Of course! But a better question might be, "Can you help me find a speaker who's in the area so I can save on travel expenses?" Either way, the answer is a resounding "Yes!!" But a local speaker doesn't need to live nearby. Many speakers are travelling the world, on the road all the time. Perhaps you can piggyback on another booking the speaker has in your area. You get the speaker the day before or after the other scheduled event, and expenses are being covered by someone else! We'll help you find those too! The ideal way to find a speaker is to find the speaker you want, and book them when they are already in your area on someone else's dime.

SpeakerMatch is the largest speakers bureau in the world, with access to THOUSANDS of speakers. Unlike traditional speaker bureaus, we're not committed to a specific roster of only professional speakers and/or celebrities. Not every event requires a professional motivational or Inspirational speaker, but almost every event uses the services of experts who speak. In addition to professional and emerging professional speakers, this service reaches business leaders, technical gurus, educators, seasoned public speakers, and other subject-matter experts who want to communicate what they know. Many of them speak for free or for expenses only!

We have access to the same databases of professional speakers and celebrities as any other bureau, but we also have SO MUCH MORE! Once a speaking opportunity is posted, we circulate the lead to SpeakerMatch members first unless you have a specific request for a specific speaker. If one of our members isn't a perfect match, we'll circulate your opportunity to an even wider audience of emerging speakers, authors, business leaders, technical gurus, educators, seasoned public speakers, technical specialists, medical professionals, and other subject-matter experts to help you find what you're looking for.

We don't charge a fee for finding a speaker. If you find a match, you negotiate speaking fees and expenses directly with any speakers you choose. With that said, we can give you some pretty good guidelines:

• Although some speakers will speak for free, understand they are spending time preparing their talk for you and traveling to your event, even if it's only a few miles away. Many speakers have books, products or services to offer. If you don't pay a speaking fee or buy materials up front, at least provide a table for the speaker at the back of the room and allow for at least a minor "pitch".
• For any event, it might help to think of a speaker as entertainment. A good rule of thumb is to budget the cost for a speaker (including expenses) at $10-25 per attendee. The smaller your event, the more you should budget per attendee. This range can vary significantly for seasoned professional speakers, celebrities, and in-demand personalities. Only the top 1% or so of speakers make more than $10,000 for an hour speech.
• We recommend finding at least $300 for each hour of a speaker time if at all possible. Maybe charge attendees, get a sponsor, or ask for donations? Note that some speakers already have sponsors that will foot the bill or help to defray your costs.

Speaker fees are almost always negotiable. You can sweeten your offer with perks like these:

• Videography services (for the speaker's demo reel)
• Booking multiple events at the same time
• Media exposure (press releases, articles, radio, and tv appearances)
• Buying products and services from the speaker (books, courseware, consulting time)
• Products or services from your organization
• Sponsorship opportunities
• Booking workshops or training with the speaker
• Donations to a speaker's favorite charity
• Travel perks (airfare for spouse, additional hotel days, spa treatments)

The easiest way to spread the word and get bids on your opportunity is to post a job using the button below. After one of our staff reviews your post (we may contact you for more information), we'll spread the word through our network. You'll begin getting bids often within minutes. You can review all responses and contact speakers in your online Member Center. You can also select individual speakers by browsing our directory, and use the option to send a direct request to those you're interested in.

Not if you don't want that. By default, your contact information is hidden from speakers and all contact is through our online system. You'll get notified by us when you have something to look at in your online inbox (we'll try to keep it to no more than 1 email per day).

You can find a perfect match often within minutes of posting your job. Because all of our speakers have access to our complete database of speaking leads, they can decide which engagements are appropriate for them to submit their materials. Because we're not matching speakers and meeting planners manually, like a traditional speakers bureau, it's more likely that you'll find an appropriate speaker for your event quickly. Only qualified speakers for your posted topic and who are available at the time, date, and location will respond.