I recently responded to a question from one of my professional speaking groups in LinkedIn. The person asked about the value of free workshops. Absolutely, if done deliberately. Here’s my answer… For new speakers, free/unpaid speaking engagements is a great way to build momentum, brand, awareness, etc. Also, in regard to some of the other comments, invest in yourself with speaker professional development training and practice. For my first large keynote of several thousand, I rented a room and invited 50 of my friends and colleagues to lunch. I went through my presentation. Then eagerly listened to their suggestions. Best…
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I mean obviously no one pays me to speak but I think as a paid speaker you should at least do 2 or 3 unpaid (they could still pay for your travel if it’s out of town) talks a year. I mean I know you have to make money but if you speak and regularly I’m assuming you got into it to inflict change so giving a little bit of you back to the cause can never hurt.
I agree with Stephen, certainly on occasion! We all have a responsibility to give back to the communities/domains in which we work.