An Interview With Helen Iwata, Founder and President of Sasuga Communications K. K.
Hellooooooo! I’m Helen Iwata of Sasuga Communications K. K., based in Tokyo. And I’m here to help you communicate with clarity and confidence in global business.
You’re reading part of a series of interviews with working women on the Sasuga! blog. We talk about communication successes and struggles.
This time, I’m interviewing… myself.
Read the writeup of the interview below and/or click on the audio player below to hear my voice (I know some of my Japanese readers are keen to practice listening to English, so I hope this helps).
Why am I interviewing myself?
I’m doing this for two reasons.
First, I believe it’s important for me to walk my talk. If I ask someone to do something difficult, I should be willing to do something difficult too. And, for many people, being interviewed is difficult, especially when it’s recorded. So I’m going to answer the same questions that I ask my interviewees to answer.
Second, I hope this will help you to get to know me better – whether you’ve worked with me personally, or you regularly read my content or watch my videos, and especially if you’ve only recently found me online.
By reading this interview, I hope you’ll get two things:
- Something that you can relate to and use to make a difference in your life – something meaningful
- A better understanding of who I am, so you can decide whether you want to continue to follow my work
In this interview, I’ll ask myself and answer six questions.
What kind of communicator do you want to be?
I want to be an uplifter. I want people to feel better after communicating with me. I love to see people smile. I get a thrill when I hear that people have done something that they didn’t think they could do. I love to receive emails from people telling me about the positive changes they’ve made in their communication and their lives.
Uplifting is my word for 2018.
What is a communication success that you can share?
This is difficult. Do you find that it’s easier to remember your failures than your successes? One story comes to mind, and I tell this not because I want to boast about what a great communication-skills coach I am but because it shows what is possible.
In one of my presentation skills courses was a very shy Japanese lady. The first time she stood up in front of the class, she was so nervous. She was shaking. Her voice was tiny.
One of the other participants said to me after the class, “Wow, what are you going to do with her? How are you going to get her to communicate with clarity and confidence?”
I knew that I would be teaching her skills. But more important than that, I believed in her. I knew she could do it if she could get over her nervousness. And I’m sure that came across in the way that I communicated with her.
And, in the final session of the course, she stood tall in front of the class and presented clearly and in a strong voice. She was like a different person.
I don’t know who was happier, her or me!
The way that we communicate with people can have a HUGE impact on them.
Sometimes though, it’s not a positive impact. And I’ll give you an example in my answer to question 3.
What is a communication failure you can share with us?
Years ago, a new member joined my team. My workstyle was to empower others. I believed this new team member was extremely talented and so I left her to make her own decisions and find her own solutions.
However, it turned out that she was very much used to working in a more micromanaged environment. She became very stressed about me not checking on her regularly and leaving things to her. The situation became so bad that she had to take time off work to recover. I felt so bad about this. I now realize that I should have recognized her different workstyle, listened to her more, and taken the time to speak with her until she felt comfortable about her work.
I share this story because I see this communication failure so often in so many organizations. Both parties have the best intentions, but they have different workstyles and expectations. Without caring communication, this leads to unnecessary stress and inefficiencies.
That was a long time ago. What about now?
What is challenging for you in communication right now?
Communication related to sales is difficult for me. I love to help people. That’s why I established my business. But I need sales to keep the business going.
Why is the communication of sales so difficult for me? I think it’s because I have a strong image in my mind of the stereotypical slimy, manipulative salesman and of one who I actually met.
I clearly remember the day in my first year in Japan when a salesman from a certain Japanese newspaper came to my door. He looked like the stereotypical salesman with greasy, slicked-back hair and a Cheshire Cat smile.
He immediately started complimenting me on my Japanese, which was actually very limited at the time. This was 1991! Somehow, he managed to convince me to subscribe not only to the daily edition of the newspaper, but also to the evening edition – even though I could hardly read Japanese!
The good news, by the way, is that my lovely Japanese neighbor called just after that. And when I told her what happened, she immediately phoned the newspaper to complain and canceled the subscription.
So, I don’t want to be a manipulative salesperson.
At the same time, I do want people to know what I can offer that might be able to help them. So I continue to share content online.
One thing that has helped me recently is this phrase: Serve those who swim toward you.
So, if you keep swimming my way, I’m here to help 🙂 And here’s how, in question 5.
What communication skill, resource, or advice can you share?
If you want weekly tips, resources, and advice, subscribe to my Sasuga! Tips For You newsletter. It’s free. And if you decide it’s not valuable for you, you can easily unsubscribe at any time.
I have BIG plans for 2018 – I recently wrote about some of them in my Nikkei Style column – and I’ll be sharing everything in Sasuga! Tips For You.
If you’re already a subscriber, you can reply to any of the emails at any time to tell me what is most useful for you or how I can make it even more valuable for you.
What else do you want to tell people about?
Ah, sooooooo much. The biggest one though is the membership that I’m launching in February. This will be a low-investment opportunity for long-term, bite-sized training, resources, support, advice, and event invitations. I believe that learning communication skills or changing unhelpful communication habits can take time, so I want to create a supportive environment for that. And I hope that members will also enjoy being part of an inspiring community.
I hope you’ve read some words that are meaningful for you in this interview and that you feel like you know me a little better now.
Thank you so much for reading to the end!
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海外のクライアントや同僚ともっとクリアに、もっと自信と説得力をもってコミュニケーションしたいと思っている方に朗報です！！
忙しいけどスキルUPしたい方必見！自分のペースで学べるSpeak Like An Expert Onlineがどのようにあなたの英語プレゼンを変えられるか – 詳しくはこちらをクリック。