I’ll never forget the time I sat down, excited, to watch a new webinar from a well-respected scholar in my field….only to be so bored within the first 5 minutes that I stopped watching.

I wasn’t even mad at the speaker, but in that moment my heart broke. 💔

Why? Let me give you the backstory ~

I earned my PhD (Community Psychology) in 2014 and then worked at a nonprofit research & evaluation center for 3 years. In all, I spent over 14 years dedicated to research and evaluation.

My research focus was on (ending) gender-based violence using intersectional, community-based approaches. While fulfilling, I realized we had a major problem. All systems of oppression are fully connected, yet many social justice researchers & practitioners are heavily siloed.

Even worse, literally everyone had the exact same struggle 😩—their presentations were dry, boring, confusing, overwhelming, or underwhelming.

I became massively overwhelmed and frustrated that all these brilliant people, doing important work that could literally reduce systemic oppression, were effectively whispering into the void of their own silo.

I grew increasingly anxious that we wouldn’t see major positive social change in my lifetime. I’m not even kidding when I say it started to keep me up at night.

But it was in those sleepless nights that an idea started to form. 🌜✨

I didn’t realize it at the time, but starting in undergrad I began learning a secret weapon. Born out of my intense fear of public speaking, I poured excessive amounts of energy into my class presentations. I started to hear things like, “That was the best presentation ever” and “Damn, I wish our professor lectured like that!”

That turned into conference presentations, evaluation finding presentations to the client, and other high stakes professional presentations. I continued to hear “That was the best presentation ever” and “You’re the first academic I’ve ever understood, you make this technical stuff sound so easy.”

While I was seeing head nods and captivated audiences, my colleagues were seeing blank eyes staring into space.

While I was hearing, “you changed my mind today, thank you!” my colleagues were hearing crickets.

Finally, one night it all clicked together.

I realized, I can’t personally make all the different fields of research collaborate and break down their siloes. But, what I could do is take what I’ve learned over the years and help make everyone a powerful speaker. 💪

And so I decided to center my work around one goal: To skyrocket the number of powerful speakers who use data to make the world a better place. 🚀

My mission is to make sure no respected scholar ever bored people again.

And so Creative Research Communications—my professional development company—was founded.

That’s why I’m here, creating these online courses to help YOU create better presentations. Because, for me, it’s my small part in creating a better world through better communication.

I can’t wait to help you become a powerful speaker! 🙌

with joy,
Echo Rivera, PhD