Life’s biggest lessons, opportunities, and gifts are found in your connections with others. Relationships require work. You can't have a strong connection with people without effective communication. If we try to understand everyone’s thinking and behavior, we will know how to act consciously, which can lead us to build better connections.   Today I speak with Lynne Franklin, Communication Skills Coach, Executive Mentor, and Expert on Rapport & Persuasion. In our conversation she talks about how the brain works and how it can enhance communication and build connections faster.   Lynne is a neuroscience nerd who studies brain research and turns it into practical strategies for professionals to achieve their goals faster by connecting with others. Executives and teams work with Lynne to develop their careers by improving rapport, fostering trust, and cultivating work environments that people want to be a part of. Lynne is an international speaker and the former president of the National Speakers Association, Illinois chapter. Her TEDx talk: How to Be a Mind Reader, went viral with nearly 5 million views. She published Getting Others to Do What You Want and is currently working on her next book, Leaders on Rapport: Secrets of Creating Successful Connections. For fun, Lynne writes and sings song parodies about the pandemic and posts them on her YouTube channel.   Things you will also learn in this episode: Understanding the difference between “Emotional Brain” and “Subconscious Mind” How to adapt your communication style to your listener’s body language. Recognizing the 3 Types of Thinkers - “Lookers,” “Listeners” and “Touchers” How to stop losing your identity by taking off your mask The different types of biases we all show when hiring. The benefit of writing long-hand.   Quotes “We get so locked up in our own perspective, the things that we want to say, the messages that we want to share, that we forget who’s there to listen and who’s there to care.” - Lynne Franklin   “Minimizing the risk means never doing anything new ever again, for the rest of your life, which is boring.” - Lynne Franklin   “Persuasion is not about manipulating, controlling, or forcing an outcome; it is connecting with people, giving them useful information so that they can make a good decision.” - Lynne Franklin   “Sometimes, you can speak truth to power and change things.” - Lynne Franklin   “The most effective way to connect with other people is through stories.” - Lynne Franklin   “If we are voyaging together in a good story, we’re more likely to be connected.” - Lynne Franklin   “If leaders want to create change, they have to be clear on what's in it for everybody else to make it happen.” - Lynne Franklin   “You can be right, or you can be kind.” - Lynne Franklin   “Always assume goodwill.” - Lynne Franklin   “Being a little kinder, believing in the goodness of other people, and sharing what you've got can help them.”  - Lynne Franklin   “Most of us think we can't make a big change in the world, but the little things we do add up.” - Lynne Franklin