Paying Your Guest Speaker

I Timothy 5:18 says “For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,’ and, ‘The laborer is worthy of his wages.'”  No one should expect a guest speaker to speak at an event without paying them.  As you begin to plan for your event, immediate budget items should include your speaker’s honorarium and travel expenses.  If you are on a tight budget, it is best to find a speaker who is closer to home.

When you contact your potential guest speaker, one of the first questions you need to have answered is:  Does she charge for her services?  Don’t assume that all speakers are fine with a love gift or whatever you can afford.  Many speakers have a set charge because this is how they earn their living.

If the speaker does not have a set charge, we normally set the honorarium according to the number of times that she will be speaking.  It is hard to give a hard and fast rule for determining the honorarium, because so many factors come into play, including your location.  You may want to get a ball park honorarium amount from a nearby church.  Currently, our rule of thumb is between $100 and $125 per teaching.  For a retreat with three main sessions, that is about $400.  This is probably low compared to what larger churches pay.

Ministering to Your Guest Speaker

Whenever we ask a guest speaker to speak at an event or retreat, there are obvious issues such as their transportation to and from the event and their meals and  lodging for which arrangements must be made prior to the event.  It is important that all of this information be communicated to the speaker prior to the event so she is secure in knowing that her needs will be met, particularly if she is totally dependent on your for those things (i.e. she does not have her car).  She also needs to know other essential information such as what kind of dress is appropriate, what to bring, what her accommodations will be, schedule for the event (including how many times and how long she will speak) and even how many girls are expected to be in attendance.  All of that information should be conveyed to the speaker well before the event.

But during the event, we assign someone to be the guest speaker’s “hostess.”  The hostess’s job is to minister to our guest’s needs during the event.  The hostess is introduced to the guest speaker upon her arrival and she either stays close to the guest speaker throughout the event, or checks in with her regularly during the event to see if there are any needs or issues needing to be resolved.   The range of the hostess’ duties can be many and varied. Those duties can include:

• Insuring that the speaker has water (or beverage of choice) at the podium for each session;
• Running interference for the guest speaker whenever possible by acting as her “protector,” keeping the speaker from being overwhelmed by those who would demand her attention;
• Acting a a “go-fer” should the speaker forget something in her room, need a sweater, or even need to relay a message to someone;
• Acting as a liaison with the hotel to get any room problems resolved;
• Meeting any personal needs that require attention during the event (special menu needs, mints, tissues, etc.);

The hostess stays attentive to the guest speaker, and does everything in her power to insure that the guest speaker is comfortable and free of unnecessary stress during the event.