I’ve heard a lot of arguments about this one over the years – and different speakers have different opinions. In any speech, your personal experiences are crucial, but particularly in inspirational keynote presentations. Often referred to as your ‘signature story’, it’s the story you’re most known for, the story that slams home your point. Your ‘overcame abuse’, ‘survived the accident’, ‘ran a marathon on one leg’ story which resonates in your audiences memory long after they leave.
Some speakers open with it. Others embed it later on. Some delay it to the very end. All can be effective, but it depends both on your audience, and what you've been called to deliver.
Open With It
This is my LEAST favorite option, but I hear it a lot.
PROS: Gets it out to your audience quickly, and lets you build the rest of your presentation off an emotional high.
CONS: If they don't know, like and trust you, there's no guarantee they're going to give a whit about your big story, and you'll lose them entirely.
WHO IT WORKS FOR: Celebrity speakers - folks the audience already have a connection to through fame or industry. All others beware. (Tip: If your audience has paid to hear you speak, to them, you're a celebrity.)
Before Your Process
You've set the table - connected with the audience, defined the problem, and promised a solution. Now you let it all loose with your signature story. Afterward, you make your points one by one, calling back to various parts of your great adventure to support each point as you failed/learned/succeeded through it all.
PROS: You have full control of the narrative and how it will be interpreted. You come off looking like an expert, one who has gone in one end and come out the other better for it. You are the leader they need!
CONS: You may not ever return, which means they need to lead themselves. If they only have your story and experience to relate too, it may not be enough.
WHO IT WORKS FOR: Preachers, Politicians, Business Leaders - those who are building a following, a tribe. If you're going to stick around, you can inspire the troops to follow you to hell and back with your signature story. (Tip: Even in this scenario, the more you can get your audience seeing themselves succeeding by imitation, the better off you'll be. Most followers see themselves as leaders in their own right.)
After Your Process
This is my personal preference.
Hook 'em, empathize with them, promise them a solution, paint the sunny future they'll have when they apply your process, which you offer with a combination of short personal anecdotes and third party examples, and then LOWER THE BOOM.
PROS: By now they trust you. They've laughed with you. They understand what you're saying is more about them than about you. They don't see you as the inimitable hero of the presentation - instead they know they have tools to move forward with in their own life.
CONS: If your presentation is too long, and your process too complicated, by the time you get to you amazing keynote story, your audience may not really want it. You'll probably have to edit it down, and occasionally, depending on time, delete it entirely.
WHO IT WORKS FOR: Pretty much everybody. For the average speaker, your information will have more leverage than your inspiration - your inspiration is the frosting on top. If the celebrities, preachers, and politicians would try it, they might find it more effective than what they're doing now. (Tip: have small, medium and large versions of your story - if time does become an issue, you'll be ready.)
Takeaway
But Rich, my story is why I want to speak in the first place! To share my trials and tribulations! Yeah, I know. But why do you want to share them? For recognition? For sympathy? If it's for any other reason than helping others through their own version of the difficulties you've made it through, you're more likely to an entertainer than a speaker. There's nothing wrong with that, and the sooner you realize it the better.
You signature story should be the final proof of all you've talked about in the presentation. The story that lets your audience know you DO understand them, you HAVE been there, and you're ready to help THEM get to the other side. Yes, your big story is all about you - but in the end, your audience should feel like it is really all about them.
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