Pay & Say: LV man finds celebrity speakers

Bruce Merrin packs podiums with people.

As owner of the Las Vegas-based Celebrity Speakers and Entertainment Bureau, Merrin's job is matching clients -- multinational conglomerations, national associations and even local social clubs -- with speakers, from former presidents Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford to sports figures such as Mike Ditka and Walter Payton.

He also books personalities who technically don't speak at all, such as Lassie.

Merrin admits that there are very few people he wouldn't book on the rubber chicken circuit -- he even booked a convicted felon, in the days right after Watergate.

"People would say, how can you book G. Gordon Liddy?" he says. "I explained, 'We're not here to make judgments, we're here to book who the group wants.' My job is a conduit."

Merrin, who this year marks his 25th year in the business and his eighth in Las Vegas, has found that the caliber of speakers has improved over the years.

"Years ago, a motivational speaker was some guy who would jump up and down and rant and rave," he says. "Now, the key word is substance. People don't want a hollow, marshmallow, pat-yourself-on-the-shoulder kind of thing, they want something they can use in their everyday lives."

Although speakers bureaus have traditionally been a niche business, with only about 400 such companies in the nation, those in the industry say the field has been growing.

"There's been a boom in the business, as organizations have been looking for more entertaining speakers," Mark French, president of Washington D.C.-based Leading Authorities, one of the top speakers' bureaus in the country, says. "There's a thirst for knowledge, for new ideas. Companies want to bring in people outside their organizations to add spark and momentum."

With their contacts and know-how of the trendy topics, bookers can be better positioned to select the perfect speaker for a group than its own members.

"It's hard for people in business to keep up with who the speakers are that can help them get their point across," Vicki Marshall says. She runs Victoria's Destination Services, a local meeting planner firm that works with local speakers such as Valerie Weiner, and is negotiating to book Steve Forbes and Ben & Jerry (of ice cream fame). "We are constantly reading about people and viewing them and seeing who would be interesting to our clients."

Bookers are flooded with tapes and press kits from aspiring speakers, who can earn several hundred thousand dollars a year -- if they find success. Bookers must pore through them, deciding which ones are ready for the lecture circuit.

"Speakers' management (firms) are always on the search for people (who) are up-and-coming speakers (who) have never been seen," Debbie Kolb, a spokewoman for Leading Authorities, says. "Someone who will be the big thing in five years."

"Part of it is, are they a name someone is going to recognize?" Merrin says, explaining how he chooses a speaker. "If not, what are their areas of expertise? If they're a nuclear biologist, I don't think I'll have a lot of bookings."

Some of the most popular topics nowadays are future trends, technology and management issues and motivational speakers. Some of the more popular speakers cited by bookers include futurist Harry Dent, Jr., who speaks on business forecasting; Daniel Burrus, author of "Technotrends," who speaks on technology; John Amatt, a former Mt. Everest climber who speaks on risk- taking; and Michael Treacy, who speaks on corporate strategy.

Small regional bookers such as Merrin and Marshall can compete with much larger firms such as Keppler Associates and Leading Authorities, because all of them can book almost any speaker desired through a system based on non-exclusivity.

"If I had a client who wants George Bush, we would go to a national bureau that handles him and we would co-broker him," Marshall explains. "The agency and I would split the fee. It is competitive business, but honorable."

Brokers generally take a hefty 30 percent of the speaking fee in return for the services they provide.

That includes questioning their clients, associations, meeting planners or corporate executives about who will be in the audience, whether they have a theme, and whether they want a certain type of speaker.

"Most often, they end up booking a speaker different than what they originally had in mind," French says. "They were attracted by a certain name, but hadn't thought it through."

A succeesful booker acts like a matchmaker, successfully pairing up partners who click.

For example, a women's business group asked Merrill to find a speaker for their evening event, a pajama party. He set them up with a dream analyst. For corporate functions with an Olympian theme, Merrill will pore through his list for a real-life Olympian such as Bruce Jenner.

Nowadays, clients can do much of the legwork themselves by scanning through video clips provided on a website or by listening to taped clips over the phone.

When they have picked who they want, the price they will pay is generally determined by newsworthiness, name recognition and talent.

"Speaking fees are determined by the market," French says. "There is a wide range of payments, because someone may have a good message and be eloquent, but is not well known. On the other extreme, you have somebody that is a big name, and the client is paying for the personality. But for that kind of money, they still better be a good speaker."

Speakers reach a certain echelon, with local speakers generally going for around $5,000, and national figures ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 and beyond.

A super-select speaker, such as former President Reagan (when he was still on the speaking tour), was in the $100,000 range. Businessman Lee Iacocca netted $60,000. "Venus & Mars" author John Gray gets more than $50,000 per engagement. Futurist Faith Popcorn garners around $25,000 a pop.

According to Speakers On-line Index (speakers.com), a website that lists speakers' fees, Charlton Heston, humorist Dave Barry, astronaut Jim Lovell and basketball coach Pat Riley charge "more than $20,000" for a keynote address, while Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Art Linkletter and Greg Gumbel are a bit farther down the payscale at $10,000 to $20,000.

Still, when it suits them, speakers may waive the fee. Bill Gates is said to speak gratis at the Comdex convention, while celebrities often waive fees for charitable causes they support.

For those groups unable to pony up the necessary bucks, there are other options for booking a speaker. UNLV's speakers' bureau offers most of its professors as available speakers in its directory of experts catalogue.

"This is a good deal for an organization that doesn't have a budget to pay for speakers, and you're getting an expert in the field," Diane Russell, who runs the bureau, says.

The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce also offers complimentary speeches for its members from about 80 local speakers, addressing topics from finance to motivation. They include Brian Cram, superintendent of the Clark County School District; Police Capt. Randy Oaks; Las Vegas Thunder Coach Chris McSorley; Kay Collis, a Mary Kay Cosmetics consultant; and Punam Mathur, director of community relations for the Mirage.

"If a chamber member requests it, they expect it to be free," Nancy Arnold, marketing secretary, says. "The (speaker does it for the exposure."

However, Marshall points out that there is value in hiring a professional speaker, if the money is available. "If you want the (higher) caliber of speakers, they won't speak for nothing," she says.

Still, just because someone has a marquee value doesn't mean they were made for the microphone. Once, Merrin booked a popular Los Angeles talk radio host who was silky smooth on the air, but froze before his first audience of aerospace employees.

"Just because someone is brilliant at what they do doesn't necessarily mean they're a good speaker," Merrin says. "We book a lot of famous sports stars, and some are great behind the podium, but others are absolutely awful. We tell people, 'if you want them to sign autographs, that's fine, but behind the podium, they're not going to cut it.' "

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