I’ll never forget my first presentation skills training as a participant. We each had to give a short presentation in front of the group. I was so nervous. I spoke my first few sentences. Then my mind when blank. I stopped talking. Couldn’t remember what to say next....
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If You Want To Be A Better Communicator, Relax!
An Interview With Ashina Saiki, Founder of Yoga Buddhi One of the highlights of my week is Ashina’s yoga class (often followed by a great chat over lunch). I love the way she welcomes everyone at the beginning of each class with a few minutes for us to share how we’re...
Avoid The Mottainai Of Miscommunication
This month marks one year since I published 英語の仕事術 (Eigo no Shigoto-jutsu) - wahoo! I’m thrilled that the book is now reading material for both Tokyo University’s Executive Management Program and Waseda Business School’s Strategic Thinking and Communication class....
Make It Easy For Your Audience
Years ago, I was translating some PowerPoint presentation slides from Japanese into English. My Japanese was good, but I couldn’t understand what the presenter wanted to say. So I asked him. He said the slides were supposed to be difficult to understand... I was...
Top 5 TED Talks For Japanese Business People
The other day, Emiko Rasmussen contacted me. She had seen my TEDx talk and was excited that what I said was so aligned with her mission. Emiko helps Japanese women to be more confident. TED talks are a wonderful way to spread ideas. And they’re a way for you to get...
How I Can Make You Do What I Want (And You Won’t Feel Bad About It)
Of all the communication skills, the one I’ve been least comfortable with is influencing. It’s not that I’m not good at it. I must be able to influence people - otherwise I wouldn’t have been running my own business for four years. But part of me associates...
3 Reasons Why Your PowerPoint Confuses Your Audience (And There Are Many More)
What's the point of PowerPoint? The slides are there to support your message as a presenter. Yet, sadly, many of the PowerPoint slides that we see in English business presentations in Japan distract and confuse the audience. Here’s an example that I’ll never forget....
Tell People Clearly What You Want – And You Can Achieve Your Dreams
An Interview With Haruka Mera, Founder and CEO of ReadyFor Inc. Haruka Mera has helped 250,000 people raise 3.86 billion yen to achieve their dreams through her crowdfunding business and website ReadyFor. How amazing is that? What’s more, she started the business when...
How To Do Less But Better: Essentialism
The other day, I lied. I was HORRIFIED because I like to think of myself as an honest person. But the lie just plopped out of my mouth before I could even think. While ordering lunch, I told the lady selling Thai food from a truck near my office that I’d just got back...
5 Hacks In Becoming A Globally-Minded Communicator
An Interview with Emi Takemura, Co-Founder at FutureEdu Tokyo I met Emi Takemura when we were both speaking at TEDx Roppongi in September 2016. I admired Emi's diligence in preparing for her presentation. When I saw her spending many hours over several days in front...
Treasure Your Imperfection In Communication
An Interview with Tiziana Alamprese, Marketing Director at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Japan I was tickled when I attended Tiziana Alamprese's presentation about pumping more passion into the workplace at an event organized by FEW (For Empowering Women) in Tokyo....
What Is A Good Question?
Can’t see the video player above? Watch it on YouTube. Transcript What is a good question? That is a good question. Why is “What is a good question” a good question? Because it's something that I’m curious about and I'm guessing that you're curious too because why...