I've done a reasonable number of talks for conferences/seminars. The only times I got paid in the past was when I was approached by specific companies to do a

I've done a reasonable number of talks for conferences/seminars. The only times I got paid in the past was when I was approached by specific companies to do a talk for them. Sometimes you'll get travel covered and generally you get into the conference for free. Luckily in my case my current employer is happy to cover travel/accommodation/time for speaking at relevant conferences and some time to help with talk preparation as well.