Specific and Vulnerable

Once you identify the raw material, shape it deliberately. A signature story should have these qualities:

• Specific: names, places, and sensory details that make it feel viscerally real
• Vulnerable: a moment of doubt, failure, or fear that makes you deeply human
• Universal: a theme anyone can connect to regardless of their background
• Purposeful: a clear reason this story matters to this audience right now

Strip away anything that does not serve these four qualities. Your signature story should be lean enough to tell in two minutes but rich enough to remember for years afterward.