The Japan Business Mastery Show

About The Japan Business Mastery Show

For busy people, we have focused on just the key things you need to know. To be successful 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.

Publisher

Dr. Greg Story

Category

business · business

Language

aa

Explicit

No

First episode

3 Oct 2019

Latest episode

5 Nov 2026

Latest episodes

353 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   5 Nov 2026

   Being Conversational In Japan

   A microphone, a stage and a polished slide deck can make a presenter look important. They can also make the audience feel miles away. In Japan, where status and hierarchy influence business communication, the answer is not to become even more formal. It is to make the room feel like a conversation. Why is a conversational presentation style effective in Japan? A conversational presentation reduces the psychological distance between the speaker and the audience, making ideas easier to accept and remember. The physical arrangement of a business presentation already creates separation. The speaker stands at the front, perhaps on a raised platform, while everyone else sits below. Add a podium, spotlight and microphone, and the speaker can look like an authority delivering instructions rather than a colleague sharing useful thinking. In Japan, this matters because people may read those visual cues through a hierarchy-conscious lens. A customary opening apology for speaking from a higher position acknowledges that difference. But politeness alone does not build rapport. The real work begins when we soften the delivery, use inclusive language and sound like a human being rather than an announcement system. Do now: Keep the professional setting, but replace the lecture atmosphere with a shared conversation. How can presenters remove barriers between themselves and Japanese audiences? Presenters should consciously reduce physical, vocal and emotional barriers instead of relying on status or technical polish. A lectern can become a shield. Slides can become a script. A booming voice can sound as though we are ordering people about. None of those things automatically helps persuasion. We want the audience to feel that we are talking with them, not at them. Imagine discussing a business problem with trusted friends across the backyard fence. You still have something important to say, but you are not putting on an artificial performance. In Japanese corporate presentations, respect and warmth can coexist. Keep the appropriate courtesy, then use accessible language, natural pacing and moments of direct connection. The aim is not forced informality; it is confidence without unnecessary distance. Do now: Review your stage position, podium use, slides and vocal tone for avoidable barriers. What should a speaker do before a presentation begins? Arriving early and talking with attendees gives the presenter real information and makes the audience feel recognised. Instead of hiding backstage until the introduction, enter the room and start conversations. Ask people why they came, what problems they are working on and which parts of the topic matter most to them. These small exchanges do two jobs. They help us adjust examples to actual interests, and they turn strangers into people we have already met. This works in a Tokyo training room, a regional Japanese office or an international conference. Be careful not to turn the conversation into an interrogation. Listen, remember the details and seek permission before repeating anything sensitive. When the formal talk starts, familiar faces can make the room feel far less intimidating for both sides. Do now: Schedule ten to fifteen minutes before your next talk for genuine audience conversations. How do you use audience names and comments without embarrassing people? Referencing a participant's relevant contribution can create inclusion, provided the person is comfortable being named publicly. Imagine saying, 'Suzuki-san raised an interesting question before we began,' or 'Obayashi-san shared some useful data over lunch.' Suddenly the presentation is not generic material parachuted into the room. It connects to the people sitting there. Recognition can make an individual feel valued and signal that the speaker has been listening. Yet Japan's group dynamics require judgement. Some participants welcome public acknowledgement; others dislike being singled out, especially when senior colleagues are present. Check first when in doubt, and never disclose a private comment simply because it makes a good anecdote. Use the contribution to illuminate a point, not to show off how many names you have collected. Do now: Use one permission-based audience reference that genuinely improves your next presentation. What eye contact and gestures make presentations more inclusive? Steady, distributed eye contact and open gestures can help an audience feel personally addressed rather than spoken over. One practical technique is to give an individual roughly six seconds of attention before moving naturally to someone else. That is a guide, not a stopwatch rule. Cultural comfort, room size and the person's reaction all matter. Avoid staring people down or scanning so rapidly that nobody feels seen. Gestures also help. An open palm extended towards the audience invites them into the argument; an encompassing arm movement can make the entire room feel included. Compare that with pointing aggressively or gripping the podium for twenty minutes. For Japanese and international audiences alike, congruence matters: the movement, facial expression and words should all communicate the same respectful invitation. Do now: Rehearse one open gesture and a relaxed eye-contact pattern before speaking. Can humour help a business presenter connect with Japanese audiences? Light self-deprecating humour can soften hierarchy and make a presenter approachable, but too much can undermine credibility. A speaker who treats every sentence as a grand proclamation can be difficult to warm to. A modest joke at our own expense tells the audience we do not consider ourselves untouchable. Boris Johnson has used this kind of humour in public life, although his style is hardly a template for every Japanese business setting. The point is the mechanism, not the personality. We can acknowledge a harmless personal foible or the awkwardness of presenting from a stage without ridiculing the audience. Avoid sarcasm that depends on cultural assumptions, and do not keep disparaging yourself until listeners wonder whether you believe in your own message. The best humour opens a door and then gets out of the way. Do now: Prepare one brief, culturally appropriate moment of warmth rather than a comedy routine. Conclusion The best Japanese business presentations do not require a choice between respect and connection. Keep the courtesy, then speak naturally, meet people beforehand, recognise their contributions, use open gestures and apply humour with restraint. Stop delivering a performance at the audience. Start having a conversation with them. Author bio Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" (2018, 2021) and recipient of the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award (2012). As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver globally across all leadership, communication, sales, and presentation programmes, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including three best-sellers — Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery, and Japan Presentations Mastery — along with Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His works have been translated into Japanese, including Za Eigyō (ザ営業), Purezen no Tatsujin (プレゼンの達人), Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō (トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう), and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā (現代版「人を動かす」リーダー). Greg also publishes daily business insights on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, and hosts six weekly podcasts. On YouTube, he produces The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery, and Japan's Top Business Interviews, which are widely followed by executives seeking success strategies in Japan.

2. 

   29 Oct 2026

   Lure Out Their Objections

   Salespeople love the fantasy of a buyer who listens politely, agrees with everything and signs immediately. Nice dream. In real business-to-business selling, especially in Japan, the buyer who challenges you may be far closer to purchasing than the buyer who says nothing. The trick is to lure out objections rather than celebrate their absence. Why are buyer objections a positive signal in B2B sales? Buyer objections often show that a prospect is seriously evaluating a purchase and thinking about the risks of saying yes. A buyer considering an expensive service, technology platform or training programme needs to justify the decision. Questions about price, implementation, timing and outcomes can reveal the criteria that matter. Silence, by contrast, gives the salesperson precious little to work with. It may mean the buyer is satisfied, but it can also mean they have mentally checked out. Don't confuse a pleasant meeting with a live opportunity. The real sales task is to discover what could stop the decision and help the buyer work through it. In consultative selling, a concern is useful information, not an insult to your offering. Do now: Welcome specific objections and ask which concern matters most to the buying decision. What does it mean when a prospect raises no objections? A prospect who asks no questions may lack interest, authority or enough information to assess the proposal. Too many salespeople emerge from a meeting delighted that nobody challenged the presentation. That is not necessarily good news. If the offer is complex or expensive, the buyer should have something to investigate. Perhaps you failed to establish urgency. Perhaps your value proposition did not connect with the buyer's actual problem. Or perhaps the person across the table is collecting information for colleagues and does not yet have a view. The salesperson needs to test the silence gently rather than assume agreement. Ask what issues their organisation would need to resolve before moving forward. A thoughtful question can expose the hidden obstacle before the proposal disappears into the corporate machinery. Do now: Treat an objection-free meeting as a reason to investigate, not a reason to forecast the sale. How does Japan's ringi decision-making process affect sales objections? Japan's ringi approval process can separate the person attending the sales meeting from the people who will ultimately evaluate or authorise the purchase. In Japanese corporate purchasing, internal consensus and circulating approval documents may involve several stakeholders. The individual who meets the supplier may be an information gatherer, an internal advocate or one member of a larger decision group. Their silence tells us very little about what finance, operations, senior management or the end-users will think. A multinational selling into Japan cannot simply import an assumption that one enthusiastic contact controls the deal. Equally, not every Japanese company follows the same process. Map the actual stakeholders, their concerns and the route to approval. The more people who must agree, the more important it becomes to surface their questions early, while there is still time to respond. Do now: Ask who else will review the proposal and what objections each group may raise. How can salespeople draw out hidden objections without pressuring buyers? Salespeople can uncover hidden objections by asking calm, specific questions about risks, approval criteria and potential barriers. Avoid the clumsy 'Any objections?' followed by an awkward silence. Instead ask, 'What might make this difficult to approve internally?' or 'Which part of this proposal would your colleagues challenge?' Invite the buyer to imagine the discussion after you leave the room. This gives them permission to be candid without feeling they are confronting you personally. Follow up with curiosity, not a defensive lecture. If the concern is cost, explore the business impact and competing priorities. If it is implementation, discuss the people, time and resources required. The goal is not to defeat the buyer in an argument. It is to help the buyer make a decision they can defend. Do now: Prepare three open questions that make it easy for the buyer to reveal reservations. What can a large proposal with few questions tell a salesperson? A surprisingly quiet response to a much larger-than-expected proposal may indicate that the people in the room are not the final decision-makers. Consider a pitch to a financial institution where the proposed scope was roughly ten times what the representatives expected. There were few objections. That could look like a triumph to an inexperienced salesperson. More plausibly, the attendees had not yet engaged the people who would bear the cost, approve the budget or use the solution. A major difference in scope should trigger discussion about priorities, affordability, delivery and outcomes. When it does not, investigate the buying process. Ask how the proposal will be evaluated and who will need to be convinced. You do not need to demand access to the chief executive. You do need a credible route to the real decision criteria. Do now: Match the scale of the proposal to the seniority and responsibilities of the reviewers. How does handling objections lead to long-term client relationships? Addressing objections honestly helps buyers feel confident in their decision and creates the foundations for repeat business. Winning the signature is only the beginning. If the buyer later discovers that important concerns were brushed aside, trust collapses and reorders become unlikely. Good salespeople explain both the value and the practical requirements of the solution. They clarify expectations, acknowledge genuine constraints and work with the client on a sensible path forward. This matters for leadership training, professional services, enterprise technology and other B2B purchases where results emerge over time. The objective is not to make objections disappear through slick persuasion. It is to resolve the right issues so the customer can implement successfully and recommend the supplier internally. That is how a transaction becomes a partnership. Do now: Document the buyer's key concerns and confirm how each will be addressed before commitment. Conclusion Objections are not the enemy of the sale. Indifference is. In Japan's often multi-stakeholder B2B environment, silence may hide a whole room of unanswered questions. Invite those questions into the conversation, identify the real decision-makers and prove the value of your solution. A buyer who has worked through the risks is much better placed to say yes—and to buy again. Author bio Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie 'One Carnegie Award' (2018, 2021) and recipient of the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award (2012). As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver globally across all leadership, communication, sales, and presentation programmes, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including three best-sellers — Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery, and Japan Presentations Mastery — along with Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His works have been translated into Japanese, including Za Eigyō (ザ営業), Purezen no Tatsujin (プレゼンの達人), Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō (トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう), and Gendaiban 'Hito o Ugokasu' Rīdā (現代版「人を動かす」リーダー). Greg also publishes daily business insights on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, and hosts six weekly podcasts. On YouTube, he produces The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery, and Japan's Top Business Interviews, which are widely followed by executives seeking success strategies in Japan.

3. 

   22 Oct 2026

   Self Sufficiency When Leading

   Leadership is not a spectator sport. We can spend our days comparing ourselves with famous CEOs, successful entrepreneurs and people who appear to have been dealt a better hand. None of that comparison changes our circumstances. Self-sufficiency begins when we take responsibility for the time, choices and opportunities still available to us. Why does comparing ourselves with successful people undermine leadership? Constant comparison shifts our attention from what we can control to advantages we imagine other people possess. The beauty, fashion, entertainment and celebrity industries sell an attractive fantasy. Business has its own version: the wealthy founder, the charismatic CEO and the executive whose career seems to have been one uninterrupted triumph. We see the results, but rarely the disappointments, lucky breaks or years of effort behind them. That is a poor basis for judging our own lives. A manager in a Japanese SME and an executive in a multinational will have very different resources, yet both can lead effectively within their circumstances. Comparing their titles or budgets tells us little about their contribution. Envy uses up energy without producing a single better decision. The productive question is not why somebody else has more. It is what we can do with what we have today. Do now: Identify one comparison that distracts you, and replace it with an action you can personally influence. How can leaders stop past mistakes from controlling their future? Leaders move forward by acknowledging past mistakes without allowing those mistakes to dictate today's decisions. We all have decisions we would like to revisit. Perhaps we hired the wrong person, missed a business opportunity or failed to speak up when it mattered. Replaying the episode does not rewrite the outcome. It can, however, steal the attention we need for the next challenge. The distinction is between learning and dwelling. Learning asks what happened, what it taught us and what we will change. Dwelling simply runs the same unhappy film again. This matters in Japan as much as anywhere else, where managers may feel strong responsibility for team outcomes and professional reputation. Responsibility is useful when it prompts corrective action; it becomes a burden when it freezes us. Put the lesson in one compartment and leave the emotional replay there. Then return to the work in front of you. Do now: Write down one lesson from a past setback and one specific decision it will improve. What does it mean to become your own first responder? Being your own first responder means taking the first practical steps to improve your situation rather than waiting for someone to rescue you. When an emergency occurs, first responders do not stand around admiring the problem. They assess the situation, establish priorities and act. We need the same attitude when our confidence slips, our career stalls or our business faces a difficult period. Other people can help us, and good leaders should ask for support when it is needed. But the first move is ours. We must decide that the situation deserves attention and create a workable rescue plan. For a sales manager, that might mean reviewing a weak pipeline and scheduling more client conversations. For a team leader, it could mean tackling an unresolved conflict instead of hoping it disappears. Self-sufficiency is not isolation. It is ownership of the next move, even when the full solution requires colleagues, advisers or mentors. Do now: Name your most pressing obstacle, then take one concrete first-responder action within 24 hours. Why is time a leader's most valuable personal resource? Time is the resource every leader can choose to allocate, even when money, status and circumstances are outside their immediate control. We cannot recover yesterday's hours. We can decide what happens to the next hour. That makes time a powerful starting point for self-sufficiency. Senior executives may have larger budgets and more staff than emerging managers, but both must decide where their attention goes. A calendar crowded with low-value meetings leaves little space for coaching, planning or improving the business. A leader who protects even a modest block of time for important work can change that pattern. The point is not to become obsessed with productivity or to pretend everyone has identical freedom. Family obligations, workload and organisational constraints are real. The point is to find the portion of time we can direct and use it deliberately. Small amounts of focused time, repeated consistently, create possibilities that endless comparison never will. Do now: Reserve a realistic weekly block of time for one activity that strengthens your future. How do vision and realistic goals create self-sufficiency? A clear vision gives direction, while realistic goals turn that direction into actions we can take now. A vague desire to be more successful is not a plan. What would success actually look like? Perhaps it means becoming a more confident presenter, building a stronger team or creating a healthier sales pipeline. Define the destination in terms you can recognise. Then work backwards to identify achievable steps. A leader who wants better team communication could begin with regular one-to-one conversations and clearer expectations. A professional who wants to present with authority might practise one short talk every week and ask for feedback. The ambition may be large, but the next action should be manageable. This approach works in a Japanese corporation, a startup or a family-owned business because it links personal responsibility with visible behaviour. A vision without action remains a wish. Action without direction can become frantic busyness. Do now: Write one clear future outcome and the next three actions that would move you towards it. How can small daily actions build momentum for leaders? Consistent small actions build momentum because each completed step makes progress tangible and encourages the next one. We often imagine change as a dramatic breakthrough. More commonly, it is a sequence of ordinary decisions made over time. A difficult conversation, a short period of preparation, a follow-up with a client or a deliberate coaching moment may not look impressive in isolation. Together, these actions alter our trajectory. This is especially important when a setback has damaged our confidence. Waiting to feel completely ready can become another excuse for doing nothing. Start with an action small enough to complete, observe the result and adjust. If a goal proves unrealistic, revise the steps rather than abandon the direction. Leaders also set an example through this behaviour. Their teams see that responsibility means acting on the present, not endlessly complaining about the past. We cannot change the hand we were dealt, but we can choose how to play the next one. Do now: Choose one small action you can repeat this week, and review the result at week's end. How can leaders take control of their future? Self-sufficiency in leadership does not mean doing everything alone. It means refusing to surrender control of our future to comparison, regret or wishful thinking. Compartmentalise the past, make yourself the first responder, protect your time and connect a clear vision to realistic action. The next move belongs to us. Author bio Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" (2018, 2021) and recipient of the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award (2012). As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver globally across leadership, communication, sales and presentation programmes, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including three best-sellers — Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery and Japan Presentations Mastery — along with Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His works have been translated into Japanese, including Za Eigyō (ザ営業), Purezen no Tatsujin (プレゼンの達人), Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō (トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう) and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā (現代版「人を動かす」リーダー). Greg also publishes daily business insights on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, and hosts six weekly podcasts. On YouTube, he produces The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery and Japan's Top Business Interviews, which are widely followed by executives seeking success strategies in Japan.

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