Shawn Kent Hayashi shows people how to improve their communication skills, build stronger relationships and teams, and present more effectively. Her latest book is titled Conversations for Change: 12 Ways to Say It Right When It Matters Most.

There are three foundations to all good communication. Shawn defines them as 1. Building emotional intelligence 2. Understanding workplace motivators
3. Recognizing and adapting to communication styles.

To build emotional intelligence, Shawn says we have to tap into 7 core emotions and 5 skills. The seven emotions are: 1) love 2) joy 3) hope 4) sadness 5) envy 6) anger and 7) fear. Of the seven, fear is a learned emotion. The other six are innate in humans.

The five skills are: 1) self-awareness 2) self-regulation 3) motivation 4) empathy and 5) social skills to bring people together.

Shawn doesn’t believe that some people are more adept at communication. Rather, some people are more naturally drawn to connect to others.

The seven workplace motivators are: 1. Utilitarian 2. Aesthetic 3. Theoretical 4. Traditional 5. Social and 6. Individualistic.

The reason Shawn wrote the book is because she loves to coach people to be better communicators.

Listen to her entire interview below: