The Seven Frequencies of Communication: The Hidden Language of Human Connection

by Erwin Raphael McManus

Have you ever felt like your message isn’t landing, your voice isn’t being heard, or your words aren’t creating the impact you want? In The Seven Frequencies of Communication, world-renowned speaker and bestselling author Erwin Raphael McManus unveils a groundbreaking framework to help you master the art of connection and unlock the potential of your words.



Every conversation has the power to ignite possibility—or extinguish it. This book reveals seven unique communication styles—The Motivator, The Healer, The Challenger, The Commander, The Professor, The Seer, and The Maven—that shape every conversation and relationship. Whether you're leading a team, deepening relationships, or simply navigating everyday conversations, this toolkit empowers you to speak with authenticity, clarity, and resonance. By discovering and mastering your core frequency, you’ll transform how you connect with others, lead with purpose, and create lasting impact.communication isn’t just about what you say—it’s about the connection you create. With practical insights, proven strategies, and stories of transformation, McManus gives you the tools to harness the magic of your words to create meaningful relationships, inspire change, and lead with authenticity.



Whether you’re an entrepreneur, leader, creative, or simply someone who wants to be better understood, The Seven Frequencies of Communication is your ultimate guide to mastering the art of connection.

Genres: Nonfiction, Leadership, Self Help, Personal Development, Communication, Church, Metaphysics

160 pages, Hardcover

Published October 15, 2024

About the author

Erwin Raphael McManus is an iconoclast known as a cultural pioneer for his integration of creativity and spirituality. He is an artist, entrepreneur, and cultural thought leader who is also the founder of MOSAIC, a community of faith in Los Angeles California. Known for their innovation, creativity, and artistry, MOSAIC has been named one of the most influential and innovative churches in America.

Engaging such issues as culture, creativity, change, and leadership, Erwin is widely known as a thought-provoking communicator, poet, and wordsmith. His travels have taken him to over 50 countries and he has spoken to over a million people from a wide variety of audiences, from professional sports, Wall Street investors, universities, film studios, and conferences across the world.

McManus is the author of Soul Cravings, Chasing Daylight, and other leading books on spirituality and creativity. His newest book is The Artisan Soul: Crafting your Life into a Work of Art.

Erwin Raphael McManus sees the imagination as the principle vehicle through which we create a better self, a better world, and a better future. He argues that creativity is both uniquely human and the essence of human uniqueness. Creativity, McManus contends, is a natural expression of our spirituality. When we are most fully alive we create out of love all that is good and beautiful and true.

Erwin has a BA in psychology from UNC Chapel Hill, a Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Theological Seminary, and a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Southeastern University.

Reviews

[Turquoise Brennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"if you do not know how to embody how others feel, you will always be limited in your communication" some sections seemed repetitive but weren't. I read this in 3 hours for book club - sucks you have to pay $20 to access the quiz. I feel like the code for the quiz should come with it when you purchase the book.
I enjoyed it and it was a quick read.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one that I didn’t want to put down. I took the assessment as well and would recommend this to anyone reading the book so that they can work to get the most out of it.

It’s not only important to communicate in our natural frequency, but to know who to pair with to work best, and how to access the others depending on what the people around us need in the moment.

Definitely worth purchasing and reading.

[Justin Frear · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book with some really great ideas to ponder. It has helped me to unlock not just how I communicate in Ministry but in my personal life as well!

[Marion Hill]

I have written before in previous reviews that a book will come to you in unexpected ways and demand to be read on the spot. It has not happened often in my reading life, but it is always memorable when it does. This is the case for Seven Frequencies of Communication by Erwin Raphael McManus.

This past week, I was watching the LeCrae Deep End Podcast where he was interviewing Erwin Raphael McManus, pastor of Mosaic Church in Southern California, and their conversation was enlightening and resonated with me. I went down a YouTube rabbit hole of McManus’ videos and came across one of them where he was discussing the Seven Frequencies of Communication and how he came up with the system.

I have always been fascinated with how people communicate with each other, and with Charlie Kirk’s passing this week, it seems we, as a country, better learn how to communicate with each other in healthier ways. McManus believes we communicate on frequencies, and when our frequencies align, we share the same language. But if we’re not aligned, we’ll always have communication problems.

The first step is to find out what your frequency is and to get a better understanding of your communication style. McManus proposes seven frequencies that all human beings fall under:

Frequency 1: The Motivator (The motivator frequency transmits energy and self-belief.)

Frequency 2: The Challenger (The challenger frequency transmits courage and awakens calling.)

Frequency 3: The Commander (The commander frequency transmits trust and provides direction.)

Frequency 4: The Healer (The healer frequency transmits acceptance and extends wholeness.)

Frequency 5: The Professor (The professor frequency transmits knowledge and assures competency.)

Frequency 6: The Seer (The seer frequency transmits vision and generates innovation.)

Frequency 7: The Maven (The maven frequency transmits a new reality and creates paradigm shifts.)

We all have a dominant frequency natural to us, and there is also a shadow aspect from each frequency. McManus’s book examines this, showing how many individuals operate from the concealed side of their main frequency rather than its more apparent side. He recounts his journey of escaping his inherent nature, “The Maven,” until he deeply contemplated his life, realizing it had always been his true essence.

McManus recommends after reading the book that you take an assessment to determine your dominant frequency, and there are two other main frequencies that make up your communication style. I had a sense before I took the assessment that my dominant frequency would be The Professor (Frequency 5). But I was surprised to discover that The Motivator (Frequency 1) is my dominant frequency. I have never seen myself as a motivator except for self-motivation. By the way, The Professor was my second main frequency and The Healer as my third. The assessment revealed that “The Motivator” is my dominant personality trait, which has led me to reflect because it’s accurate, and I’ve distanced myself from that aspect of my character.

My reading year has been lukewarm with only a couple of books that I have been excited to read. Seven Frequencies of Communication has given me a much-needed jolt to my reading year, and I truly believe is a life-changing book for me. I highly recommend McManus’s book and hope it begins on your path to becoming a better communicator.

[kaitelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I greatly appreciate Erwin as a communicator and thought leader and the concepts presented in this book are compelling. Erwin’s voice is clear, and there were plenty of highlighted phrases and sentences I’d love to reference to friends and family.

With that established, I did find some of the development of each frequency somewhat curtailed. The examples of notable figures were perhaps the most grounded part of each frequency description, not withstanding the personal disagreement/irony I saw in the description of Brenee Brown as a shameless Healer back to back with Dave Ramsey, a Professor (whose communication I find borderline shadowlike because of the amount of shame inherent in his strategies). I’d love to see a diagram or visual to illustrate some of the descriptions of similarities/proximities of the frequencies.

Super excited to see what the team does in the future with self publishing. I do hope to see an improvement in the quality of the print as the margins were unequal throughout the book and the dust jacket was very poorly folded to fit the book.

[Dave Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb book on communications and style from a fantastic communicator. This gave me a lot to think about as a speaker at something of a crossroads in my practice. I am very glad to have read it, and plan to refer back often.

[Katy Richie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written, quick read. I found this book to have more practical value for understanding others and myself compared to many other personality/ archetype books I've read, even though it's focus is on communication styles.

[Michael McAndrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish there were more practical steps.

It’s good to acknowledge the different types of communication.

But how do we improve from here…?

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

What I like about this book is that it emphasizes the very Biblical idea that words have power. God spoke life into existence, after all. Since we are made in His image, how and what we say can bring life or death.

I think the idea of "frequencies" came from the story of a whale who could not hear or be heard because his own frequency was atypical. He became lonely because he couldn't communicate in a way other whales understood. Using this imagery, the author describes 7 "frequencies" of communicating that people use. Sometimes we're not aware of what others need, and we can miss out on connection. The book is descriptive, explaining the good and bad sides of each type of communication. McManus uses a variety of actors, athletes, and characters as examples of the different communication styles. Unfortunately for me, I knew very few of the references, so the examples were lost on me.

There is an attempt at giving ideas for how to tap into other frequencies in order to reach others, but it truthfully lacked practical examples. (which is funny because the author discusses in his book that giving commands is not his strength.)

I want to be encouraging, but I didn't find this book helpful. I think there are already other better resources available, such as The Enneagram and The 5 Love Languages. If you're working in public speaking, education, or ministry, using William Frankena's philosophy of education or Hook,Book,Look,Took by Richards and Bredfeldt will absolutely help you communicate effectively to a broad audience. It feels like McManus was trying to reinvent the wheel and he just really didn't need to.

I'm usually not a negative Nellie, but this one fell short.

[Brenten Gilbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

RATING 2.68 STARS

I haven't read anything from McManus in a long time, but I remember his hey day back in the early 2000s when he was a leader in the "emergent" movement embracing the postmodern culture and attempting to claim it for the Kingdom. It was all rather vague and the results were rather mixed. I do recall having a reasonable conversation with him when I interviewed him, but again, it's been a while.

Fast forward to this book and add in the wisdom of hindsight. McManus is definitely still embracing the role of a muddled mouthpiece for self help and perhaps self awareness. The book is not exactly bad, but it also seems more of a generic pop psychology manual than anything practical or worth digging too deeply into. I found it somewhat interesting, but I was also a bit disappointed since communication is important to me and this didn't really lead anywhere.

I wouldn't normally read the other reviews, but a lot of these are pretty amusing. I get it. It's easy to conclude that McManus is a psychological snake-oil salesman and/or a bit of an egomaniac. I just think he wants to solve problems.

[Micah Poteet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have gleaned much from a lot of Erwin’s works. When I heard his podcast on with Tim Ross on The Basement speaking of this book I was thrilled.

While the information within is quite good, I felt like the podcast had stripped most of the essential elements out and left me without much more to discover from this book.

I would recommend listening to the podcast, and then if you feel so compelled perhaps read the book to finish filling out the edges.

[Noah Reagan]

Look, I’m just gonna get this out of the way: I find McManus to be unbelievably narcissistic in the way he writes and communicates. And it becomes so hard to separate his ego from this book

For example, the frequency he says he possesses is called the Maven. Which is of course what he deems as the rarest frequency and one that if you don’t have it you have to spend your whole life chasing. His secondary frequency of the seer of course is the 2nd most rare. Like dude I got the maven frequency on the assessment too and I love my ego being stroked too but come on this is unreal

He does multiple ads for the things he’s doing or selling literally inside of his own book with urls and everything. I am more and more convinced that he’s just a businessman who is more concerned about his branding and perception than he is the actual ideas he develops

Erwin has proposed such a cool concept that literally I felt like was two inches deep. It was mostly meanderings about his own personal success and flexes of people he knows and places he’s spoken at. And Jesus is used as a marketing tool infinitely more than a holistic worldview and being. For him it seems like Jesus is just a part of his worldview, not the entirety of it

Because of all this the 7 frequencies while engaging fell flat for me as through his writing I was constantly reminded “oh wait this isn’t an actual model or scientific in any way, a guy who was really full of himself sat down and just like wrote 7 titles down and made up some clever names” I liked the exploration of how people communicate but the whole concept of them being 7 and having synergies and shadow sides and all that felt extremely stupid towards the end.

Not at all a bad read at all considering its brevity and the nature of its concept. But just shallow

[Evan Steele · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

I love a good book on communication, I also love good idea or concept that adds to the conversation on communication. This is not a good book on communication, it might be a good concept being failed by an incomplete book, but my first take is that I will not think much about this ever again.

McManus as an off the beaten path pastor has useful insights and challenges for the Christian world, but as a communicator and self help advocate his ideas are so vanilla and vague they barely register.

The main body of the book is an introduction to his seven "Frequencies" of communication, which come off like Enneagram lite for speakers. These are things like Commander, Healer, and Maven. He explains them largely pointing to famous communicators and explaining how part of their effectiveness comes from their specific frequency. The best part of the book is talking through the unhealthy versions of each communication style for example the Motivator can become inward focused and obsessed with building himself and his brand and become a Performer.

The primary failure of the book is never landing the idea of why this is important and helpful. The how to find out which you really are (aside from paying for his assessment) and what value would really come to the world if we all knew our primary frequencies.

My recommendation is to skip this one, unless you just love McManus or Enneagram categories.

[Suzi Oakley · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If we do not learn how to listen, we will never know how to be heard." I mean, what a perfect thought when considering what it means to be a good communicator. I found this book to be both enlightening and motivating in understanding the world of communication and wanting to better my skills as a communicator. I think it offers ground work for really great conversation with those closest to you if you're willing to be vulnerable. I appreciated that he addresses "shadow frequencies" as well and how to move out of those shadows. I think everyone communicates from the shadows at times so it's helpful to know how to recognize what that looks like so you can move away from it. A great, quick, read!

[Amanda Oster · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is for those seeking to be better communicators. It is a rubric of self-discovery, describing 7 different communication styles and how they work in relation with the others. It is not overly complicated or in-depth. To discover one’s own dominant frequencies, the reader can purchase (separately) the opportunity to take a quiz/assessment, providing their top 3 communication frequencies.

As someone who is regularly interested in learning more about myself and how my qualities interact with others, this was another opportunity to learn something new and to reflect upon. I wouldn’t rank it my favorite self-assessment tool, but it was good.

I recommend, especially if you are a communicator and are interested in becoming more effective in how you communicate with others.

[Tora Damian · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 ⭐️🗣️📝

I LOVE WORDS AND COMMUNICATION. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

Erwin’s thesis on the workings of the seven frequencies, how they interact with one another, are revealed in an individual, and can be grown and worked upon was so perfect. I’ve been excited to read it for a while now, and was even more excited when I had the chance to pick up a copy from Mosaic itself 🥲

Super practical, too—which made it easy for me to analyze sermons I was writing and see where I need to add more healing, commanding, etc.

Erwin’s writing allows you to recognize your strengths and call out yours flaws in a graceful and truthful way. I definitely wanna read more of what he’s written.

[Danijs Boguss · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t expect this book to cut so close to my real life.
When I first picked up The 7 Frequencies of Communication, I thought it would be about learning how to speak better, listen better, maybe inspire people more effectively. Instead, it held up a mirror one I couldn’t turn away from.

Erwin Raphael McManus begins with a powerful truth: words don’t just describe reality, they create it. The ancient phrase “Abracadabra” literally means, “I create as I speak.” Our words shape the stories we tell ourselves, and those stories shape the world around us. If we want to change our lives, we must first change the story we’re telling both to others and to ourselves.

[Derek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect! I resonate with McManus’ writing and frequency in a deep level.. and this book has clarified why. My primary frequency is Maven and McManus’ communication of the frequencies, Maven in particularly, brings much insight to why I thought myself somewhat misunderstood in my ‘crazy’ ideas. Equipped with how to approach my communication on a deeper level and how to embrace the other frequencies, I feel in better standing for when I speak to my congregation, classes, friends and families.. great book.. off now to recommend it to my friends..

[Joel Kimpela · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Seven Frequencies of Communication helps readers explore how they interact and connect with others. A standout aspect of the book is its focus on understanding others' perspectives and fostering empathy, which in turn builds meaningful connections—a lesson that truly resonated with me. The concepts are presented in an accessible and engaging way, making them applicable to personal and professional settings alike. This book is perfect for anyone seeking to refine their communication skills, find their voice, and create deeper relationships.

[Renee Welk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Any time we can discover more about us and the inner workings of others, the better friend, mentor, parent, spouse, educator, entrepreneur, etc. we can be. I liked the concepts in the book and especially liked the chapter "shadows," which shows that our greatest strength can become our greatest weakness if our intentions are not pure and good. I'm having a hard time implementing the knowledge based upon the 7 Frequencies because they don't stick as easily as say the DISC Profile or Enneagram. But, the concepts are very useful.

[Drew Timmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A curious read about the ways we communicate. This was interesting, but felt like a cursory introduction where explanations were simple and fairly generic. But it got me thinking about how I communicate, and what kinds of ways I can grow into other forms of communication. I found myself gravitating towards Seer and Maven frequencies, and nearly never using the Commander frequency. Some good things to begin to consider here. This would be a great read for someone in high school or college beginning to hone in on their calling and seeking to become effective at communication within their field.

[Kaden McNicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really did enjoy reading this book. As I dove into all the different frequencies of communication I learned about new communication styles and a lot of things that I lacked in before. I took the frequency test that went along with the book and my results were spot on for the type of communicator I am. I strongly suggest this read if you are curious to know what frequency resonates with you the most, or how to read/speak with people who have a completely different communication style than you. Love Erwin and have been greatly impacted by his knowledge and wisdom.

[David Swart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, is a decent book with some really interesting thoughts around communication style. Why I gave it three stars because of the large amount of arrogance the author is portrayed. Looking at the seven frequencies and putting his own frequency as the most rare and really the most impressive Without showing any of the downsides comes across as very self-serving. That being said, he does have some good points in these seven frequencies

[Katie Carnaroli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! It will help your communication with your friends, family, co-workers and even strangers. I took the assessment online as well and found my top 3 frequencies are motivator, challenger and healer. It has helped me become more aware and show up for the people around me even better. Quick read but with so much wisdom.

[Kalyn Barrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fascinating book. I’d be interested in digging in a little more to find out what my communication style is but more how I can utilize it to better communicate. This book seems like it would be necessary to read it multiple times and really implement it into your life. If you don’t, it’s just an interesting idea.

[Kathy Mauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I “fell” for the advertising on social media. Decent introduction to a way to look at different styles of communication. It’s a little bit “out there” but when the author described himself as the rate “Maven”, it all made sense. I intend to look into it a bit more for the purpose of improving culture at work. I’m regularly looking for better ways to communicate and listen to others.

[Chelsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy a book that helps me understand myself and others around me better. This one does that with a very interesting perspective. I’m a commander… which honestly I don’t like most of the time about myself but thinking about it through this lens helps me to see that it can be used in a very helpful way!

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book on communication with an assessment. There are 7 frequencies: Motivator, Challenger, Commander, Healer, Professor,Seer, Maven.

“Sounds create words. Words create meaning. Meaning creates communication. Communication creates connection. Connection creates humanity. Humanity creates the future. The future begins with a sound.”

[Christian Crampton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d really give this like a 4.5/5. Really enjoyed the ideas of communication and how our words are extensions of us. Challenging to hear and learn about the frequencies I don’t use well and know that they all have their place.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up. I like the concept better than the book itself (which to me felt underdeveloped and at times self-indulgent). Still Erwin has created a helpful framework for thinking about various approaches to communication.