The venue wants a certificate. The slides are the bigger risk.
Speakers are asked for general liability by venues and event organizers, and that is usually the first policy they buy. The claims that cost more come from the talk itself, such as a slide with someone else’s photo, a story about a former employer or a product you endorsed on stage. We place both.
Tell us the situation.
One licensed human replies the same business day — not five agents, not an auto-responder. If the policy you have is already the right one, we will tell you.
We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.
Send us what you have. We’ll tell you if it’s right.
Your current policy paperwork, a renewal notice, or nothing at all. A licensed agent reads it and replies the same business day.
What public speaker businesses actually need.
General liability
Third-party bodily injury and property damage. It is the line nearly every contract names by default.
Without it — The certificate a venue or an organizer asks for, with them added as an additional insured, for injury and damage at your talks and workshops.
Media liability
Covers claims arising from what you publish (defamation, copyright and trademark infringement, invasion of privacy and misuse of a person’s likeness) on an annual policy for creators, podcasters, publishers and authors.
Without it — Claims over what you say, show and publish, including the recording of a talk posted online, the slides, the book and the podcast.
Professional liability
Covers the advice, the drawing, the diagnosis. The work itself, rather than someone getting hurt on your premises.
Without it — Coaching, consulting or training sold alongside the talk is advice, and a client’s claim that it cost them money is professional liability.
Inland marine & equipment
Tools, equipment and property in transit. It picks up exactly where commercial property stops, which is the moment the item leaves the building.
Without it — Projectors, microphones, cameras and the laptop with the deck, in transit and at the venue.
Non-appearance
Responds when the specific named artist people bought tickets to see cannot perform, through illness, injury or travel failure, which general event coverage does not carry by default.
Without it — Organizers buy it in case a headline speaker cannot appear. Some contracts ask the speaker about it, and it helps to know what it is.
What the regulators actually wrote down.
The FTC’s Endorsement Guides state that endorsers may be liable for statements made in the course of their endorsements.
FTC Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, 16 CFR § 255.1(e) · checked 2026-10-28
A copyright owner who proves infringement can elect statutory damages of $750 to $30,000 per work infringed, rising to $150,000 per work when the infringement was willful, without proving any actual loss.
17 U.S.C. § 504(c), Legal Information Institute · checked 2026-10-28
ISO published optional generative-AI exclusions for general liability in January 2026, including CG 40 47, which removes bodily injury, property damage and personal and advertising injury arising out of generative AI, and CG 40 48, which removes only the personal and advertising injury part.
Gallagher, "ISO introduces generative AI exclusion in commercial general liability policies" · checked 2026-10-28
The claims we actually see.
Ordered by how often we see them, not by how dramatic they are. Each one names the coverage that answers it — and the policy people wrongly assume already does.
Most common
An event contract will not be signed without a certificate naming the organizer
Covered by General liability with the organizer as additional insured
Speakers assume the venue’s insurance covers the event. It covers the venue, and the contract makes you responsible for your own part.
Common
A photographer or a label claims an image, a clip or a song in your slides after the talk is posted online
Covered by Media liability, copyright
A slide shown once in a room is assumed to be fair use. The recording on a video site is a publication, and the photographer finds it.
Less common, severe
A former employer, client or business partner says a story in the talk defamed them
Covered by Media liability, defamation
General liability is assumed to cover slander. It may, until the speaker sells recordings, books or podcasts and is treated as a publisher.
Common
An attendee is hurt at a workshop or a retreat you run
Covered by General liability
A retreat with physical activity is assumed to be covered like a talk. Activities beyond sitting and listening need to be on the application.
Less common, severe
Claims in an ad campaign you fronted as a paid spokesperson are challenged
Covered by Media liability where the form covers endorsements, plus the brand’s indemnity
The brand is assumed to answer for its own ads. The FTC says endorsers may be liable for what they say in an endorsement.
Kevin Kelsey
Founder | Principal Agent
Founder of Boring Insurance, with a background in compliance and risk management for some of Hollywood’s largest production companies.
What the insurance company will ask about your public speaker business
We read 3 applications the markets use for this kind of business and pulled out what they actually ask. Have these answers ready and a quote takes a day instead of a week, because nobody has to come back to you for the missing piece.
About the business
- What types of skiing trips do you offer (backcountry, heli-skiing, snow-cat, other)?
- How many clients do you take per year and how many days does each group typically ski?
- What elevations and terrain do you operate in?
- Are you a member of any professional ski guide organizations?
How you operate
- How do you decide when conditions are too unsafe or unskiable to run a trip?
- How do you update guides on current snow conditions between trips?
- What's your weather forecasting source and do you maintain your own weather records?
- Do you use snowmobiles or snow-cats to access terrain?
- Do you have lower-angle terrain available for bad weather days?
Safety and controls
- What are your protocols for finding and rescuing someone buried in an avalanche?
- Do you carry avalanche dogs or have access to them?
- How do you train clients to use avalanche transceivers?
- What's in each guide's pack?
- How often do you maintain and test avalanche transceivers?
Your history
- Have you had any incidents, claims, lawsuits or losses related to your ski guiding business?
- Have you ever been convicted of any crime?
- Do you currently have insurance with another company?
Money and people
- How much do you expect to earn annually from guided trips?
- What are the ages and experience levels of your guides?
Have these ready
- Your guide roster with each guide's age, experience, and resume for key staff
- Your avalanche transceiver maintenance records and schedule
- Your client release and acknowledgement of risk form
- All brochures and promotional materials showing how you market your trips
- Your previous insurance information if you have current or past coverage
You answer what you can; a licensed agent fills the rest with you.
What our public speaker clients ask us.
Do public speakers need insurance?
Most buy general liability because a venue or an organizer asks for it, and that is a fair first purchase. Media liability matters once your talks are recorded and posted, you sell books or courses, or you tell stories about real people and companies. Speakers who also coach or consult need professional liability for the advice.
What does an event organizer usually require from a speaker?
A certificate of general liability at the limit the contract names, with the organizer and often the venue added as additional insureds, sometimes with a waiver of subrogation. Read the insurance clause before you sign and send it to us, because the endorsements it asks for have to be on the policy, not only on the certificate.
Does general liability cover what I say on stage?
Partly. Its personal and advertising injury coverage includes slander and some privacy claims for an ordinary business, and it excludes insureds in the business of publishing or broadcasting, which a speaker selling recordings, books or podcasts may be. It excludes most copyright claims, and from 2026 it can carry CG 40 48, which removes that coverage for anything arising from generative AI.
What will the underwriter ask a speaker?
A description of the appearances, how many you make a year and, if you are a product spokesperson, the clients, the products and the contracts. Then how you use other people’s material, meaning photos, film clips and music in slides, whether images of famous people are cleared, whether you give health or financial advice and use disclaimers, and whether the talks are recorded and published.
I am a paid spokesperson for a product. Am I liable for the ads?
You can be. The FTC’s Endorsement Guides say endorsers may be liable for statements made in the course of their endorsements, so say only what you believe and can support, and disclose the paid relationship. Ask the brand for an indemnity in the contract and to name you as an insured on its own advertising coverage, and tell your underwriter about the arrangement.
I use AI to make slides, images or a translated voice for my talks. Any exposure?
Some. An AI image that copies a photographer’s style closely or shows a real person or a brand can bring a copyright, trademark or likeness claim once the talk is posted. A voice clone of anyone but yourself needs their signed consent. Check your general liability for CG 40 47 or CG 40 48 and confirm your media policy covers AI-made content.
What does public speaker insurance cost?
We do not publish a range. General liability for a speaker is priced on revenue and on what happens at your events, and is often the smaller part. Media liability is priced on what your talks cover, whether they are recorded and sold, how you use other people’s material and the limit a contract asks for.
What does a public speaker insurance application ask for?
The applications for public speaker businesses ask about 4 things above all: what types of skiing trips do you offer (backcountry, heli-skiing, snow-cat, other); how do you decide when conditions are too unsafe or unskiable to run a trip; what are your protocols for finding and rescuing someone buried in an avalanche; have you had any incidents, claims, lawsuits or losses related to your ski guiding business. Have your guide roster with each guide's age, experience, and resume for key staff and your avalanche transceiver maintenance records and schedule ready and a quote takes a day instead of a week.
Commercial insurance is 96% of what we do — it is not a department here, it is the whole business. Not ready to talk? The guides answer the questions this page raises in more depth. Already insured with us and need a certificate or a policy change? Ask the service team rather than starting a quote — it is faster and it goes to the people whose job it is. We also write home and auto, which is usually cheaper alongside the business policy than apart from it.
Handed a lease, a vendor packet or a client contract with insurance requirements? Paste it into the COI Requirements Decoder to see what each one means for your business, or read what the requirements mean.