『The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show』のカバーアート

The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show

The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show

著者： Dr. Greg Story
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For succeeding in business in Japan you need to know how to lead, sell and persuade. This is what we cover in the show. No matter what the issue you will get hints, information, experience and insights into securing the necessary solutions required. Everything in the show is based on real world perspectives, with a strong emphasis on offering practical steps you can take to succeed.copyright 2022 マネジメント マネジメント・リーダーシップ 経済学
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  • How To Be More Persuasive

    How To Be More Persuasive
    2026/07/12
    Persuasion starts with being concise and clear. If the audience cannot follow the speaker quickly, they will not be persuaded, no matter how clever the message may be. In this Age of Distraction, speakers are competing with mobile phones, email, LinkedIn, Slack, Teams, WhatsApp, and every other digital escape route. Leaders, executives, salespeople, trainers, consultants, and presenters in Japan, Australia, the United States, Europe, and across Asia-Pacific need structure, evidence, timing, and strong openings and closes. Persuasion is not a lucky accident. It is designed. Why must persuasive speakers be concise and clear first? Persuasive speakers must be concise and clear because audiences will not accept a message they cannot follow.Rambling kills attention, and confusion kills trust. Many speakers want to be more persuasive, but persuasion is impossible when the audience is lost. In business presentations, sales pitches, investor briefings, training sessions, and leadership town halls, listeners decide quickly whether the speaker is worth their attention. If the speaker rambles, they reach for their phones. If the message is mystifying, they escape into digital safety. Conciseness and clarity create the foundation for influence. Do now: Before trying to persuade, ask whether your audience can explain your main point in one sentence. How should speakers open a persuasive presentation? A persuasive presentation needs a strong opening that wakes the audience up and tells them why they should listen now. The opening is the dynamite, the nitro, and the fuse. The first moments of a talk must break through complacency, sloth, and slumber. A weak opening wastes the audience's best attention. A strong opening may use a provocative statement, a sharp question, a surprising statistic, a customer story, or a vivid problem. In Japan, where business presentations can sometimes begin slowly and formally, a crisp opening helps both local and international audiences understand the value immediately. Do now: Design the opening separately. Do not drift into the talk and hope the audience comes with you. Why should presentations be organised in five-minute blocks? Five-minute blocks help speakers keep the audience attached to the message by regularly changing the rhythm.Every few minutes, the audience needs a fresh reason to stay engaged. A persuasive talk should not run as one long stream of explanation. Around every five minutes, the speaker should switch it up with a story, a strong slide, a quotation, a question, a demonstration, or an example. This prevents the presentation from becoming predictable. In executive briefings, sales presentations, board updates, and training programs, five-minute blocks create momentum and make the message easier to remember. Do now: Map your next presentation into five-minute sections, each with a clear purpose and engagement device. How does evidence make a speaker more persuasive? Evidence makes a speaker more persuasive because it proves the claim and reduces audience doubt. Strong opinions need credible support. When speakers make provocative claims, they must bolt on proof. Data, statistics, survey results, testimonials, case studies, customer feedback, and benchmark comparisons all increase credibility. In B2B sales, leadership communication, consulting, and training, unsupported assertions sound like opinion. Supported assertions sound like business logic. The speaker's job is to make it easy for the audience to believe the point without working too hard. Do now: For every major claim, add one proof point: data, example, testimonial, or result. What structure makes a persuasive talk easy to follow? A persuasive talk becomes easier to follow when the speaker chooses a clear structure and stays with it. Logical flow prevents the audience from getting lost. The structure may be thematic, chronological, micro to macro, problem-solution-result, past-present-future, or challenge-action-outcome. The exact model matters less than the discipline of choosing one. Speakers get into trouble when they let the muse take them on a scenic journey without direction. Audiences are lazy escape artists. If they have to work too hard to follow the thread, they leave mentally. Do now: Choose one organising structure before building slides or writing the script. Why are bridges important in persuasive presentations? Bridges are important because they guide the audience from one section to the next without making them work.They stitch the whole presentation together. Useful bridges sound simple: "We have covered XYZ, now let me explore ABC." "In a moment, let's look at how the economy may affect our projections." "There are three key things we must be vigilant for; the first is…" These verbal signposts help listeners understand where they are and where the speaker is taking them. In cross-cultural presentations, especially when English is a second language for some audience members, bridges ...
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    11 分
  • Why Trust Is Earned Not Commanded

    Why Trust Is Earned Not Commanded
    2026/07/05
    Leaders receive automatic compliance from their title, but they do not receive earned trust by command. Position power may get people to follow instructions, laugh at the boss's jokes, and say "yes," but it will not create deep commitment, innovation, or discretionary effort. In Japan, Australia, the United States, Europe, and across Asia-Pacific, leaders in multinationals, SMEs, startups, and family businesses face the same problem. They confuse authority with trust. The team may obey, but obedience is not the same as willing cooperation. Real trust is built through consistent communication, proper delegation, follow-through, and time spent understanding people. What is the difference between automatic trust and earned trust? Automatic trust comes from position power, but earned trust comes from repeated behaviour that proves the leader is reliable. A title can force compliance, but it cannot command genuine commitment. Automatic trust is the basic respect given to the role. People follow the reporting line, attend meetings, and respond to instructions because the leader has authority. Earned trust is different. It is based on the reality of daily interactions: whether the leader listens, explains decisions, follows through, keeps promises, and treats people fairly. In Japanese organisations, where hierarchy and seniority can be powerful, the gap between obedience and trust can be especially easy to miss. Do now: Ask whether your team is following you because they trust you, or because your title requires it. Why does trust affect delegation and time management? Trust affects delegation because leaders who do not trust their team keep too much work on their own shoulders.That destroys both people development and executive time management. When leaders fear that others will make mistakes, miss deadlines, or mishandle responsibility, they avoid delegating. The result is a double loss. First, team members lose the chance to grow through accountability and higher-level tasks. Second, the leader becomes trapped in low-value and medium-value work instead of focusing on strategic priorities. This pattern appears in corporate Japan, regional offices, startups, and global firms alike. Poor delegation is not just a workload issue; it is a trust issue. Do now: Identify one task you are holding because of low trust, then decide what support would make delegation possible. How does earned trust increase discretionary effort? Earned trust increases discretionary effort because people are more willing to go beyond the minimum when they believe in the leader. Trust turns paid labour into deeper commitment. Discretionary effort is the jewel every leader wants. It shows up when people innovate, create, think ahead, take ownership, and step up without being forced. Employees are paid for their work, but extra commitment cannot be bought by salary alone. It is released through trust. When trust levels are high, people bring more energy, ideas, and resilience. When trust is low, they do only what is necessary and protect themselves from risk. Do now: Build the conditions where people want to contribute more, rather than merely comply. How do leaders accidentally destroy trust? Leaders destroy trust when their words, reactions, and follow-through do not match what they claim to value.Trust is built slowly but can fall through the floor in one bad interaction. A leader may lose their temper, lash out, dismiss a suggestion, promise action and then do nothing, or say one thing while doing another. Each moment withdraws from the trust account. When a team member offers an idea and the boss reacts harshly, that person's "innovation ticket" is cancelled. Others notice too. In Japanese workplaces, where people may already be cautious about speaking up, one poor reaction can silence future input for a long time. Do now: Treat every reaction to bad news, ideas, or mistakes as a deposit or withdrawal from trust. What kind of communication actually builds trust? Trust-building communication explains the why, listens seriously, asks for input, and goes beyond telling people what to do. Talking a lot is not the same as communicating well. Many leaders believe they communicate because they issue instructions, chair meetings, and give updates. That is not enough. Communication that builds trust requires time and curiosity. Leaders need to explain the purpose behind decisions, listen to concerns, seek ideas beyond their own experience, and understand what motivates each person. This takes longer than command-and-control leadership, but it creates stronger alignment. For Japanese teams, global project groups, and cross-cultural organisations, explaining the "why" is especially important because assumptions may differ. Do now: Replace one directive conversation with a "why, input, and listen" conversation this week. How should leaders delegate to build trust? Leaders should delegate by matching tasks to the person's development path, not...
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    13 分
  • How To Present Products Professionally

    How To Present Products Professionally
    2026/06/28
    Presenting products professionally is not just about explaining features. It is about holding attention, guiding the buyer's thinking, and making the value of the product easy to understand. Salespeople, executives, product managers, founders, trainers, and technical specialists are all competing with smartphones, short attention spans, and audience impatience. In Japan, the United States, Europe, and across Asia-Pacific, even a strong product can be weakened by flat delivery, endless talking, and no clear emphasis on what matters most. Why do product presentations fail even when the product is good? Product presentations fail when the speaker makes the product sound boring, complicated, or indistinguishable from every other option. A strong product still needs strong delivery. Many presenters rely too heavily on specifications, slides, and technical explanations. They assume the product will sell itself. It usually will not. Buyers, procurement teams, senior executives, and end users need help understanding why the product matters now, how it solves their problem, and what makes it different from competitors. A monotone explanation turns valuable product information into white noise. Do now: Do not just describe the product. Guide the audience to the value, risk reduction, and business impact. How does monotone delivery damage a product presentation? Monotone delivery damages product presentations because the audience stops hearing what is important. When every sentence sounds the same, benefits, proof points, and differentiators disappear. A flat voice makes product messaging feel lifeless. The presenter may be describing innovation, cost savings, productivity improvement, quality control, customer experience, or safety, but the buyer hears a refrigerator hum. In Japanese business settings, presenters may be used to a flatter speaking rhythm, but when selling in English or to international audiences, more vocal contrast is needed. The speaker must create highs, lows, rhythm, and energy. Do now: Use voice modulation to make the product's most important benefits stand out. Why are pauses important when presenting products? Pauses help buyers process the value of the product before the next point arrives. Without pauses, one feature drowns the next. Product presenters often rush because they know too much. They try to explain every function, every technical detail, and every comparison. The problem is that the buyer's brain needs time to translate information into relevance. A pause after a key benefit, price point, case study, performance result, or risk-reduction claim gives the audience time to think, "How does this apply to us?" In Japan, pauses are especially valuable when listeners are processing English as a second language. Do now: Pause after the product's strongest value claims, not just at the end of slides. How should presenters highlight product features and benefits? Presenters should emphasise the few product points that matter most to the buyer's decision. Not every feature deserves equal vocal weight. Democracy is fine in politics, but it is deadly in product presentations. If every feature is delivered with equal emphasis, the buyer cannot tell what is essential. The presenter should punch key words such as "lower cost," "faster implementation," "reduced downtime," "higher conversion," "safer operation," "Japan-ready support," or "measurable ROI." This is how the speaker guides the audience through the intended decision path. Do now: Before presenting, underline the key words you want buyers to remember. How can salespeople keep buyers from checking their phones? Salespeople keep buyers engaged by creating contrast, relevance, and movement in the presentation. The phone wins when the speaker becomes predictable. Modern buyers can escape instantly to email, LinkedIn, Slack, Teams, WhatsApp, news, or internal messages. That means product presenters must earn attention continuously. Use questions, pauses, examples, customer stories, comparisons, and vocal variety. A B2B buyer wants to know how the product reduces pain, saves time, makes money, prevents mistakes, or improves results. A professional product presentation should feel like a guided business conversation, not a technical data dump. Do now: Build the presentation around buyer problems, not your internal product catalogue. What should professionals practise before presenting a product? Professionals should practise voice modulation, pauses, and key-word emphasis before every important product presentation. Delivery is part of the product's perceived value. A brilliant product can look ordinary when presented badly. A practical way to improve is to record the presentation and listen honestly. Are you varying your pace? Are you slowing down for the most important points? Are you pausing after strong claims? Are you hitting the words the buyer must remember? CEOs, sales managers, consultants, startup founders, and technical ...
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    13 分
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