Questions About Speaking with Free Speakers Dallas-Fort Worth

Professionals become guest speakers in Dallas-Fort Worth by joining Free Speakers Dallas-Fort Worth, a pro bono speakers bureau that lists free presentations for groups across Dallas-Fort Worth. Apply on the Free Speakers Dallas-Fort Worth Become a Speaker page: choose a membership, add your bio, a headshot and a description of each talk, and pay the annual fee through Square. The speaker success team then builds your profile and sends your login.

A Free Speakers Dallas-Fort Worth membership costs $34.99, $49.99 or $99 a year. Basic lists up to two topics; Advanced adds a link to your website and up to four topics, listed above Basic; Elite adds your social media links, a YouTube video, up to ten topics and a spot on the home page. Groups never pay to book a speaker.

Guest speakers with Free Speakers Dallas-Fort Worth don’t need to be professional speakers. Most are business owners, financial advisors, coaches, attorneys and other experts who share what they know with community groups, and many professional speakers belong too. Each needs a presentation worth hearing, a professional headshot and a clear description of what the audience will learn.

A Free Speakers Dallas-Fort Worth review team reads every speaker application before the speaker is listed. It turns away speakers or topics that don’t fit the bureau’s community service purpose or are too fringe.

Every Free Speakers Dallas-Fort Worth profile needs a professional headshot of the speaker alone. Selfies, logos and group photos don’t work, because the photo is the first thing a program chair sees when choosing a speaker, and a good one brings more requests.

More than 100 groups across Dallas-Fort Worth have booked speakers through Free Speakers Dallas-Fort Worth since 2025, from Rotary and Kiwanis clubs and libraries to chambers of commerce, senior centers, schools, churches and employee groups.

Speakers get more speaking engagements in Dallas-Fort Worth by joining Free Speakers Dallas-Fort Worth, where groups across Dallas-Fort Worth request free presentations throughout the year. Offering a free presentation, or a free version of a paid one, builds a network of program chairs, members and referrals that leads to more requests. Chicago speaker Larry Bergnach gave some 250 free talks through Free Speakers over 14 years, as the Daily Southtown reported.

Many professional speakers belong to Free Speakers and give free presentations to community groups to grow their business. Some present a condensed version of a paid keynote, others try out new or different material, and some “graduate” from the bureau to become full-time professional speakers. Motivational keynote speaker Doug Dvorak gave more than 35 free talks in his first year with Free Speakers before paid requests followed. He tells the story in Free to Fee: How FreeSpeakers.org Launched My Professional Speaking Career.

When several new speakers join, Free Speakers Dallas-Fort Worth emails a “New to FreeSpeakers.org” newsletter to the groups that have used the bureau before, so new speakers get an early introduction to program chairs.

Free Speakers Dallas-Fort Worth emails the speaker the group’s contact name, phone number, email and event details. The speaker contacts the group within three business days, even to decline, to settle the date, format and details; many groups also ask for a written bio for their newsletter. The request email has buttons to confirm or decline, and one reminder follows if a speaker hasn’t answered in three business days.

Free Speakers Dallas-Fort Worth speakers choose which requests to accept, and either side can decline after talking. A speaker who can’t take a request can tell the group directly, or use the Decline button in the request email and let Free Speakers Dallas-Fort Worth email the group with other speakers to choose from.

Free Speakers Dallas-Fort Worth speakers live all over the Metroplex, so some are close to a group and others quite far. Each speaker decides how far to travel and settles it with the group when they talk, and many also present online when a group is too far away.

Free Speakers Dallas-Fort Worth speakers can turn on “Available For Virtual Presentations” in their speaker profile. Their presentations then also appear on the Free Speakers virtual speaker list, where groups anywhere in the country can request them, alongside local in-person requests.

Free Speakers Dallas-Fort Worth does not allow speakers to sell products at a presentation. Authors may bring books, but any sales pitch must be extremely low key, because the point of a free presentation is to educate the group, not to sell to it.

Free Speakers Dallas-Fort Worth speakers can hand out materials that relate to the talk, such as the slide deck, and business cards. Groups welcome useful handouts, and people often line up after a presentation to talk with the speaker.

Free Speakers Dallas-Fort Worth speakers update their profile and add or edit presentations by logging in through Speaker Login at the foot of every Free Speakers Dallas-Fort Worth page. Each membership lists up to its plan’s number of topics: two for Basic, four for Advanced and ten for Elite.

Speakers upgrade from Basic to Advanced or Elite by calling the Free Speakers team at (312) 585-7677.

Free Speakers Dallas-Fort Worth publishes only the profile and presentations a speaker provides and never shares a speaker’s information anywhere else. See the Privacy Policy for details.