Pay-to-Speak Is Turning Audiences Into Commodities

At the start of this year, I attended an event purely to observe. I wanted to understand how it was structured, how the speakers were positioned, how the audience responded and what the room felt like energetically.

What I experienced confirmed something I’ve been quietly reflecting on for some time.

The increasing normalisation of pay-to-speak stages.

Let me start by saying I understand why the model exists. From a commercial perspective, it reduces financial risk for organisers. From a visibility perspective, it offers speakers access to a platform. On paper, it can look efficient and logical. In certain situations, handled with thought and integrity, it may even work well.

What concerns me is not the existence of the model, but what happens when the audience is no longer the priority.

A stage is not neutral. It shapes trust. It shapes perception. It influences how people feel about your brand long after the event has ended.

When speakers pay to be on stage, the dynamic can shift from contribution to extraction. The audience can start to feel less like participants in a shared experience and more like prospects in a funnel. The energy becomes subtly transactional rather than transformational.

And people feel that shift.

As someone who has been speaking professionally since the age of 18, who has organised events and attended them around the world, I feel protective of the power of a stage. When curated well, it creates momentum. It creates clarity. It leaves people energised and connected. That experience compounds into reputation and trust over time.

When curated poorly, it erodes both.

This is not about judgement. There will always be nuance and exceptions. It is about standards.

If you are an organiser, your event reflects your leadership. If you are a speaker, the stage reflects your credibility. If you are an attendee, your time and energy deserve to be honoured.

We can design commercially viable events without commoditising the audience. We can select speakers for the value they bring to the room rather than simply the investment they are prepared to make. We can build rooms that elevate everyone inside them.

If this conversation resonates, you can listen to the full episode of Born To Be Brilliant here:
https://podfollow.com/born-to-be-brilliant

And if you are navigating your own next level of visibility, influence and alignment, you can take the Brilliance Quiz here:
https://www.lucyshrimpton.com/quiz

The standard we accept becomes the standard we normalise. And I believe we are capable of raising it.