You want to give presentations that captivate and convince people…
…but you’re probably still using tactics—slide templates, SmartArt, AI designs—that are actually working against you.
Sign up for the free mini course below so you don’t sink any more time into boring presentations.
As a researcher, trainer, or academic you might feel like your presentations are “data dumps” that just overwhelm your audience.
You can fix that using the “6 gears” system of creating accessible, impactful presentations.
You feel like your presentations could be changing the world, but right now they feel dry & uninspiring.
The key is to go from old school dataviz and slide templates (or even new school AI design) to presentations that use the “6 gears” I talk about in the free mini course.
The 6 Gears of Creating Engaging Presentations! ⚙️✨
…has entered the chat…
Look. I get it.
Grad school dropped the ball and didn’t teach any of us how to communicate our work effectively.
We were expected to somehow magically figure out how to create accessible, visually-engaging presentations by watching inaccessible, #DeathByPowerpoints. 🤷♀️
Signs grad school failed you & doomed you to create presentations that fall flat with your audience:
You’re using slide design templates, including SmartArt or “Design Ideas/AI”.
You were told that using a template is accessible or saves you time.
Your slides are walls of text.
You try to use as few slides as possible.
You don’t script (or practice) because you think you’ll “sound like a robot.” 🤖
You don’t massively overhaul the default graph settings in Excel/Powerpoint when you add graphs.
You want to tear your hair out from frustration when doing something as foundational as choosing what to say or what to leave out of a given presentation.
In this free video, I want to introduce you to the 6 Gears of Creating Engaging Presentations!
(AKA What they should have taught us in grad school)
In my FREE training video, you’ll learn:
The first step of creating an engaging presentation that you’re probably skipping, which makes the entire presentation design process way harder.
Why design templates (and AI design) will never be the solution, and what you should do instead.
The #1 problem that everyone needs to address in their presentations.
Why data visualization design is only part of what you need to do if you want to share data effectively.
How learning a few time saving tech skills will help you automate some of the design.
Why you’re spending a lot of time on your slides but feel like they aren’t getting better.
You can captivate ANY audience and inspire them to act.
YES even if you have public speaking anxiety.
YES even with dry content.
YES even with educational or data-heavy presentations.
YES even when your audience is full of “grumpy” academics or “data people.”
YES even when your audience is full of “non-technical” people.
YES even if you’re busy and can’t take forever to design slides.
YES even if you “suck at design” and aren’t a “visual thinker”.
YES the presentation would be accessible.
YES this all applies even if it’s on Zoom.
Frequently Asked Questions
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It will take about 1-2 hours to complete.
There is about 1 hour of video + written “deep dives” of the topics covered in the video.
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You will have 14 days to access the course for free.
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Nope! No credit is card needed to enroll.
No, it’s not bullsh*t and if you take my free mini-course I’ll prove it to you.
Get instant access to the video now 👇
Hey there 👋🏻! I’m Dr. Echo Rivera.
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
I’ve helped universities, research/evaluation centers & teams, state departments & coalitions, and TTA providers:
🧀 Can we get cheesy for a minute here?
My favorite clients are people who are trying to make the world a better, more equitable place.
My clients want to create meaningful presentations that will make a difference in their field AND in their audience’s lives.
The problem is, there’s a lot of noise out there. Misinformation is spreading like wildfire, so it leaves us feeling helpless and overwhelmed.
But I believe accessible, engaging, evidence-based presentations are the one small thing WE can do to combat this!
Let’s work together so YOU can become a POWERFUL speaker for justice & equity.
Get access now >>
You can’t control what other people are saying, but you can control how YOU present.
🔥
