A few weeks ago, I got a call from someone asking if I’d lead a three-hour workshop on intergenerational relationships at work.

They launched into all the details—the date, the audience, the session goals—and then came the line I was waiting for:

“We don’t have a big budget, but we can offer you $X as an honorarium.”

Translation: We want a five-course meal for the price of an appetizer.

Their proposed rate was roughly 10% of my typical speaking fee.

Here’s how I responded: “I love that your organization wants to learn more about intergenerational relationships at work. My speaking fee for that workshop would be $Y. If you’re able to find the budget for that, please let me know, and we can discuss further. Or we can discuss changing the scope of the work to better align with your budget.”

And that was the end of that conversation.

In my career as a professional speaker and coach, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been asked to work for minimal or no compensation. In the last few months alone, I’ve turned down dozens of unpaid and underpaid gigs. And I’m not alone. Every speaker and coach I know deals with this daily.

The problem........

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