Each and every time I speak on somebody's stage or in their event, I must have the opportunity previously to read the contract. It is not because I think I'm all that; it isn't because I think someone is going to get me. I must read the contract and also have my attorney read it first because I'm protecting the assets of my company - me! That is correct if you are a speaker, consultant, trainer, or any valuable part of your company. Then, you are an important asset. Therefore, you have to protect yourself from harm, and you also must protect your business secrets, ideas, as well as contents from becoming someone else's property.
I am aware that many individuals wish to accomplish things on a verbal agreement or a handshake. Nonetheless, in terms of situations in which you do not agree, not having a contract can kill you or set you back, and sometimes it will be both. For instance, recently I was requested to speak at an event. Because the event was on again, off again, it made things challenging to complete. After I arrived at the venue, I realized that they had a brand new contract for me, one that I had not seen previously. I refused to sign it without my lawyer first previewing it. Of course, it made things uncomfortable for a couple of minutes, rather I be uncomfortable now then facing litigation or restitution for damages later on.
You see within the contract, it was clear that they wished for me to assume every liability if I were injured at their event. I do not need my attorney to know that if they do something out of negligence which causes me harm, I don't want to assume liability for that nor provide them with the ability to walk away from the responsibility of faulty equipment. For that reason, I refused to sign it. I became disappointed and frustrated, and willing to walk away rather than speak in that venue if their lawyer couldn't make changes or come up with another way to solve the issue. Again, I was not being difficult, I was making them take responsibility for not taking action for mailing the contract before I made the journey to their event.
Allow me to give you one more illustration of how agreements will save you as an audience member, too. At events, they frequently have you sign a waiver for making use of your image. Fortunately, my client had signed one in an event she attended because later after they said they were filming something at the event to which she didn't agree, she extracted herself from the filming location. Later, she was told she appeared in the video to which she tried to avoid. Luckily, her waiver only gave permission for the venue at hand and didn't provide permission for any other usage of her image. Therefore, she was able to demand her image was obscured in order to avoid her having any connection to something that she did not support.
As you can see, there are a lot of reasons to have agreements. The very best one is to make it clear of the expectations between you and the other party. For that reason, see agreements as a positive aspect rather than a negative aspect. They are there to protect you and also to safeguard other people. And finally they are there to protect your company and your assets, and your most important asset could just be you!
About the Author:
James Malinchak, Showcased on ABC's Hit Tv Show Secret Millionaire, is regarded as by a lot of professionals as the World's #1 Big Money Speaker Coach and Trainer. For Free of charge Video Trainings regarding how to get paid to speak and ways to be a motivational speaker, visit http://www.millionairespeakersecrets.com/.
