into account. But generally, as with any job interview, make sure it's a good match before you talk money.
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Know the industry standard. True, unless you're the headliner, many academic conferences don't pay speakers. Grand Rounds and similar honoraria probably don't even cover the cost for you to be out of clinical duty those days.
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On the other hand, plenty of CME and #professionaldevelopment events have considerable budget. 5 figures is not at all uncommon.
Industry and business are another story entirely, again with considerable budget.
'Non-profit' doesn't = 'no budget'.
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Figure out if what you're doing has value to you as part of your regular job, or otherwise for your own interests and development. If not, approach your speaking as any other business.
Have a fee structure and contract terms that YOU set (vs what is 'offered' to you)
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Have flexibility in your fee and let organizations know the circumstances under which you're willing to donate your professional speaking services for a reduced fee.
Use business language. They are 'booking' you or 'hiring' you to do a job, not 'inviting' you to a party.
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Be gracious about the opportunity.
It's wonderful to be asked to speak and to be recognized as an expert with value to add.
But being on stage isn't about you. It's about the audience. It's about giving them something useful- a new skill or understanding or perspective.
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🎤 Professional speaking is a fabulous way to travel, connect, learn, grow, and have an impact.
It's also specialized work.
Whether via your regular salary, a paycheck, or something else you value, it's worthy of compensation.
Never feel like you don't deserve it.
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Having said that, there's a level of excellence that's expected when you get paid to speak.
Lots of people can 'give a talk'.
Highly polished professional speaking is worth tens of thousands of dollars. Most 'talks' are not.
Know the difference. Deliver it. You can!
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It helps to have benchmarks and contract essentials, which we address in detail in The Speaking Rx and at the upcoming @WomenSurgeons Signature Speaker Series.
In the meantime, this post offers some guidance: wp.me/p4MeGD-YA
Oh WOW!
My DMs are blowing up with Qs.
How about this? Leave your questions right here on this thread and I will pull together my best answers. Plus, hopefully others will answer here too and you'll get more than one perspective on #speaking.
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And to answer 4 Qs at once:the live @WomenSurgeons Speaker Series is by application only (AWS selects)but I'll run a special class of The Speaking Rx to coincide w/ the mtg open to anyone, not just #womeninmedicine.
You can get on the list now. RxSeries.Live/Courses
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Here are some of the questions that I have received so far. Let me know which ones matter to you!
For organization, I'll put each one in its own tweet...
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#medtwitter #WomenInMedicine #professionaldevelopment #healthcarespeakers
🌀 Are meetings/planners dishonest about their budgets?
(I'm not sure if 'dishonest' is the word, but many will not be forthcoming about the best deal they could offer unless you are assertive)
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🌀How do you find venues/groups that pay well? How do they find speakers?
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🌀Do you need a bureau to represent you? How much do they charge/take as a cut? How do you get one to want to represent you?
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🌀 How do you start/continue conversations about money without sounding awkward, losing the opportunity, feeling guilty, sounding greedy?
(Spoiler - if you feel like this, you have a much bigger problem to solve in your professional life)
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🌀Do you (me) still speak for free/very little? How did you first start getting paid speaking engagements?
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🌀 What do you mean, you might not be able to accept payment, or you might owe the money to your organization? (Yes, this is a real thing)
@22/
🌀 How can a person tell if they even should/could be paid? Meaning, are there events that are clearly part of your 'day job' and no one gets paid to do? (Hint: in academics, yes!)
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