Since your speaking engagement does not appear to constitute a trade or business, the income should be reported as other income and therefore avoid self-employment tax. Therefore you should use Schedule 1 instead of Schedule C to report this income.
OTHER INCOME is defined per the Journal of Accountancy as follows:
Some income-generating activities are deemed infrequent enough to constitute other income. Revenue rulings (58-112, 55-431, and 55-258) indicate that income from an occasional act or transaction, absent proof of efforts to continue those acts or transactions on a regular basis, is not income from a trade or business.
@islandhorse2023
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