Ever been at a networking event and felt a sense of dread when asked to “tell me about yourself”?
😃 Or maybe you’ve done the opposite and talked so much you never gave the other person a chance to reply?
In this informative episode of Nonprofit Lowdown, I sit down with Rebecca Okamoto, a branding and communications expert, to discuss the art of making great first impressions.
🔥 Whether you’re at a cocktail party or a high-stakes fundraising event, Rebecca’s insights will help you navigate these situations with confidence.
Rebecca Okamoto is driven by a mission to amplify the voices that are often ignored or silenced. With an impressive 29-year career at Procter & Gamble, Rebecca’s now focused on elevating diverse voices into executive positions, ensuring they have the power to make strategic decisions.
Her passion for helping others find and project their voice makes her the perfect guest to tackle the topic of first impressions!
Don’t miss this episode if you’re looking to transform the way you network. Rebecca offers practical advice you can start using immediately to make sure you’re seen, heard and valued.
Tune in to get the tools you need to walk into every room with confidence.
Listen now for insights on:
🎤 Navigating first impressions in high-stakes environments
🎤 The importance of projecting confidence and competence
Important Links:
20words.com
Episode Transcript
RHEA 00:00
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Welcome to Nonprofit Lowdown, I’m your host, Rhea Wong.
Hey, podcast listeners, Rhea Wong with you once again with Nonprofit Lowdown. today my guest is Rebecca Okamoto. She is a branding communications expert. And today we are talking about how to make great first impressions, which I know I personally have been a little anxious about when you’re at that cocktail party, trying to make that first impression.
And it always just feels a little bit awkward. Rebecca, welcome to the show.
REBECCA 1:03
Awesome, Rhea. Thank you. Hi, everyone. I’m super excited to be here.
RHEA 01:07
Rebecca, we’re excited to have you. Before we jump into the nitty gritty details, which I love, tell us a little bit about yourself and your trajectory, because actually you are unique in that you are not necessarily in the nonprofit sector, which is a little bit different than many of our guests.
REBECCA 1:21
Yeah. So I’ll just start with who I am and like what kind of mission I’m on. I’ll just say that my sister says I’m on a mission to save the world, which is probably true.
RHEA 01:33
Oh, so you are like our nonprofit friends.
REBECCA 01:34
Yeah. And what I want to do is I want to give voice to those who don’t have voices or who voices have been dismissed or ignored or silenced.
I really think that you can’t get anywhere unless someone hears you, so it’s really important to give people voice, and I’m focused on elevating more diverse voices into call it executive levels or positions where they can make a lot more decisions where they can hire. Where they can own the budgets, where they can set the culture.
And if necessary, like they, they have the strategic power to do things and move things for themselves, their employees, the communities they live in, the customers that they serve. So that’s me, like an overall. And how I got here is I’m a former corporate person. I had a 29 year career with the world’s largest consumer products company.
Procter and Gamble, but I was always on a mission to make lives better.
RHEA 02:38
I love that. And when you and I first connected, I really resonated with your message as an Asian American woman, because I think this question of voice is so important, particularly because we know that Asian American women are the most overlooked when it comes to being promoted into C suite levels, even Though, people will rate competency is very high.
It’s that, Oh, they don’t have that leadership potential. And I think that very much is tied to this question of voice. And are you really hearing me? And am I projecting the kind of confidence or voice that would be necessary to validate myself as a leader?
REBECCA 03:17
Yeah, and I think that’s why I like talking about first impressions so important.
So I usually give people a pop quiz and I ask them like, how long does it take for someone to form their first impression of you? On your trustworthiness or credibility, and believe it or not, you’re being judged off of, for instance, one word, the way you even say the word hello, people form a first impression, and they say that studies show that first impressions are formed within a 10th of a second, which is how long it takes for you to blink your eye.
RHEA 03:54
Wow. It’s so funny. I was thinking seconds, but I didn’t know it was as quick as a tenth of a second. So Rebecca, before we get into this, I know there are lots of folks who listen to this podcast, who are, maybe feel that they don’t belong in the rooms that they’re in. So as fundraisers, we’re in predominantly white rooms.
If you are a woman, if you are. a person of color, if you are not basically a heterosis white male, it may feel very overwhelming. It might feel intimidating to step into these rooms. Also knowing that impressions about me are made within a 10th of a second. So how do you advise your clients about that?
REBECCA 04:33
So the first thing I always tell people to do is and since like I had a corporate career and I started a manufacturing so almost all of my peers were men. I understand the environment really well. And what I learned to do is I tell people you have to project why they would be why they’re lucky that you’re in the room with them, why they would be lucky to hire you, why they would you.
Be lucky that you’re their person or their go to person and keep focused on what I call your personal brand. So a brand is a reason to choose. So a personal brand is a reason for someone to choose you. It’s if you go into an interview and you think you have a poppy seed in your tooth and it doesn’t matter how well you’ve practiced or how great everything sounds, when you’re by yourself.
The first thing that happens is you worry about that poppy seed and then your tone is funny. Your focus is off. And then the same thing happens. So if you focus in when you walk into the room on here’s what I’m going to do to help them achieve their goals. How I’m going to help them break down barriers.
If you focus on what you do to help them and your focus is not on being smart or being ignored or whatever it’s really focused on the right thing and you, it makes it much easier. And you get a lot more confident.
RHEA 05:56
That’s funny. I talk about this was fundraising. I call it the Chad energy as in what would Chad do Walking in her room and thinking yeah, I’m here.
You’re welcome. I’m here to add value. Yes, but You’re lucky to have me in this room.
REBECCA 06:12
I also think what I did was in my career, I was the first Asian American woman to hit, call it the top 1 percent of the supply chain at Procter and Gabble. And then they didn’t promote someone to my level for another 14 years.
And it’s not that I was, it just so many people get ignored or overlooked. And part of it was, I was told I had some great mentors, but they’re like, you. Your presence, your executive presence, isn’t very authoritative. Like you don’t command or own the room.
And I’m like I was taught by my parents, be humble.
And how do you do that? And let your work speak for you. So there’s no one that you can wave that suddenly makes you braver, clearer, and overcome that. What helped me overcome that. So for, especially people who are in the nonprofit space. Who don’t feel comfortable being Chad is think about your mission and your purpose and who you’re there to serve.
So I wouldn’t go in a room and say, yeah, I did all these A, B and C great things for myself and my career. But at a certain point in my career, I decided I wanted to get to a very high level at PNG so that I could help others. I could help other Asians who would help more Asians. So every time I felt like I can’t do it, I’m like, you’re not in it.
This is not about you. Your lights go on. Your water is clean. This is about someone else. And I take a deep breath and I would say, focus on who you’re there to help. And you’re not going to help them at this low level. You’re only going to help them when you make the ask, when you are seen and when people see you as strategic.
So you’ll get promoted. I love that. You’re there to serve. We would do many things for others. So make it about others instead of yourself.
RHEA 08:03
Yeah. And I think that really speaks to a lot of the service orientation that nonprofit folks have. No one joins a nonprofit to get rich, right?
Like we have a deeper purpose, a deeper reason, a deeper mission. And so I think that’s really helpful. Okay. Let’s just jump into it. Cause. I’m in New York City and in New York, the first question anybody asks you after your name is, so what do you do? And so there’s always this, I think part of it is that we collectively haven’t figured out a better question to ask.
And then the other part of it is, I think people are trying to place you on the hierarchy of how important are you?
REBECCA 08:40
That’s a good one.
I would say that the most important, the goal that you want, so attention spans have really dropped. Supposedly they’re like eight seconds or less, which means eight seconds of undivided attention for someone’s going to decide, am I going to really stay tuned in?
We could be talking and I’m like not really listening. And you have a better chance of engaging with a goldfish. Then the person you’re actually talking to. So the whole goal is to get them to be like, tell me, is to give them a tell me more moment. And the best way to give someone to tell me more moment is make them see themselves.
Or the problems that you solve for them in your introduction, meaning Oh my gosh, that’s me. Or I know someone. So it’s always about, can I explain how I can add value? I’ll give you an example. If you were an author, you could say an about me statement is. I’m a award winning bestselling author and about you statement is, I help new authors get published faster.
One is about what I can do for others. One is about me. So if you really want people to like, Oh, that’s really interesting. Tell me more, make it easy for them to picture who you’re talking about, either them or someone that they know.
RHEA 10:00
Yeah. I think that’s powerful because when I coach fundraisers, I really.
I want them to think about the needs of their donors and what need they’re fulfilling for their donors. Because so often I think we are so organization centric, like we’re talking about, the people I help and our staff and our metrics and da, without really thinking about what’s in it for my listener.
What’s, you The thing that they’re trying to do in their life and how can I help?
REBECCA 10:28
Yes. That’s right. So helping people bridge the gap, if that’s how they, so you want to know what it is that they describe. Like when I used to introduce myself, I’d say I help job hunters confidently explain, or I help job hunters explain why they’re the best person to hire.
But when I interviewed job hunters, they would say worried, struggle, or confident. So if I said, I help worry job hunters. Confidently explain why they’re the ideal candidate to hire. They’re like, Oh my gosh, that’s me. I’m so worried. So just talking to a, just talking to people. So it’s not trying to fundraise, but what’s important to you and really listening and making it about them and saying, here’s how I can help you solve that problem makes a huge difference.
Cause when people can see themselves in your. introduction. It changes everything because then they’re like, Oh, tell me how you do that.
RHEA 11:33
I’m just trying to play this out a little bit because often when we’re in nonprofits, the people that we’re helping are not necessarily the people that we’re talking to, to provide the resources, right?
So if I’m talking to a donor, it’s not like they’re necessarily using the services that I’m providing. So how might you recommend someone do? Is it about identifying sort of the issue or the values behind it?
REBECCA 12:00
So I think it depends if you have the opportunity to talk to donors and just listen to why do you donate?
Why do you come back? What makes a difference for you or why does participating, help you then it helps you hear the language that they use.
I work with like a a very successful. Nonprofit that works with women on the hill. And what they tell their donor corporations is, we help do this.
This is what we do to here’s who we’re serving, which is women on the hills and how it helps you is it helps you gain the access that you’re not able to do.
And we’re able to give, give you some sort of insider ability that you weren’t able to get before in a nonpartisan way. It’s really understanding why do they want to participate.
Some cases it could be self serving. Like your, your non profit is very mission oriented, but the people who want to donate may not be. I work with several like that where it’s all about finding a way to network to build your brand or build your business or to gain access if they’re more like network oriented.
But it’s spending time asking them, like why do you want to participate? Why have you been participating? Or what? If you don’t listen to what your donors say, you’re just always talking about the mission and the mission may not be as important to them.
RHEA 13:27
Yeah. You really point to an important point, which is I think a lot of fundraisers are, they’re scared to talk to their donors.
They’re scared to engage in deeper conversations of meaning and purpose. But I think, so I think what ends up happening is that we throw lots of tennis balls into vacuum cleaners because we think that they like this and we think that they might respond to them. Yeah, we think that this is what they’re interested in.
Why don’t you just ask them?
REBECCA 13:54
No, it’s really important. I got a hot intro to someone once who was working for an outplacement company. Like she worked for the outplacement company. It was small. She knew the CEO. She made an introduction saying, Hey, Rebecca is the right person for you. And so I was like, Hey, I help you.
I can help your clients introduce themselves in 20 words or less. And the guy, there was an email. He didn’t respond for weeks. So then I’m like, wait, why didn’t he respond? Everybody bites on this. Everybody. So then I looked through my notes and it, I read, oh, he lost 30 percent of his client base.
One large corporation went, wanted a bigger company. So he lost, so I said, hey, let me help you. Let me show you how my workshops can help you get new clients or re engage your current ones. And two hours later, he’s hey, let’s talk.
RHEA 14:42
So it’s really about capturing the interest of what’s in it for me.
Like what’s the interest level for me?
REBECCA 14:48
you can’t do that by guessing. You can only do that by engaging and hearing them and finding out what their concerns are. Though I. I participated with one that’s called, it was called a network of executive women, and I told them like we want to, our membership really shrunk because the largest donor moved out of the area.
So it was like a grocery chain. And so we had lost like 30 percent of membership and. And so can we want to grow it back. So what we told people was, you’re going to get training and development for your, the women in retail that no one else is going to get. And we put on. So it wasn’t just about helping women.
It was really putting on events that were so valuable that people just. We needed to come and we like started selling out events because we’ve offered something they could get nowhere else. So we want it back by giving them something that they, membership has its privileges. We said that’s what they used to say about American Express way back in the day.
What can we give them that makes them think if we hadn’t belonged, we would have never gotten this access or training or ability.
RHEA 16:01
Yeah, that’s really valuable. Okay. I have a couple of different points I want to stop on before we wrap up. So I want to talk about the pitch. So I am on a one woman mission to ditch the pitch because I think.
Fundraisers have been trained to have a pitch now on the one hand, I think that there’s something valuable in that it helps you to really simplify and streamline your message because I, love y’all, but nine out of 10 executives out there. Talk too much, right? There are two in the weeds. There are two, it gets too technical.
It gets very confusing, right? People don’t want the, in the weeds, they want the 30, 000 foot. Yeah. So I think that elevator pitch can be helpful to pull you out of the weeds. However, I think that the pitch and certainly the way that a lot of nonprofit execs have been trained on the pitch, myself included, is there’s no connection, right?
It’s like me saying a bunch of words, hoping that it will force you or inspire you or, make you do something. So let’s talk about what is your perspective on the pitch?
REBECCA 17:10
I think I’m exactly where you’re at. So a pitch, it only works. But to me, a pitch is about someone saying, Oh my gosh, tell me more.
I want to get involved. You very rarely. You don’t get any, nobody almost no one signs on the dotted line, just hearing that pitch. So a pitch is a very simple way of attracting people to get them to want to learn more. I think of it as a movie trailer. So a movie trailer you sit there, you watch them for 90 seconds.
It’s not in order, but it’s snippets of things. And flashes of things are like, wow, I’m really interested. I want to learn more. So a pitch is something that gets people to want more. And for a pitch to really work, you have to know at that time that what your audience wants is what you’re offering. Other than that, what you’re, the rest, unless you really know it’s engagement.
Engagement is more tell me more about learning more about them. So I’ve only seen pitches. really work when they’re almost ready to sign on the dotted line. Shark Tank pitches is because someone is waiting, wants to be pitched. Most people don’t want to be pitched. They just want to, they want to be engaged.
And they want to hear and they want to learn.
RHEA 18:23
what you’re really talking about is conversations, like the art of conversation, right? And the thing that I’m aware of, and I think people will hear the word network and they get like an allergic reaction. I get an allergic reaction, right?
Because I think the way that we do it feels, Icky. It feels disingenuous. It’s I’ve been to a million cocktail parties where the person I’m talking to is like looking over my shoulder to see if there’s someone more important to talk to. I can tell they’re not really listening. So I’m just curious, like when we’re thinking about being in social spaces or networking, what’s the right way to do it?
Both accomplishes the goal of wanting to meet new people, but doing so in a way that feels authentic and genuine and connecting versus just I’m just racking up the numbers.
REBECCA 19:10
Yeah, exactly. So if you feel like it’s just racking up the numbers, it’s very stressful. So I think it’s exactly what you’re saying, which is I just, I’m looking for a way to connect to people where they say, Hey, that, tell me more.
That’s really interesting. Or I know someone, or oh my gosh, that’s just what we’ve been talking about. So you’re looking to use eight seconds to win you 15 seconds to win you 30 seconds. So that they want to talk to you because it’s like, Oh my gosh, we were just talking about that. Tell me more. That’s what you’re trying to do.
So you’re trying to engage in a conversation. A really well constructed pitch is actually constructed around a conversation you would have with someone.
RHEA 19:56
And to that point, I just heard something really interesting the other day on one of the many podcasts I’ve listened to, because I, the thing that sometimes happens to me, I’m sure it happens to you, is that you get stuck in a corner with someone and you’re like ah, there are other people I want to meet.
And so this is a good hack, which is, Hey, listen, there are other, there are some other folks that I need to have a conversation with. But before I go. Can I just ask you about this one last thing that you said, or you said an interesting point about this, which makes them feel that you were listening, that you were connecting, but also that you have an exit.
REBECCA 20:28
Oh, that’s a good one. Yeah. So this is more like you, when you introduce yourself, it’s as if they were asking you, what do you do and how can you help me? So that’s like your intro. And then the next part that you say is you’re answering the question. Why should I care that you do that?
RHEA 20:28
Oh, that’s so good.
Okay. So let’s get into this. Is this the 20 words?
REBECCA 20:49
Yeah. So if someone says like Tiffany, what do you do? I help entrepreneurs introduce market and promote themselves in 20 words or less. So people are like, what do you do and how can it help me? Let’s say I’m networking with entrepreneurs.
Then the next thing you say is, why should I care? So you’re answering, you’re just, you’re giving them facts where they’re just like, oh my gosh, that just happened to me. How did you know? It’s just you know how hard it is when you say something, your people’s eyes glaze over or you start to stammer and they’re like yes.
And then you get the next line is here’s what I do to solve that. So the question, if you’re answering, what do you do and how do you help, that’s 20 words. Then the next little part is three, two or three sentences about why should I care? And then you can either add a little provoke type of thing and then, but then you say and here’s how I solve it.
A provoke point is. Like you’re saying have you, what are you going to do if this happens to you? Have you ever wondered what you would do if this ever happened to you? Oh my God, I would. So the I help people solve that problem.
RHEA 21:55
So in between the 20 words, cause the mistake that I see a lot is that people kind of like, see the whole thing and it’s a monologue and they don’t give the space around, let me, you know, it’s like tennis game. Like I am going to hit it. You hit it back. I’m going to hit it. And I think, and I’ll speak for myself, especially when I’m nervous, I can tend to play like tennis against a wall and just like banging all the balls.
REBECCA 22:22
Yeah. Yeah. So what you do is you say what you do.
You have to, you just, you’re looking for cues, which is you say what you do, you usually have enough time, if it’s, call it like a 20 second introduction, a little bit, you say what you do, and then you give them that, why should I care? Oh my gosh, have you ever been to a party where you just didn’t know what to do and you made a fool out of yourself?
Oh my gosh, yes, I have. You can pause slightly to see if they react or not, or even say something.
RHEA 22:50
Okay, wait, let’s do it. Can I? Sure. Okay. Hey, Rebecca, good to meet you. What do you do?
REBECCA 22:59
So I help new entrepreneurs introduce, market, and promote themselves in 20 words or less. Oh, 20 words or less.
How do you do that? Do you know sometimes when you realize that people are like looking over your shoulder and you don’t seem to really engage them or you don’t know what to do when people say What do you do or tell me about yourself? I really help people solve that problem when they freeze up so they can make a really great first impression
RHEA 23:26
Oh, I see what you did there You took the things that I said and you wove it into that, how
REBECCA 23:33
yeah but it’s the same thing which is you just if you know your audience and So you know you’re with a bunch of Asian scientists and engineers, you know your audience, you say something and they can go oh yeah, that, yes, that just happened.
You know how hard it is, like you just dread hearing the words, tell me about yourself. Oh my gosh, I absolutely hate hearing those words. You’re just waiting to see if they respond or nod and then you tell them like here’s how I solve that and they’re like, oh, so you’re in. Oh my gosh. How do you do that?
Exactly. Who do you work with? Yeah, you draw them into the cup. That’s a. To me, what a pitch is. It’s more about getting people to say, tell me more and then there is actually a science based way of persuading people or moving them down that path. It’s not a, it’s not random. It’s not like a jack in the box.
It flows fairly predictably. And so therefore you can just relax and say, if I just follow this framework, I’m probably going to get people engaged.
RHEA 24:45
Rebecca, what is the framework? Tell me more.
REBECCA 24:48
So that the framework is, so first of all, you have to realize that people’s attention span is really short.
So you can’t cram, you can’t just dump water on people. Their attention span is only this big. So you can only, it’s eight seconds. That’s a sentence. That’s five words. That’s 10 words. And then they, when they like, huh, then you get, they’ll give you a 15 seconds. So you make it about them, and he’s you know how this is a problem?
Huh. You make it about them. Then sometimes you can add like a little provoke point and say, any weird thought like, oh my gosh, I can’t solve this? Huh. And then you say I can solve that. And then they’re like, then, so you you drip pieces of information out until they’re like, oh my gosh, I want to know more, and then let it rip.
RHEA 25:36
Interesting. And so how do you recommend that folks think about preparing that? Cause it sounds like, you’ve had a lot of experience, you have years of thinking about doing this for folks who are new to this concept. How can you prepare in a way that also doesn’t feel rehearsed, right?
Cause no one wants a script.
REBECCA 25:56
So the most important thing is, one is you have to practice. You can’t just write something down, and then hope you memorize it, hope you memorize it. You actually do have to practice. I practice my introduction like 20, 30 times. I’ll say it to myself in the mirror.
I’ll record myself on Zoom. I, if I have a new introduction, I’ll put it on my phone, and you’ll see me recording it 50 times. So that when, Someone says what do you do? And they put a microphone there. I can just answer it. So part of it is you have to actually practice and it takes a lot of practice to sound like you’re not rehearsed.
So part of it is that and then you do, you have to know your audience. I feel more comfortable, I spent time asking them what do you know? What do you do? So if you’re in a space, you already have donors, I would be like, what can, what more can we do to engage you? What programs really work for you?
What’s not working for you? So that, that language probably will work with someone else.
RHEA 26:58
Yeah. It’s really interesting. Cause I was talking to a nonprofit leader yesterday and we we were talking about his website. Redesign. And I asked all these questions and he had ideas about like, well, this is why we do the thing that we do.
Da da da. And I was like if I’m not in that particular community, why should I care? What’s in it for me? And he just, he like stopped. He was like, I never asked myself that question. I was like, I think this is a good question what’s in it for me? Why, like, why should I care? Of all of the things out there, I could do anything with my money, right?
There are 1. 5 million non profits in this country. Why should I care about this particular thing that you’re doing?
REBECCA 27:39
Yeah. And the way you find out is you ask them what, like, why do you care? And instead of guessing is the worst thing. And it’s like, why should you care? So ask the other good one to answer or be able to answer is why now?
Yeah. I think it’s a problem. I think world peace. Yeah. But why now? How does my money matter? People need to see themselves. in your answer. That’s why it has to be about them when you first talk. So they’re like, huh. Huh. Huh. Huh. Huh. Huh. Like when they start to nod, they say, that’s right.
Or that’s me. Or I’ve been talking about that. Or I’ve been worried that tells you’re on the right track. Cause I have to see themselves in your answer before you can talk about what you do.
It’s never about what you do. It’s about them. And what do you worry about? I’ll bet you have lots of different, organizations you can join for women, but, so what are you looking for?
One that really moves the needle? One where, you get better access? You have to ask them so that you can create that as part of your pitch.
RHEA 28:45
Yeah, it’s funny, I, one of my favorite books is How to Win Friends and Influence People and it’s so simple and time honored, which is people want to know what’s in it for them.
How can this benefit me?
REBECCA 28:58
Yeah. And if you talk about their problems. I worked, a long time ago, I did a United Way campaign at my plant. It was like this union facility, they’re like you’re the leader of the organization, so you have to do the United Way campaign. I’m like, I don’t want to do the United Way campaign, because they don’t want to donate.
They have a history of not donating. So I don’t want to get mocked or whatever. So I was just asking them, like, why don’t you guys donate? I just don’t even know. Should I bother? Why do you? And they’re like, how do we know the money does anything? That’s what they wanted to know. And does it really matter to our people?
It’s just money into the community. No one does anything with it. So I found one of the women that worked for me, she brought her baby in and she said, I just want to tell all of you who donated 20 years ago for the children’s hospital, this is my son. He wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for that hospital.
I just want to personally thank you because your dollars mattered to what’s most precious to me.
RHEA 29:57
Oh, that’s so powerful.
REBECCA 29:58
100 percent donation because I asked them, why don’t you donate? They’re like nobody benefits. Yeah. Yeah. The moment they saw someone that they knew who said, 20 years ago, you guys donated to make this hospital wasn’t today.
It was 20 years ago. I said, thank you. And there were people like crying, like men technicians, they were just like, oh my gosh, it really matters. It really matters.
RHEA 30:24
Yeah. And I think you brought up another interesting and important point, which is that we need to close the story loop for people.
So the reason why people don’t donate again is that you didn’t tell them what you did with their money. You didn’t make them feel good about giving. You didn’t tell them that their donation mattered. And so if I don’t feel like my donation matters, I’m like then I’m going to take my 20 bucks.
I’m like. Give it to someone else or I’m going to buy myself a bubble tea. Like you have to tell me why the thing that I’ve done makes a difference.
REBECCA 30:55
What, when I ever do a pitch, whenever I present, I always, in my, like, when I train, I always tell, does it matter? I just told you how to introduce yourself in 20 words or less.
Does it matter? And I either give them, it’s always towards the end and I either give them a story or a statistic and they’re like, Oh, I never thought about it that way. It does matter. Does it matter that diverse voices, does it matter? And I’ll give them a case, a business case why I never thought about that.
We should probably should bring you back. There you go.
RHEA 31:27
Yeah. And the power of story is really important here because the way the human brain works is like, we remember stories. We, facts, figures, data. I don’t remember that stuff. I remember stories.
REBECCA 31:40
Yes, and you know a friend of mine when I first started my business like 10 years ago.
He told me Do you know how to introduce yourself? Yeah, I can introduce myself. He said, okay Do you know how to introduce yourself up and I’m like, I don’t even know what that means He said let’s just say you’re at Walmart and you’re waiting for the buyer and in walks a CEO of Walmart And he says, oh are you here for me?
And you’re like, oh no, I’m just here for the buyer He’s that’s really forgettable. Would you know how to take advantage of that? Oh my gosh, that’s really great advice. So I go home and I just think I’m never going to meet the CEO of Walmart. That’s good advice. A couple months later, I’m at a.
accelerator program and a friend of mine’s okay, wait for me in the kitchen, get a snack, and then we’ll, I’ll tour you at our facility. So then I’m like in the refrigerator and I see these popsicles and I’m looking at a popsicle. One of the founders, co founders of the accelerator program walks in and he says, Oh my gosh, Rebecca, I just heard great news from you.
Hey, how about this? I’m Why don’t you pitch to me now, and in 20 minutes, we’ll agree to do business, or we’ll walk away friends. And I’m thinking, came in here for a popsicle. I had, I didn’t know what to say, and I’m just like, and then I start to ramble, and my friend walks in, and he pitches my business for me.
And I get hired there for like 18 months. But you never know when someone’s going to want to know, what do you do? And I came in there for a snack and I never, it never occurred to me that I would meet the co founder and that she would want to do business with me.
RHEA 33:19
Yeah. We got to prepare that. One thing I just wanted to say too is, and I see this a lot with nonprofit folks, is that they get very jargony.
And so it, like, when you’re talking about things like, you know, social justice, impact, liberatory practice like, I understand the sentiment behind it, but it turns people off, right? Because A, they either don’t know what you’re talking about, or B, they do know what you’re talking about, but it’s a little heavy, or C they don’t know what you’re talking about, and they don’t want to look stupid, so they don’t ask, so they’re just confused.
REBECCA 33:53
What do you tell people when they talk about social justice or whatever? It matter, if someone is, believes in social justice and they use those words, those are the perfect words.
How do you coach people?
RHEA 34:04
I coach them to explain it to a 10 year old, right? Because the other thing is social justice can mean a lot of different things.
It could be marching in the streets. It could be feeding people. It could be education. It could be, access to clean water, like social justice as a, as these two words can mean many different things to many different people.
And or equity, many different things to many different people.
Yeah. Liberation, like these are just words that convey concepts, but they are not tied to necessarily specific activities in the mind of the listener.
REBECCA 34:37
Yeah, that’s good. Yeah. It could be a trigger word where they’re like, Ooh, stay away. that’s super advice. Cause I, the first time I tried to create introduction for myself, I said helping people create a personal brand that they, that they ignites them and inspires others.
So I’m trying to explain to my 20 year old nephew, and he’s just what’s a personal brand and we get into a gigantic argument and then finally he’s like, well, fine. So let’s say I need a personal brand, but why do you want to be ignited? It sounds painful. That’s so funny. Jacob, I help people introduce themselves in 20 or explain who they are and what they do in 20 words or less.
And he’s like, well, auntie Becky, you should just say that.
RHEA 35:19
Yeah. don’t choose clever over clear.
REBECCA 35:23
Yes, I think I told you there’s an example of someone said, Oh, I’m a friend raiser. I’m like a what?
RHEA 35:30
Yeah. If I have to think about it, like I don’t understand and then I’m moving on.
REBECCA 35:28
A really great way to test that is exactly that, which is just introduce yourself to a trusted friend who doesn’t really know what you do and get their reaction.
And if they argue, if they’re like, I don’t get it, listen to them. Don’t say no, it’s clear. Like I’ve had people argue and say, no, a friend raiser is clear. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I just told you it wasn’t.
RHEA 35:54
Yeah. Yeah. Or listen, get your favorite middle schooler because they will tell you the truth about everything.
Did you understand what I just said?
REBECCA 36:01
Yes. A snarky 13 year old really works well. Yeah. To test a lot of when they were like that age and they would be like no.
Yeah. Clear is always better than clever and a great way to be clear. It’s there’s one woman, she came to one of my classes and she said like I help women over 40 lose weight in a sustainable, enjoyable way.
RHEA 36:28
Oh God. The word sustainable. Please just stop it already. No more sustainable
REBECCA 36:33
So the training, then she goes, I help women over 40 who hate dieting.
Everyone’s Oh, that’s me. Or I know someone like the whole class instantly. All she had to do was say it in a way they’re like, I know who that is.
So they have to see themselves in your intro and then they’re like, what do you do?
RHEA 36:53
Yeah. Rebecca, you are now inspiring me and now I’m thinking about my intro.
REBECCA 36:58
Oh, what was on your website? I thought your website was pretty clear.
RHEA 37:02
Yeah. I help nonprofit execs raise more money from major gift donors. But now I’m thinking I can also say I help nonprofit executives Raise more money, even if they feel icky about fundraising.
REBECCA 37:17
Yes. Yes. Or another great word, even if it’s great or, without feeling icky.
Like I help people promote themselves without feeling pushy without sounding salesy. That’s if you put that without, then you’re like, Breaking the convention of what they normally think.
Yeah. This without the bad stuff and then they’re like, Oh my gosh.
RHEA 37:40
Yeah. Cause I think a lot of people just hate fundraising.
I hear this all the time and I used to hate fundraising before I understood really what it was. And yet I still think the ick factor is there. Anyway, we could go on and on, but I know we have to wrap up. So Rebecca, if people want to find out more about your work, if they want to work on their own 20 word intro what should they do?
Where should they go?
REBECCA 38:00
They can come to my website, which is 20 words. com. So it’s the number 20 word. 20 words.com. And then if they go there, they can, I have free EGUs. I love helping people introduce themselves. I have a whole section on personal branding. Lots of just info to help people make their voice heard so they can make a bigger impact.
RHEA 38:23
I love that. And folks, we’ll make sure to put all of that info in the show notes and click through. So homework for everyone. Work on your 20 word intro.
REBECCA 38:31
There you go. Thanks.
RHEA 38:33
Thanks so much, Rebecca. This has been fun.
REBECCA 38:35
Thanks so much, Rebecca. This has been fun.
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