Speaker fees in New Zealand are one of those topics everyone thinks about, but almost no one talks about openly.
Ask ten speakers what a keynote should cost and you’ll get ten wildly different answers. Ask ten organisers what a speaker should be paid and you’ll hear everything from “we’ve got no budget” to “we paid a fortune last time and it was awful.”
The result is confusion on both sides of the stage.
This article isn’t here to tell you what you should charge, or what organisers should pay. It’s here to explain why speaker fees in New Zealand range from a cup of tea and a scone at the local RSA… all the way up to six figures - and how to understand where you fit within that landscape.
Because once you understand the structure underneath the numbers, the pricing suddenly makes a lot more sense.
The real pricing spectrum (and why it’s wider than people realise)
At the very top of the global speaking market sit figures whose presence alone is the product.
Former US President Barack Obama reportedly commands around $600,000 for a keynote. At that level, the fee isn’t about content design or audience outcomes. It’s about history, access, symbolism, and global profile.
Step down slightly and you’re in the realm of international celebrity experts - astronauts, world-famous thought leaders, or figures whose careers are genuinely once-in-a-generation. These speakers often sit in the $50,000–$100,000+ range once travel and conditions are factored in.
In New Zealand, our highest profile national figures tend to sit below that. Former Prime Minister John Key, for example, is widely known to command around $50,000 for a keynote.
What’s important here isn’t the number... it’s what the fee represents.
John Key’s keynote is famously identical wherever it’s delivered. Same structure. Same stories. Same gestures. Same timing. If you’ve seen it once, you’ve essentially seen it every time.
That repeatability isn’t laziness. It’s professionalism.
Below that tier sit internationally recognised experts - people like behavioural and communication specialists who may charge $15,000–$25,000 depending on geography. The same keynote delivered in Canada or the US often commands significantly more than it does in New Zealand.
From there, the New Zealand market opens right up.
To make sense of it, it helps to think in tiers, not just dollar amounts:
Tier 0: Exposure, charity, community events
$0–$500
Tier 1: Emerging / secondary-income speakers
$500–$2,000
Tier 2: Developing professional speakers
$2,000–$4,000
Tier 3: Professional keynote speakers
$5,000–$8,000+
Tier 4: Elite national or international figures
$15,000+
For corporate audiences, $8,000–$10,000 is generally regarded as high in New Zealand. $5,000 often feels like the psychological ceiling - the point where organisers start hesitating, asking questions, or saying things like “we got burnt last time.”
Below that, you’ll find a broad middle:
- $2,000–$4,000 for professional speakers with solid experience
- $1,000–$2,000 for developing speakers building credibility
- $500 (or less) for schools, community events, and secondary-income speakers
And at the very bottom? Symbolic fees, koha, exposure gigs, and yes... the occasional cup of tea and scone at the RSA.
None of these are inherently right or wrong.
They’re just different contexts.
Why the same “hour on stage” costs wildly different amounts
A quick practical note: speaker fees are usually base fees. Travel, accommodation, logistics, additional sessions, or custom workshops are often negotiated separately. When organisers compare prices without accounting for this, it can distort expectations on both sides.
One of the biggest mistakes people make when thinking about speaker fees is assuming they’re paying for time.
They’re not.
They’re paying for risk reduction.
A high quality keynote isn’t an hour of talking. It’s dozens of hours of:
- message design
- scripting and structure
- rehearsal and refinement
- slide creation
- testing what lands and what doesn’t
By the time a polished 30-minute keynote exists, it may represent 30–40 hours of focused work.
And once it exists, organisers aren’t paying for creativity in the moment... they’re paying for certainty.
Certainty that:
- the talk will land
- the timing will work
- the message will be clear
- the audience won’t disengage
- the speaker won’t ramble, waffle, or derail the programme
That’s why the most expensive speakers are often the most predictable.
Not boring. Predictable.
They know exactly what’s going to happen... and so does the organiser.
The biggest distortion in the NZ market (that no one names)
There’s a factor that quietly warps pricing in New Zealand more than anything else.
The difference between primary income speakers and secondary income speakers.
Some people speak for a living. Their fee has to cover preparation time, travel, recovery, opportunity cost, and the fact that saying yes to one gig means saying no to something else.
Others speak in addition to their main job.
University lecturers. Academics. Professionals on salary. Subject matter experts who are already paid Monday to Friday.
When these speakers are offered $500 or $1,000 for a talk, it feels like a bonus. It goes straight into their pocket. There’s no business overhead to justify.
And that’s completely valid.
The problem is when organisers unconsciously compare those fees to speakers for whom speaking is the job.
Suddenly, $5,000 feels outrageous... even though it’s pricing two very different realities.
When price and professionalism don’t match
Here’s where things get uncomfortable.
Some of the strongest resistance to higher speaker fees in New Zealand comes from organisers who have already paid premium prices... and received low rigour delivery.
Expensive speakers who:
- are lightly prepared
- rely entirely on “my story”
- customise on the fly
- lack clear structure
- don’t know what will land until they’re on stage
In other words, they behave like $500–$1,000 speakers while charging $8,000+.
When that happens, the internal takeaway is brutal but logical:
“We paid big money and got amateur execution.”
That single experience poisons future budgets. Great speakers get compared to average ones. And mediocrity drags the whole market down.
For organisers, the lesson is simple but important: price alone tells you very little. What matters is how the speaker prepares, how repeatable their talk is, and how much uncertainty you’re taking on.
This is why $5,000 feels risky in New Zealand.
Not because good speakers aren’t worth it - but because organisers have been burnt.
How speakers actually move up the pricing ladder
This is where things get interesting.
Moving up the pricing ladder isn’t about charging more. It’s about operating differently.
$500–$1,000: Community and secondary income speaking
At this level, speaking is often:
- valuesdriven
- lightly prepared
- storyled
- flexible and informal
There is nothing wrong with this level. Many people happily stay here.
$2,000–$4,000: Professional intent
This is where speakers start to:
- define a clear talk (not just a story)
- understand audience outcomes
- get repeat bookings
- introduce structure and scripting
Professionalism begins to matter more than charisma.
$5,000–$8,000: Professional speaker tier
This is the real inflection point.
At this level, speakers usually have:
- a repeatable keynote
- confidence in exactly what lands
- strong structure and transitions
- supporting assets (slides, notes, flow)
- proof: video, testimonials, references
Here, you’re no longer paid for time on stage. You’re paid for reducing risk.
Premium and elite tiers
Beyond this point, pricing reflects:
- profile
- scarcity
- trust
- and the absence of uncertainty for organisers
At the top end, the product isn’t the talk. It’s certainty.
There is no “right” fee... only a coherent one
The biggest mistake speakers make is copying someone else’s number.
The healthiest question is simpler:
“Does my fee match how I actually operate?”
Does it reflect your preparation?
Your repeatability?
Your reliability?
Your enjoyment and sustainability?
Because when price and professionalism align, everyone wins.
Speakers enjoy their work.
Organisers feel safe investing.
Audiences get better experiences.
And slowly... standards rise.
That’s what the New Zealand speaking industry actually needs.
