evoke (v): to unlock hidden, untapped and unrealized potential

I’m obsessed with clarity.  

In fact, I’ve spent my entire career pursuing clear, concise and compelling communication.  

Why? Because I learned the hard way that it doesn’t matter how smart you are, or how brilliant your idea is, if no one understands your message. 

There were a lot of years when I was too wordy and too technical, or I would go blank when the VP came by.  

But I worked hard at my clarity, and it paid off. When I left my corporate career in 2014, I thought I was in good shape. I was confident I could connect if I showed enough passion and technical capability. 

I was wrong.  

About 6 months after I left corporate life, I interviewed for the perfect job as a brand new consultant: a supply chain instructor for a management training company. I had over 20 years of expertise leading and building supply chains for Procter & Gamble, the world’s largest Consumer Products Company. 

Before my interview I made sure I didn’t leave anything to chance: I wrote out my pitch and practiced it until I was pitch perfect. I made sure I included a long list of my accomplishments and qualifications. During the interview I delivered what I thought was the definitive answer to “Tell me about yourself.” 

When I finished, the interviewer paused, then said: “Ummm, instead of talking about yourself, it would have been more helpful if you had told me what you could do for me.”  

Uh oh. Not. Good.

I felt the color rising in my cheeks as I rushed to end the interview. Needless to say, I didn't get the job.

That interview was my wake up call: I was approaching communications all wrong. She didn’t want to know how great I was. She wanted to know how great her organization would be if she hired me. Right then and there I tossed out all of my bios and resumes.  

I became laser focused on cracking the code to explain who I was and how I could help in one sentence. I studied catchy headlines and viral blog posts, and one day, I saw a pattern. And I created a process to introduce, market and promote myself in less than 20 words.  

A few months later I was introduced to an executive director of a business development program. I caught her attention with 17 words: “I’m a communication consultant and I help people with something to say, but struggle to say it.” 

She leaned in and said those magic words, "Tell me more." 15 minutes later she hired me to give workshops for entrepreneurs.  

I was so excited that I decided to create a communication toolkit for myself so I would never struggle again.  

But… I wanted DIFFERENT tools. I had struggled for soooo long with my clarity even though I had loads of formal and informal training. 

Traditional training taught me what to say, but it didn’t prepare me to handle what to do when my listener went off script, challenged my competitive advantage or lost interest before I could explain how I could help.  

I wanted my toolkit to solve the problems that caused me to struggle, and I designed it so I could: 

• Capture my listener’s attention and hear, “Tell me more” along every step of the journey, whether it was selling something, or gaining approval.
• Build trust in me and create confidence in my solution so I would never feel pushy or worry about sounding salesy or self-promoting.
• Take the guesswork out of what I needed to say so I would always be confident in pitching, and also be prepared to pivot in case things changed.

And my toolkit worked! It made such as difference that I created communication workshops to help other people who struggled with their clarity. And my communication business was launched.

I named my business Evoke because it means to unlock hidden, untapped or unrealized potential. That's what clarity did for me. 

Now I'm on a mission to unlock even more clarity. Yours. 

I’m expanding my training to include webinars and online classes to reach more people, touch more lives and improve more outcomes.  

Are you struggling with your clarity? Have you already tried other solutions, but they’re just not moving the needle enough? Do you still ramble or freeze, or struggle with explaining your value or your competitive advantage?  

I can help.    

I’ve been on both sides of the desk: getting pitched to and pitching to others. I’ve worked with entrepreneurs, people on career pivots, sales leaders, nonprofits and managers at all levels right up to CEO's.

My process is fast and effective, and you can apply what you learned in your very next interaction. 

I spent my entire career studying clarity to help people who have something important to say, but struggle to say it. 

People just like me. And you.  

Looking forward to connecting! 

Rebecca