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244 Be Careful Using Your Hands When Presenting In Japan show art 244 Be Careful Using Your Hands When Presenting In Japan

The Japan Business Mastery Podcast By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan

Don’t get this wrong. Good posture never goes out of style, yet many presenters struggle with it. Standing straight projects confidence, enables better breath control, and conveys energy. However, the presenting environment often tempts us into poor habits. Even seasoned performers—actors and singers—struggle with posture during award acceptance speeches. Instead of standing tall, they hunch over microphones, giving audiences an unflattering view of their bowed heads. These professionals, familiar with microphone technology, should excel at its use but often fail to adapt to the setup....

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243 Setting the Foundations For Making The Sale In Japan show art 243 Setting the Foundations For Making The Sale In Japan

The Japan Business Mastery Podcast By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan

Nemawashi, translates to “groundwork” and is rooted in the practice of moving large trees. This intricate process—preparing roots, wrapping them, and relocating the tree—serves as a metaphor for meticulous preparation before decisions in business. In Japan, decisions are typically made before meetings, with the gathering itself serving as a formality to approve prior agreements. The groundwork involves engaging stakeholders individually, securing their buy-in, and addressing potential concerns. In contrast, Western decision-making often occurs during meetings, with open discussions and...

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242 Mood Control In Japan show art 242 Mood Control In Japan

The Japan Business Mastery Podcast By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan

Don’t be delusional. Do you consider yourself moody? Perhaps not, but as a boss, your team may perceive you differently. Employees are keenly attuned to your every movement, tone, body language and expression, constantly evaluating your mood to gauge whether it's a good time to approach you with work-related matters. Your ability to mask emotions or maintain equilibrium amidst challenges significantly influences the workplace atmosphere. As the leader, your mood sets the tone for the day. A positive attitude can uplift the team, while a negative one can drag them down. The challenge lies in...

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241  Open The Kimono When Presenting In Japan show art 241  Open The Kimono When Presenting In Japan

The Japan Business Mastery Podcast By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan

Stop wrecking your presentations. When delivering talks, many speakers separate their personal identities from the content, focusing solely on facts, data, and evidence. This approach, often favored by technical individuals, misses the opportunity to create deeper engagement with the audience. As an introvert, I understand the hesitation to share personal stories. However, keeping oneself out of the narrative is a significant mistake. Injecting personal experiences and insights into a presentation transforms it from theoretical to practical, resonating more deeply with the audience. Audiences...

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240 Buyer Styles In Japan show art 240 Buyer Styles In Japan

The Japan Business Mastery Podcast By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan

Salespeople are ignorant. When interacting with Japanese buyers, personality differences play a more critical role than cultural differences. Understanding personality styles can help improve communication and sales success. A two-axis framework categorizes personality types: a horizontal axis measures from low assertion on the left across to high assertion on the right, and a vertical axis measuring people orientation at the top vs. outcome focus down below. Bottom right, the Driver type is highly assertive and outcome-driven. Often business founders, they value results over...

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239 Taking Accountabilty In Japan show art 239 Taking Accountabilty In Japan

The Japan Business Mastery Podcast By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan

Stop being weak. The beauty, weight loss, fashion, and entertainment industries inundate us with images of unattainable perfection, leaving many feeling inadequate—too tall, short, fat, thin, or unsuccessful. It’s easy to fall into the trap of wishing for better circumstances: wealthier parents, a better education, or a more favorable start in life. But wishing changes nothing; the past cannot be undone. While mistakes, poor choices, and misfortunes may weigh us down, the key is to stop dwelling on what lies behind us and channel that energy into moving forward. To progress, we must act as...

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238 How To Quieten the Crowd In Japan show art 238 How To Quieten the Crowd In Japan

The Japan Business Mastery Podcast By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan

Some MCs are idiots. At a sports related event filled with free-flowing drinks, idle chatter, and hundreds of attendees, the presentations quickly unraveled into a comedy of errors. The MC, tasked with introducing the main speaker, faced an uninterested crowd more captivated by their own conversations than the proceedings on stage. In a desperate bid for attention, the MC resorted to shooshing the audience, first gently, then with exaggerated, strident authority, as if addressing unruly schoolchildren. This tactic only drew ridicule, amplifying the noise and making the atmosphere even more...

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237 Never Stop Selling In Japan show art 237 Never Stop Selling In Japan

The Japan Business Mastery Podcast By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan

Salespeople leave money on the table. The sales process doesn’t end with a signed agreement; delivery is the critical next step. Whether immediate or delayed, it’s often handled by someone other than the salesperson—usually agents, contractors, or back-office staff. Salespeople, meanwhile, quickly shift focus on new deals, leaving follow-up with buyers neglected. This is a common mistake that can cost opportunities and relationships. Instead, it is vital to schedule post-delivery meetings with buyers to ensure satisfaction, address issues, and explore further opportunities. A...

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236 Developing Women For Leadership In Japan show art 236 Developing Women For Leadership In Japan

The Japan Business Mastery Podcast By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan

Japan discriminates against women in business. Former Prime Minister Abe’s modest targets for increasing female leadership numbers failed miserably. Abe’s campaign got nowhere, and with their tail between their legs, the Government significantly lowered their targets. This lack of progress is mirrored in Japan’s Rotary Clubs, traditionally male-dominated bastions within a global organization designed to foster professional connections and community contribution. Until recently, 94% of Japanese Rotary Clubs had no women members, including my own club. Since I joined in 2002, debates...

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235 Being Conversational In Japan show art 235 Being Conversational In Japan

The Japan Business Mastery Podcast By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan

Presenters get this wrong. Avoid creating a barrier between yourself and the audience. Presenters are often elevated on a stage or positioned at the front of the room, surrounded by podiums, slides, lighting, and microphones, all of which can inadvertently distance them from their audience. In Japan, standing above a seated audience requires an apology at the start of the speech, as such positioning implies superiority in a hierarchy-conscious society. Similarly, using a commanding voice or overly formal demeanour can create unnecessary separations. Instead, focus on building rapport and...

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We can speak to a group and then there is another level, where we try to captivate our audience.  What makes the difference.  The content could even be the same but in the hands of one person it is dry and delivered in a boring manner.  Someone else can take the same basic materials and really bring it to life. 

The quality of the argument we are going to present is important.  We definitely need to design two powerful closes, one for the end of the speech and an extra one for after the Q&A.  Importantly, we start from this point when designing the talk.  We work out what is the most compelling message we want to leave with our audience and we start working backwards structuring the speech from here.  Once we know what we what to say, we need to be gathering evidence to back up that assertion. 

In a thirty minute speech, there won’t be so much time, so we might get through three or four of these key points and that is it.  Now we make sure that the evidence is super strong, offering really compelling proof, to build credibility for our argument.

Next we work on a blockbuster opening.  This has to compete with all the things running through the minds of our audience.  We have to smash through all that obstruction and clear a path so that they will hear our message.  The first words out of our mouth had better be compelling or we will lose the battle for today’s minute attention spans. 

 We want our visuals on screen to be clear and comprehendible within two seconds.  Let’s keep the colours to an absolute maximum of three.  Photos are great with maybe just one word of text added. If we use graphs, we should have only one per screen wherever possible. 

Every five minutes we need to be switching the energy levels right up, to keep our audience going with us.  Naturally, we have tonal variety right throughout the talk, but we need to be hitting some key messages very hard, around that five minute interval.  This needs to be combined with some powerful visuals on screen to drive home the point. 

We are meticulously sprinkling stories throughout the speech to highlight the evidence we want to provide for our key points.  Data by itself is fundamentally dull, but stories fleshing out the data are so much more scintillating.  We sketch out physical locations, describe colours, talk about the season, mix in people they may know, explain the why of what is in the story. 

Our final close after the Q&A has to go out with a bang and not a whimper.  We want a strong call to action. 

We need great structure, evidence, visuals, stories, pacing, energy, passion and belief in our presentation.  The delivery is going to rock because we make it rock through rehearsal after rehearsal, until we have refined the whole thing into a symphonic triumph.  That is how we need to be thinking to captivate our audience when we start constructing the talk.  Begin with audience capture in mind.