Linnita Hosten

The Mind Behind Your Messages: What Your Inner World is Communicating to the Outer World

College life is a balancing act of academic demands, identity, financial responsibilities, and family expectations, all at once. Sometimes you may not even have the space to pause and reflect on how that weight is affecting you. For student leaders, this is amplified. The pressures of life do not stop when your leadership responsibilities begin. This keynote invites student leaders to examine how their internal well-being influences their external communication with others. Through a holistic lens, learn how your body and mind communicate well before your words.

Learning Outcomes:

As a result of attending this program, students will learn:

• How leadership “pressure” shows up internally and how it influences decision-making, relationships, and daily interactions
• To establish a well-being baseline to assess your capacity to lead with fairness, objectivity, and awareness
• To appropriately express what you are experiencing, and identify healthy ways to release internal pressure and regain focus and clarity

Earn Your Influence

A role with authority places people under your leadership and requires them to report to you and communicate with you.

What authority cannot guarantee is the willingness of others to follow, trust, and grow with you. Followship is what Linnita calls Earned Influence. It’s the sacred access entrusted to you by those you lead because you’ve demonstrated mutual respect and built a genuine relationship. This keynote invites students to examine how their communication style shapes the relationships and teams they build and grow.

Learning Outcomes:

As a result of attending this program, students will learn:

• How personal experiences shape the way they communicate, lead, and respond to others.
• How to build a culture of trust and connectivity- using the Communication Cornerstones: compassion, clarity, and consistency.

Leading from the Passenger Seat

Congratulations! You’re the leader of your team, your organization, your chapter! When it comes to being the leader, do you have to be in front of the crowd at all times? Most students believe yes, but Linnita Hosten believes true leaders don’t always take the driver’s seat. A student and/or chapter leader displays healthy and inclusive leadership when they lead from the “Passenger Seat.”

The seat in which you lead- it matters. In the program, Linnita teaches students the three traits of passenger-centered teams and how seat positioning infectiously impacts and influences those you lead in your organization.

Learning Outcomes

As a result of attending this program, students will learn:

• How to apply soft skills such as observing, communicating, and listening; and evaluate its impact on establishing and maintaining an organizational culture,
• How to intentionally incorporate and model soft skills within an organization, and
• How to appropriately process and respond to organizational feedback from team leadership and team participants.

Hearty & Human: Having Hard Conversations Softly

Do you find it challenging to have that “hard conversation” without upsetting a friend, team member, or fellow leader? According to Forbes, “80% of people are running in fear from at least one scary conversation.” While working hands-on with a team is rewarding, it is also challenging to learn various communication styles.

In this program, Linnita Hosten plainly breaks down how to have professional hard conversations softly so that you and the recipient of the conversation both feel heard and understood.

Learning Outcomes

As a result of attending this program, students will learn:

• The common barriers that prevent hard conversations from occurring,
• The long-term effects of avoiding hard conversations,
• The three key elements of hard conversations to keep in mind when approaching conflict, and
• Practical tips to approach hard conversations

This program can also be customized for professional staff, teams, faculty, & administrators

The Year of Excellence

Your first year is hard. A new place. New people. New schedule. New environment. New emotions and new beginnings. If you’re honest, new is uncomfortable and sometimes scary. But what if you could nail down one simple way to make your first year more successful?

The success of your first year in college is determined by the goals you set. Beyond successfully completing your coursework, making new friends, and having a great time- what are your goals? Learn why it is critical to think strategically about your college experience and how you can leverage your college degree (with strategic planning) -before college graduation.

Learning Outcomes

As a result of attending this program, students will learn:

• How to identify their non-negotiables of success (study routine, communication needs, fitness lifestyle, self-care practice, etc.)
• How to draft a roadmap to navigate a successful first-year.
• How to identify valuable on-campus resources and opportunities to assist them with living out their success plan.
• How to make a clear connection between their engaged student experience, degree attainment, and career success.