I have been asked to conduct a lecture series, held at a local garden shop 10 miles from my home. Each session will last for one hour, I will provide a hand-out synopsis to each participant, at my expense. There will be a Q&A period after the hour talk.
I've done this at garden clubs, colleges, but it was a long time ago.
Wondering what I should charge. The sponsor has asked what the charge will be.
Thanks for any advice !
Kate

I would start out thinking about $100 per session.
You'll have a good deal of preparation whether it centers around Power Point discussions, or by other means.
Handouts, or information sheets are hard to create at first but once accomplished they need to be updated. The second is easier then the first!
If you complete a string of 6 sessions as an example, do an honest evaluation of your performance. Did you hold their interest? Get lots of questions? All of this is important.
If the work seemed too much for the fee charged, then go a little higher if asked again. You could go lower for future talks as well. But don't sell yourself short.

I agree with Nick. The cost to produce handouts isn't cheap anymore. Printed material costs. And it's a 20 mile round trip. Gas costs. And over an hour of your time just giving the class not taking into account the prep time.
I'm an artist and one of the hardest things to build into the cost of art is the time you spent.

There are a lot of people for whom money doesn't matter much. A lot of these are the higher-ended gardeners. Art collectors, too. For them, the value is in the experience. The money is just a formality to get over with.
So, gage your audience. What kind of people are they? Location? Poor young students or retired executive types? If the latter, pick a high number. $500 per session, at least.
Besides, it's not the duplicating costs or mileage that gives the workshop its value. It's you expertise - most of which was hard won, I suspect.

In this part of Michigan, we do not have a lot of high end gardeners! Much less people in those income brackets who like to get their hands dirty. Just my opinion but $500 might put a significant % of the population off as being too much.
High end residents have gardeners take care of their gardens.

I agree with Nick. Its all in your demographic. Here where I live, I cannot charge the amount for a piece that I would be able to charge in a city down South. Something I might ask $700 for here, would sell for twice that down South. I have a friend who does the New Orleans Jazz festival as an artist vendor almost every year. She wanted me to do it with her, but she said, you would have to triple your prices. No one will buy your stuff for the prices you have it at, its to low. They would assume its low quality. I was a little astounded LOL.

Thank you, my friends.
You've helped me.
I'll ask $100 and go from there.

Anytime!

Ah! So THAT'S the reason no one ever asks me to lecture!

The thought of getting up in front of people and actually giving some sort of talk kinda mortifies me. I'm pretty socially awkward. The last time I did something like that was when my son was in middle school (he's been out of college since 2019 now). I did a presentation on the Chickasaw Indians (because my husband and son are members of the Chickasaw Nation and they wanted someone who actually had Native blood in their family to talk). I was terrified of those kids. They were pretty attentive though, especially in the short language lesson we had.

My comfort level increases when I am among my own kind - gardeners !
I've been on the lecture circuit since 1979.
Many times I learn a great deal from my audience.
Thanks, fellow gardeners, whenever I have a stumbling block - you all pick me up with great fanfare.

That would be $100 per session... right? It sounds like you will be creating the curriculum. That's a whole lot of work. People are right in that you ought to take lots of things into consideration. Some might be happy doing it for free. It's all up to you.

Twenty years ago, I did slide presentations (with real slides) for $50. Today, I do the same sort of thing in Powerpoint, and usually charge $100-150 for a 45 minute to 1 hour talk. Maybe half of the times, I get a counter-offer increase to $200!

Hi Rick
Great to hear from you.
Yes, it would be $100 per session.
Thank you for the information.

It is true, it's lots of work - the first time. Now, my handouts are already copied, I just pull out a file folder for "topic of the day", throw it in the Jeep and go.

Thanks, too, Rj.
I did check out your tip.

I belong to two garden clubs. We pay the speakers $250 per session. You will be putting in a lot of time besides the actual presentation. Don't underestimate your value.

Thank you, pgw33 !