Keynote Speaker Charges for 2024 & 2025

Keynote speakers have a tremendous ability to impact the success of your event and directly sell out seats. Whether they’re an iconoclast in their field or a vaunted name that can leverage audiences to bring more eyes to your conference, calculating your speaker fees is the most important thing you can do. Comprehensive management of your total costs won’t just secure ticket sales but help you observe a healthy margin and return on investment.

Whether you’re interested in their experience or their insights across changing industry trends, multiple factors contribute to the cost of hiring a keynote speaker.

To leave no surprises and ensure your budget matches the calibre of personality you’re interested in, we’ve created a list of speaker fees that can affect your final quote. Read on to learn more.

How long you’ve allotted your guest speaker to address your audience will contribute to the cost of your quote. A 20-minute lightning round fireside chat will incur a vastly different speaker fee per hour than an intensive two-hour masterclass. Using a reliable and transparent talent booking service like Pickstar will give you a quote that reflects the length of the speaker’s engagement.

Some guests may elect to use a template schedule of speaker fees that tabulates a base rate plus inclusions or various packages that combine a selection of their offerings for a set price.

A keynote speaker’s work doesn’t begin when they step onto the stage — it begins days and weeks prior. While a professional guest speaker enthuses confidence with every word and pause, it reflects the time spent researching and tailoring their address to your event’s core message and purpose.

Whether they have had to cite journal articles and industry reports, track emerging trends or how much they will or can divulge from their own experience and expertise, this preparatory work will be expressed in their keynote speaker fee - and felt by the audience.

A corporate event is an excellent way to bring your employees together in a professional and exciting environment. From hosting a keynote address to providing coaching sessions, these activities can help motivate your workforce while they upskill in new areas of expertise. However, your guest’s academic speaking fee may differ for commercial events where their status and experience are packaged for ticket sales.

When you are looking to supply your event with the best talent and one that fits your budget, their home base or location can add to your keynote speaker’s fees - as it takes time to travel. Whether they live interstate, internationally or travel from a pre-planned holiday destination, you will typically need cover their travel costs. This could include flights, transfers and accommodation for themselves. These expenses will be deliberated during your negotiations and will be itemised to give you further clarity on your final quote.

If you’re producing a keynote address to engage employees working across remote offices or reaching an audience scattered across different corners of the globe, you could receive more competitive fees for webinars and virtual speakers — your guest won’t have to travel to your venue or delay their own personal and professional commitments.

While your guest speaker may be a leader in their field, their experience with public speaking may differ. The top keynote speakers who are well travelled on the speaker circuit and have a demonstrated ability to engage, inspire and motivate their audience can command a higher list of speaker fees than an emerging name finding their market and pace.

There is a reason why some names can fill out stadiums — they have an engaged following who are eager and motivated to follow them to their next event. Their level of success in their field and their visibility in their community will significantly affect the keynote speaker fees they can demand. From former prime ministers and beloved athletes to business magnates, they will elicit higher quotes that allow you to capitalise on their experience, expertise and network.

Considering all the factors we’ve discussed above, you have a better idea of the factors that can contribute to the cost of a keynote speaker in 2024 & 2025. While there are no set fees, talent booking platforms like Pickstar give you access to an extensive directory of the top names across all budget ranges - so it's best to get your best budget and put that forward to get the best speaker.

Our suggestion based on what other businesses are securing highly experienced Australian Keynote Speakers would be to be prepared to start at $4,000+ GST and go anywhere up to $20,000+ for household names.

And if you’re a talent manager or star wanting to extend your reach and contribute your unique point of view, sign up today for new opportunities to inspire change.