When you're giving an English business presentation, it's crucial to be clear, concise, and convincing.

You can't do that when you're stumbling over your words.

Presenting is difficult for most people, and presenting in your non-native language is even more difficult because the words usually don't come as easily.

I know this from giving presentations in Japanese, which I've done many, many times. Now it's much easier for me because I've developed the right mindset, learned specific skills, and practiced thousands of times!

One strategy that helped me enormously was to learn certain phrases that I could use repeatedly in my presentations.

In Episode 30 of the Sasuga! Podcast, in addition to 12 useful English phrases for your next presentation, you'll hear

• The typical English mistake that Japanese presenters make in self-introductions
• How to help your audience follow your logic and you to remember your presentation content
• How to clarify to your audience whether you want them to interrupt you with questions or wait for Q&A at the end of your presentation

Enjoy!

Do you work with colleagues in multiple locations?

Have you experienced the miscommunication, frustration, and inefficiency that come from a lack of face-to-face meetings, different languages and cultures, and varied time zones?

Using just a few simple techniques will help you to build better relationships and be more productive.

In Episode 29 of the Sasuga! Podcast, you'll hear

• How to make remote team calls more effective in 60 seconds
• How to improve team relationships, so that you can avoid upsetting colleagues when work is urgent
• How to ask for help even when you're uncomfortable with it

Enjoy!

If you're like many of my Japanese clients, you sometimes struggle to find the proper words to express yourself in English business situations.

You may feel frustrated at work because you can't show your true capability and expertise when speaking in a different language.

Global colleagues don't understand what you're thinking or what you want to do.

You may feel limited to communicating only with Japanese counterparts and even lose opportunities for interesting work.

This is so mottainai.

And you can change it.

In Episode 28 of the Sasuga! Podcast, you'll hear

• The surprising impact of your mindset on your ability to communicate
• Simple steps to develop your opinion on a variety of topics
• Concrete action to improve your English vocabulary consistently

Enjoy!

What do you focus your attention on?

Do you look at what's not working well, how little time you have, and how difficult people are?

Or do you look for solutions, stay curious, and appreciate lessons from the people around you?

In Episode 27 of the Sasuga! Podcast, you'll hear

• The eye-opening lesson from a young boy on a flight to Paris
• Why it's normal to focus on the negative
• How to avoid mental grumbling and why it's important

Enjoy!

If you're like most people working in a global business environment, you need to set goals.

You may or may not also set goals in your personal life.

Here's the big question though.Do your goals excite you or do you feel under pressure from your goals?

In Episode 26 of the Sasuga! Podcast, you'll learn

• The big problem with traditional goal setting
• The difference between goals that motivate and goals that cause stress
• What it means when you don't achieve your goal

Enjoy!

Oh, such a big treat for you this week!

I interviewed Yasushi Maruyama, Japan Office Leader for Egon Zehnder and he shared incredible insights in less than 20 minutes. This will give you a really high ROI (return on your listening investment).

In Episode 25 of the Sasuga! Podcast, you'll hear

• How to get a standing ovation even with grammatical mistakes
• How to turn failure to your great advantage
• What leaders really need in addition to strategy and logic
• How to have a wonderful conversation without being worried about your English

Enjoy!

It's obvious that you need to study new information or develop skills to stay up to date in your work. And you want to do that as efficiently as possible, right?

In Episode 24 of the Sasuga! Podcast, you'll hear

• 3 simple steps to learn efficiently
• How the brain works and how you can use it to your advantage
• The 4 ways that I practiced to become fluent and confident in Japanese - which you can apply to your learning situation

Have you ever been in a meeting where you didn't agree with what someone said, but you didn't say anything? Or you didn't understand something, but you didn't say anything? Or you thought that you agreed and you understood, but after the meeting the action that your colleagues took was different from what you expected? This happens. Why? Well because as human beings we interpret things based on our experiences, our background, and our culture. And the more diverse the experiences, backgrounds, and cultures of the people in a meeting, the more likely you are to interpret things in different ways. Don't you find this increasingly happens when you're working in a global business environment?This leads to what I call "mottainai" in the workplace — a waste in the workplace — because you're not getting the best results, you have inefficiency and stress. In Episode 23 of the Sasuga! Podcast, you'll hear

• How miscommunications happen in global meetings and what you can do to minimize them
• 5 simple steps to start asking questions in meetings, even when you feel hesitant
• 3 powerful questions that you can ask to keep people clear, aligned, and focused on the best meeting results

How do you feel when meetings go off track? You may feel frustrated or stressed because you're not reaching the meeting goals and you're failing to achieve the business results you were looking for. You're wasting time. Tension is building among the people in the room. Whether or not you're the appointed facilitator, you can take action to improve or even prevent this type of situation. In Episode 22 of the Sasuga! Podcast, you'll hear

• What to keep in mind when planning a meeting
• What to do when the unexpected happens in a meeting
• What a GPS can teach you about meeting facilitation!

Enjoy!

Think about the meetings you attended last week. How many seemed unnecessary, unproductive, or uninspiring? As well as being demotivating for attendees, such meetings are a huge and avoidable cost for organizations. Consider the hourly cost of each person in the meeting and how that money or time could be used more effectively. In Episode 21 of the Sasuga! Podcast, you'll hear

• Typical problems in meetings and how to solve them all with one thing
• The 6 essential meeting roles
• 3 steps to help you contribute your best in meetings - even if you don't think your English is good enough

Enjoy!