Signature Story Program

At a glance

1:1 program · Your own signature story · Max. 2 per month

For those who have more to say than they can currently get across — and want one story that holds in any room, on any stage.

With ianka fleerackers

Credibility

• ✓ Author of nine books. Nominated for best actress. A role in an Oscar-nominated film.
• ✓ Interviewed 100+ experts, authors, and high profiles. Trained 100+ professionals.
• ✓ More hours on a stage than most speakers have in their whole career. 20+ years of theatre, television, and conference halls.
• ✓ Creator of the O.W.N® method, the Authority Fingerprint™, and the Octopus Portfolio®.

Practical

• Your Signature Story: one keynote-grade narrative that also carries into interviews, podcasts, video, and the boardroom.
• Dutch or English. Every session is recorded, with a transcript and a written summary afterwards.
• Only 2 places available per month.
• €4,550 ex. VAT through the KMO-portefeuille — a 30% subsidy for SMEs in the Flemish Region.
• Standard price: €6,500 ex. VAT.

Request a conversation →

Admission only. Two places per month.

There comes a moment when people need more than expertise

They ask you for a keynote. An interview. A podcast. A panel. An internal event. They want to know how you see the world, what perspective you have developed, and why it matters.

That is often the moment you discover expertise alone is no longer enough.

The more experience you build, the harder it becomes to keep the through-line visible. Ideas grow, examples pile up, nuance multiplies. What once seemed obvious becomes harder to explain clearly and convincingly.

A Signature Story brings that back to its essence.

Not as a summary of everything you know, but as the one story that shows how you think, what you stand for, and why people should listen to you.

That is why this program uses the keynote as its working format.

Not because everyone wants to become a professional speaker. Some clients build a keynote speaking career out of this work. Others use the same story in sales conversations, podcasts, interviews, video, a book, or in the boardroom.

The keynote is the most demanding test of a story.

It leaves no room for loose ends. No unnecessary explanation. No borrowed structure. It forces you to make choices, to arrive at one central idea, and to build it so that it holds under pressure.

If a story can carry a stage, it can usually carry an interview. A book. A podcast. An investor pitch. Or a conversation where one good story makes more difference than a hundred slides.

You have more to say than you can currently get across

You are an expert, founder, or leader with a strong track record. You have built something. A company, a career, an expertise, or a perspective that is worth the room.

And yet you notice that the way you communicate today does not always do justice to the quality of your thinking.

When you speak, present, or give an interview, more stays in your head than actually reaches your audience. Not because you have too little to say, but because years of experience, nuance, and insight do not translate by themselves into one clear and convincing whole.

You may recognise yourself here:

• ✓ Your current way of explaining your work feels too broad, too complex, or too explanatory.
• ✓ People respond enthusiastically, but afterwards they struggle to articulate what makes your perspective distinct.
• ✓ Your message grows richer over the years, but not necessarily sharper.
• ✓ You are invited more and more often for a keynote, interview, podcast, or panel, and you sense your communication has not evolved with it.
• ✓ The core of your work sometimes disappears under context, examples, and nuance.

For those who want a keynote to be more than a keynote

Clients come to this program for different reasons.

A founder developing their origin story. A thought leader building an international speaking career. An expert who wants to communicate with more precision in interviews, podcasts, video, or on a stage.

What they have in common is that they do not want to build a presentation that disappears after a single performance.

They want to develop a keynote that holds value beyond the stage. A story that gives direction to interviews, podcasts, video, articles, sales conversations, and every other moment where their ideas become visible.

This program is for you if you:

• ✓ are asked more and more often to share your ideas, experience, and perspective;
• ✓ want to develop a keynote that stays relevant for years;
• ✓ want one clear through-line for presentations, interviews, podcasts, video, and articles;
• ✓ want to be known not only for what you do, but for how you think;
• ✓ are willing to examine, challenge, and develop your ideas further.

“The result is not just a keynote, but a story that can carry you for years.”

How the program works

1. 01

   Before you start writing, we set the direction.

   What could your Signature Story be about? What do you want it to achieve? And what will you use it for — a stage, a book, a pitch, or all of those at once?

   In this session we work with a thinking tool ianka developed to arrive at a clear starting point from your experience, expertise, and ideas. Not to know everything already, but to know where you begin.

   After that you write your first version — and then the real building starts.

2. 02

   With that direction set, you write your first draft.

   Not because it has to be good yet. On the contrary. The first version shows how you articulate your perspective today. How you think. How you argue. How you connect ideas. And how you structure them instinctively.

   The draft is a diagnosis and a starting point. It shows where your story already stands, where it still catches, and where the real work begins.

   During Signature Story we start from your first attempt to give your thinking shape.

3. 03

   From there, we build on it together.

   We challenge your ideas. We sharpen your perspective. We look for the through-line. We cut what distracts, strengthen what is distinct, and build a structure that can carry your story.

   Between sessions, you work out what was discussed. Before every session ianka reads your new version and brings in further improvements.

4. 04

   Only once the content holds does the attention shift to form.

   How do you build tension? Where do you slow down? What do you leave out? Which examples stay with people? How do you make sure they not only listen, but understand, remember, and pass it on?

By the end of the program you have more than a keynote.

You have a considered narrative you can use on a stage, in interviews, podcasts, video, articles, and every other moment where you want to convey your perspective clearly, convincingly, and consistently.

What you walk away with

A signature story you can trust — in every context where your authority needs to land. One that feels completely yours, holds under pressure, and carries into a keynote, a pitch, a conversation, or a written piece without losing what makes it work. Many clients use it to build a keynote career. Others use it to communicate their expertise with precision wherever it matters. Both are valid outcomes. The story comes first.

Frequently asked questions

When you want to go further

For many clients, the program ends here.

They leave with a keynote that holds. A story they can fall back on in presentations, interviews, podcasts, video, and every other moment where their ideas become visible.

Some want to keep building afterwards.

Not because the keynote is finished, but because their work keeps evolving. New insights arrive. A keynote grows with the career of the person delivering it.

For them, Authority Builders is the logical next step.

There we keep challenging your thinking, explore new ideas, discuss keynote updates, and refine your communication further. Not from a fixed program, but from the questions that are relevant at that moment.

Sometimes it turns out during or after Signature Story that the next step is not more communication, but a stronger foundation. In that case the Authority Blueprint can help you deepen your authority position and ground it more deliberately.

Not every path runs the same way. That is why we look together at which next step creates the most value at that moment.