The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show

Jan Carlzon wrote a fascinating book called Moments of Truth on how to maintain the trust in your brand, through the many changing touchpoints the company has with the consumer.  Today we look at wha…

How much is enough data in a presentation?  How much is too much?  Generally speaking, most presenters have a problem with too much, rather than too little information.  Your slide deck is brimming o…

“Born to lead” is nonsense.  Many things shaped that person in order for them to achieve credibility with others.  Of course, we can become a “leader” as part of our company designated hierarchy.  We…

“I would be able to sell a lot more except for all the extraneous, external factors over which I have zero control”.  Actually, you have never heard this line of argument before from a salesperson.  …

Suddenly you hear your name being called upon and you are being requested to make a few remarks.  Uh oh.  No preparation, no warning and no escape.  What do you do?  Extemporaneous speaking is one of…

The hero’s journey is for the very, very few.  I did it my way, I slaved away in a garret and got to the top, I realised the American dream – all good stuff, but an illusion for most.  The reality is…

The object of a sale is to exchange a good or a service for money.  The degree to which that money can exceed the variable and fixed costs associated with delivering it, determines the success and lo…

Questions in general are powerful tools for speakers.  They bring focus to key points we want to get across.  They are particularly useful in getting our audience engaged.  They also have danger with…

We love acronyms!  Our workplaces are thriving with them such that we can hold extended conversations composed entirely of seemingly impenetrable codes.  They are handy though and this one R.E.AL. is…

Proof, data, evidence, facts alone are not enough in selling.  The first thing a buyer buys is us.  We have to stand out amongst our competitor rabble.  We have to bring enormous energy and belief to…

Pizazz is one of those unusual words, that sounds kind of cool, but is a bit vague.  In presenting terms, we are really looking at being more interesting and engaging and doing that in a sparky, non-…

Projects are too common.  Because of this we take them for granted, seeing them as part of everyday work, but we don’t approach them properly.  We usually gather the team together and then dive strai…

Tricky area in sales, showmanship.  The word has a certain odor about it that reeks of fake, duplicity, con game, spruker, carnival barker, etc.  Yet, like storytelling, this is an important part of …

Zen study is a way to strip out all of the non-essentials in life.  The noise, the distraction, the things that are not so important.  People sit around concentrating on their breath cycle or one wor…

Projects have been around for a long time of course and in the modern era we have accumulated a vast amount of best practice on how to manage them.  It isn’t usually that we don’t know what to do, it…

Great service is so fleeting and  illusive. You encounter it and then like the morning mist, the next minute it is gone.  One company representative is so spectacularly helpful and then next one is s…

I have often thought there are so many lessons from the martial arts for our businesses.  Here are my musings after 50 years of training in traditional Shitoryu Karate.

Stepping on to the floor

T…

Sales is a tough enough job without having additional complications.  Clients can be very demanding, often we depend on logistics departments and production divisions, to get the purchase to the buye…

My eyes are slowly closing.  I am sitting in the front row but I am struggling to stay awake.  There is something about this presentation that is not working.  I thought, it must be me.   I must be t…

Sport is a popular source of inspiration for corporate leadership.  Coaches attend off-sites and make good money telling business executives how to be better people motivators.  Sports journalist Sim…