Sasuga! Podcast & Blog
Looking for the Sasuga! Podcast? You can listen to the episodes here: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Below, you’ll find my latest blog posts to help you do brilliant work without sacrificing your personal life – less effort, more impact!
Presentation Tip: Move The Furniture To Move Your Audience
While rearranging the chairs in the meeting room of a large corporation in central Tokyo recently, I realized that I now have no qualms about rolling up my sleeves and shifting the room layout to improve the presentation impact. In the past, I might have hesitated and...
Do You Have A Ritual You Use Before Presenting?
This was a question from Stuart Ayre through the Sasuga! Communications website. Thinking the topic might also help others, I’m sharing my response here. I’m assuming two things. First, I know who the audience is and have a clear message that is helpful for them....
Just How Bad Are You? Let The Audience Be The Judge!
I’ll never forget when a European colleague started a serious Japanese business presentation with “Tsumaranai nihongo de moshiwake gozaimasen” (I apologize for my boring Japanese). It was a genuine mistake. He meant to say “tsutanai nihongo” (poor Japanese). The...
How to get meetings off to a great start
What difficulties do you face when running meetings? Not achieving the goal No clear goal to start with People arriving late or leaving early Struggle getting some to speak up or getting others to shut up Trouble managing differences of opinion Easily going off track...
“Why Japan?” and why I’m saying “no” to translation
Two pieces of news: one about a book and one about a big decision. Why Japan? First, the book. I translated “Why Japan?” from Japanese to English at the beginning of the year. It’s now available in bookstores in Japan and on Kindle around the world. The original...
How to boost your confidence on telephone conference calls
Nervous about joining telephone conferences? Shy to speak up? Worried what you sound like? Unsure you can say something useful? You’re not alone. Clients often ask me for advice on this, so I’ve developed a 45-minute webinar to share easy and practical tips to help...
3 Steps To Keep Meetings Productive And On Track
While I was visiting the UK over the summer with my daughter, my father drove us up and down the British Isles to see old friends (thanks, dad!). For each part of the trip, he punched the destination into his GPS (what Brits call a “sat nav”), and the GPS planned the...
How To Avoid Misunderstandings In The Workplace – Especially In Japan
I asked Sasuga! Tips For You readers their biggest communication difficulty at work. One replied, “Avoiding misunderstandings.” I can understand that. You too? I have one quick and super effective tip for you. But it can take a bit of courage to put into practice –...
How Do You Choose To Communicate With Yourself And Others?
One day, I was taking a low-cost carrier flight from Manchester to Paris. The aircraft was old, cramped, and grubby. When we deplaned, everyone piled onto a bus that drove us a long, long way to the gate. The little voice in my head was grumbling about the...