Turns Out, Talking Pays Better

Turns Out, Talking Pays Better

Apr 25 , 2026. By Kidist Yidnekachew ( Kidist Yidnekachew is interested in art, human nature and behaviour. She has studied psychology, journalism and communications and can be reached at (kaymina21@gmail.com) )

Side hustle culture often begins with optimism but quickly meets structural limits. A speaking offer introduced a pricing range that can reach 200,000 Br per session. Public speaking here refers to professional event presentation and facilitation services. Compared to monthly wages in many sectors, the difference is stark. The system places higher financial weight on visibility than sustained professional labour.

The search for a side hustle has become less of a choice and more of a necessity. It often begins with simple optimism, scrolling through opportunities, asking around, hoping for something that fits. More often than not, the search circles back to the same place: mismatched skills and unavailable roles. So when a colleague recently recommended me for a public speaking opportunity, the reaction was not purely excitement. It was also a quiet, uncomfortable awareness that I was stepping into unfamiliar territory.

On paper, the role looked simple: stand in front of an audience and present. In reality, it carried a weight that forced immediate self-doubt. I am the kind of person who only commits when I feel fully prepared, and here I was, questioning whether I had any real foundation for this kind of work. School presentations suddenly felt irrelevant. My mind did what it always does under pressure, it leaned toward failure before effort even began.

The only way forward was preparation. I rehearsed scripts, adjusted delivery, and tried to build confidence through repetition. It was not natural certainty; it was constructed discipline. There is a thin line between pretending to be ready and slowly becoming ready. I stayed on that line, unsure which side I was actually on.

Then came the question that changed everything: “name your price.” It sounded simple, but it wasn’t. I froze. I had a number in mind, but no reference for whether it was too high or too low. I asked for time and immediately reached out to people already working in similar spaces.

What I learned shifted the entire situation. Public speaking and event hosting, in this context, are paid on a scale far beyond what I expected. Entry-level presenters earn around 50,000 Br per engagement, while experienced professionals can reach 200,000 Br for a single event. The range depends on audience size, brand profile, and experience, but even the baseline is significant.

That information changed my hesitation into urgency. The idea that a few hours of work could equal months of regular income reframed everything. I set my price, made the call, and waited. But the number stayed in my head long after the conversation ended.

It raised a broader question about how work is valued. Across cities and offices, the average employee wakes early, travels long distances, and works full days under constant pressure. This routine repeats five or six days a week. Despite that effort, many earn less than a fraction of what a single speaking engagement can pay. The imbalance is difficult to ignore.

This is not a rejection of high-paying roles. Specialised skills, especially those tied to communication and influence, clearly have market value. But the gap becomes harder to justify when compared to professions built on long-term training and responsibility. Healthcare is the clearest example. Doctors and nurses spend years studying and working under intense pressure, often in life-or-death environments, yet their compensation frequently falls behind roles driven by presentation and persuasion.

The issue is not that speakers earn well. It is that the market often rewards visibility more than depth. Someone who can command attention in a room may earn more in an hour than someone who spends years developing life-saving expertise. That imbalance reflects how influence is priced over impact.

At the same time, this dynamic is happening in an economy where everyday costs are rising sharply. A simple grocery run shows it clearly. Cooking oil has reached 470 Br per litre. Basic items that were once insignificant, like chewing gum, now cost multiple times more than before. Inflation is no longer a statistic; it is a daily negotiation at the checkout counter.

Yet salaries in many sectors have not adjusted at the same pace. Entry-level income often struggles to cover basic living costs. Rent, transport, and food consume most of it before anything else is considered. In that reality, the idea of a “living wage” becomes less theoretical and more urgent.

Within this gap, opportunities like high-paying freelance work begin to look less like bonuses and more like escape routes. But access to them is uneven. Not everyone can enter these spaces, even if they are capable. Networks, timing, and exposure play a major role. That creates another layer of inequality, between those who can access high-value gigs and those who remain in standard employment cycles.

My own experience sits somewhere in between. It is a personal win, but also a reminder that opportunity is often conditional. The same system that rewards confidence and visibility can also exclude those without access to it. That tension stays in the background even when individual success is achieved.

What becomes clear is that this is not just about one opportunity. It is about how value is distributed across different kinds of work. Some roles are amplified because they are visible. Others are essential but underpaid because they are routine. Both are necessary, but they are not treated equally.

In the end, the question is not whether high-paying speaking roles should exist. They should. The question is what it says about a system where persuasion can outweigh production, and presence can outweigh expertise. When a few hours on stage can equal months of structured work, something in the balance is off.

The economy is changing quickly, and inflation keeps tightening pressure on everyday life. In that environment, discussions about growth are not enough. What matters more is how that growth is shared, and whether compensation reflects the real cost of living. Without that alignment, the gap between effort and reward will only keep widening.

PUBLISHED ON Apr 25,2026 [ VOL 27 , NO 1356]