Sure, but the time spent creating the talk content is amortized over all the times it's given. I doubt most of the speakers listed in the article are creating c

Sure, but the time spent creating the talk content is amortized over all the times it's given. I doubt most of the speakers listed in the article are creating custom talks for each speaking gig they're hired for. (From the article: "A $20,000 to $200,000 check may or may not buy a customized speech.") In my experience, if I can repeat (or mostly rehash/remix) previous talk(s) I've given, the marginal cost of giving another one is ~3 hours for one in my area vs. 1-3 full days for out of town.