Speaking fees are one of the most misunderstood parts of building a speaking business. Too many speakers set their fees based on guesswork, competitive anxiety or a number they pulled from thin air — and then wonder why the business isn’t growing the way it should.

In this episode, I’m joined by Alex Merry, founder of Mic Drop, a membership community for thought leaders who speak. Alex has lived the full arc of pricing confusion — from a £200 six-month program he invented on the spot to a £5k per person offer he can sell without more friction than before. He also ran one of the most comprehensive speaking fee surveys out there, collecting data on more than 500k£ in speaking engagements, and what he found challenges a lot of what speakers assume.

We get into:

• How his pricing evolved over 11 years and what finally forced the change
• What the data reveals about where the real speaking money is (and isn’t)
• Why the gender gap in speaking fees is more complicated than it looks
• What it took to go from 17 products down to 2 and why he did it

If speaking is part of how you build your business — whether paid or free — this one is worth your time.

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A QUICK NOTE: If this is showing up in your business right now, it’s often a sign that pricing needs structure — not another tweak. Here’s how I work with clients to give them clarity.

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Favorite quotes from this episode

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Episode Links:

• Mic Drop community
• Alex’s speaking fee toolkit (includes the Mic Drop Open Speaker Fee Project report)
• Alex on LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/mralexmerry
• Want help identifying where your pricing needs help, ask me about a Pricing review. Book a call.

Episode Summary

Speaking fees and the stories we tell ourselves

Most people who speak professionally — or who want to — carry a number in their head. A number they think is reasonable. A number they’ve quietly benchmarked against what they imagine others are charging. And a number they’re often not entirely sure how to defend.

Alex Merry has spent years inside this world. As the founder of Mic Drop, a membership community for thought leaders who speak, he’s coached hundreds of founders on how to position and price their expertise on stage. He’s also been through his own full arc of pricing confusion — starting with a £200 six-month program he invented on the spot and building to offers that would have been unrecognizable to his earlier self. In this episode, he brings both sides of that experience: what he learned the hard way, and what the data actually shows about speaking fees.

From £200 to £5k — and what changed in between

Alex’s first pricing decision was not a decision at all. He needed money, he had an audience, and he picked a number out of thin air it was a guess. Ten people signed up. It worked — but it also set the tone for years of pricing that was reactive, accumulative, and increasingly disconnected from the value he was delivering.

The number eventually moved. More than once. But what’s more interesting than the trajectory is what each jump revealed about the relationship between price, friction and the clients who show up. The lessons from those moves are not what most people expect — and they reframe what it takes to raise your fees without losing the room.

When 17 products becomes the problem

Parallel to that pricing journey was something that happens to a lot of experienced service providers: the offer list kept growing. Every inquiry became a potential new product. Every idea that worked for one client seemed like it should work for others. By the time Alex stopped to look at it clearly, he had 17 different offerings.

The business was flatlining. He was working harder than he ever had. And the breaking point — when it finally came — led to an exercise so simple it’s almost embarrassing. What it revealed about the connection between his pricing, his enjoyment and the health of the business is one of the more honest moments in this conversation.

What the speaking fee data actually shows

In 2023, Alex ran the Mic Drop Open Speaker Fee Project — collecting anonymous data from speakers who had been paid for engagements. By the time he had 500+ data points, the picture that emerged challenged some of the core assumptions speakers carry about where they sit in the market.

The headline finding will surprise most people. And the detail underneath it — about where the real speaking fees are actually being paid, and where most speakers are looking instead — is the kind of thing that quietly reorients how you think about which rooms are worth your time.

The gender gap and what’s underneath it

The data also surfaced a gender gap in speaking fees. Alex wanted to examine it carefully rather than report it superficially, so he dug into what was driving the numbers. What he found wasn’t simply that women charge less. It was more specific than that — and more actionable.

The pattern he identified connects to behaviors that affect speakers across the board. Not just in how fees get set, but in what happens before the conversation about fees even starts. That’s where the real leverage is, and it’s largely going unused.

Pricing power and who actually holds it

One thread that runs through both Alex’s personal journey and the survey data is that speakers have considerably more control over their speaking fees than they typically exercise. The question is why that control gets given away — and at what point in the process it happens.

This connects to something Alex believed for years that he no longer believes: that higher fees require more work. Understanding what replaced that belief, and what it took to actually change it, is one of the more useful parts of this conversation.

There’s also a point about payment terms that doesn’t get enough airtime in conversations about speaking fees. Alex has a clear position on it. It challenges one of the default assumptions most service providers carry without ever questioning — and it’s worth hearing his reasoning.

When free is the better business decision

Paid speaking feels like the goal. It’s visible, it’s validating, and it’s what most people in Alex’s world are working toward. But one of the more provocative arguments in this episode is that the bigger commercial opportunity might not be where everyone is looking.

Whether you’re building toward paid speaking or already there, the conversation about when free makes more sense — and what has to be in place for it to — is one that most speakers aren’t having clearly enough.

Press play to hear Alex make the case.

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Episode FAQ

1) How much should I charge for a speaking engagement?
Speaking fees vary widely depending on the type of event, the audience, and your location. Data suggests most paid engagements fall well under what speakers assume the market rate to be — and the gap between what’s possible and what most speakers charge often comes down to how the conversation is structured, not the speaker’s ability.

2) Why is there a gender pay gap in speaking fees?
The gap exists, but the numbers tell a more specific story than most people expect. It’s less about what organizations are willing to pay and more about patterns in how speakers — across genders — approach the fee conversation before it even starts.

3) Is it worth speaking for free?
It depends entirely on what’s underneath the talk. Free speaking engagements can generate more commercial return than paid ones — but only under certain conditions. Whether those conditions are in place is a question worth answering before you say yes or no.