While the economy may be turning around, meeting planners are still being asked to do more with less. This makes program planning challenging when booking professional speakers for insurance and financial services conferences. And over the last few years, professional speakers have been that rare breed that has continued to raise fees amidst a receding economy.

So what do you do for your 2004 program when you find that the speaker you considered last year for $10K is now $12K — and to make matters worse, your budget has been cut back to $8K? Here are some suggestions:

• Hire a speaker with multiple talents to do more than one job. Suppose you need a keynote speaker, an emcee, and an awards host for your meeting and you have a budget for each of these. Why not hire a talented speaker who can do two or even all three of the jobs? Not only will booking fewer people help you save on expenses, but many speakers' full-day fees are not much more than their standard keynote fees.

• Find out which other groups will be in-house at the same time as your event, and call them to see what speakers they've booked. The cost of a well-known speaker can often double after adding travel expenses such as a cross-country plane ticket, hotel, ground transportation, and meals. Other than booking a speaker who lives in the same city where your meeting is, another way to avoid paying travel expenses is to do a “piggyback booking” and select a speaker whose expenses are already contractually covered by another company. In certain instances, splitting these expenses may be the more ethical way to go, but even this will be half of what you would normally pay for expenses.

• Allow your speaker to sell books and training materials on site at the event in exchange for lowering the honorarium. The majority of a speaker's income often comes from product sales versus speaking fees. Your speaker might want to promote a new book or comprehensive training programs on CD or tape. Such speakers are often willing to reduce their fees in exchange for a contractual promise to sell their products.

• Book next year's speaker this year. Since some of the most popular speakers on the insurance circuit have raised fees by 50 percent in the last five years, booking your speaker in advance allows you to secure tomorrow's speakers at today's prices. Speakers in high demand typically raise their fees annually. Many fee increases occur on January 1 as well as in June for speakers who are slated to present at the Million Dollar Round Table Annual Conference. If a speaker has not raised fees in a number of years, that may not only be an indication of his or her waning popularity, but also a warning signal that they will not bring your attendees to their feet.

Ruth Levine is founder of Speak Inc., a speakers bureau based in San Diego with offices in Chicago and Kansas City. Reach her at (858) 457-9880 or at rlevine@speakinc.com.

A SAMPLER: Speakers under $7,500

Will Miller, a psychotherapist, ordained minister and comedian, offers audiences the skills to balance the stresses of daily life.

Robert Stevenson is an author, trainer, and consultant known for raising the level of people's performance overnight.

John Powers is a businessman, television personality, humorist, playwright, educator, and author. Powers teaches leadership potential and how to keep the promises you make to yourself.

Mary LoVerde sees life as a balancing act. She helps her audiences blend a successful career and a happy and healthy family life.

e-mail the editor