The short answer is Yes, a speaker could sue you and win
especially if you haven't kept a good enough account of what you needed them to
do, even if they performed badly, you could lose.
Obviously the usual reason a
speaker would take an Event Organiser to court would be for non payment of
their invoice.
For an Event Organiser not to
pay is often because they were either relying on ticket sales to raise the
funds or they have a policy to pay after the event and decided the speaker’s
performance wasn't as expected so withheld payment.
But, even if the speaker did a
bad performance or even failed to turn up because you changed the date and they
couldn’t make the new date, and if you didn't check the Terms and Conditions
you signed, you could still be liable and still have to pay.
Not fair is it!
Most organisations sign the
Terms and Conditions of the speakers who are savvy enough to provide them, many
without checking them carefully first. In addition, many other speakers
are reliant on just sending an invoice and a few email exchanges to be
sufficient enough which means that while you don’t have to deal with paperwork
and it seems a quick way to engage the speaker you want, you are in fact leaving
your organisation wide open to paying for a bad performance.
While the industry is and works
on word of mouth for hiring and finding speakers, there is still a high need
for them so without protecting yourself and putting in place a proper system to
limit your liability you could be hugely out of pocket as not only would you be
paying the speaker, but the court cost, the time and energy involved and the
hidden cost of audience dis-engagement from the event and if you are really
unlucky, any potential media fallout too.
To avoid this when you book a
speaker, make sure you:
1) Check their Terms and Conditions carefully to find out what
happens if something does go wrong so you can fully understand what you would
be expected to pay. And if you don't like any of their Terms, ask for
changes and agree to the new terms before you sign.
2) Understand and agree exactly what they will do for you for
their fee before the day in writing. Be
reasonable as to what can be measured and what can't. Performance is considered
objective unless it is clear they failed to meet requirements. Remember: what I think is good might not be
what you think is good, however them saying they are an expert on a subject and
then clearly demonstrating their knowledge to be less than that of the audience
is measurable!
3) If they want full payment upfront and you are not happy or able
to commit, find a third party format to hold the payment for you:
iwantaspeaker, paypal, a client bank account, solicitor, speaker bureau as examples,
or come to a payment arrangement where you are happy to take the risk and lose
the sum without it being detrimental to your budget.
4) If the speaker doesn't have any Terms and Conditions, doesn't
have any standard contracts and only relies on the ‘sending you an invoice and
a few emails’ method, make sure you have in writing exactly what they will do to
compensate you should they fail to deliver in all eventualities. Or insist they use your process which de-risks
you and standardises them. If they fail to
get through or won’t go through your process, don’t hire them.
Only by safe guarding yourself
against all speakers you work with being a possible failure, will you be able
to protect yourself from the actual one speaker who will take you to court and
win even though they didn't perform well enough and didn't deserve their fee!
It's why we built
iwantaspeaker.com
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