Episode #312: How To Have Executive Presence In Japan (Part Two)

In Part One, we explored the mental barriers around linguistic perfection which are holding Japanese businesspeople back and denying them the chance to have “executive presence”. Once we have cleared that hurdle, then we can start to work on the other key elements for achieving “executive presence”. Appearing confident is not a plus in Japan. Here, being unsure, timid, shy, unprepossessing, modest, bashful are all signs of good citizenship, by fitting in with the majority and avoiding standing out. Having “executive presence” is the exact opposite of this cultural preference, so it takes quite a lot of work to convince Japanese executives they have to stand out and be heard.

The obvious differentiators are eye contact, voice amplification, gesture usage and posture. Looking someone straight in the eye is a western concept emphasising credibility and trust. In Japan, it is rude, so everyone is taught to look at the forehead or the throat instead. When coaching these executives, I have to make the point that their role is different when presenting, to other aspects of their work. They are not having a chat with their mates now. They are on stage presenting or in the meeting room commenting. Six seconds of eye contact is about the right length to engage someone in the room without it becoming too intrusive. We have some proprietary “secret” techniques for helping with this eye contact fear and we change the dynamic for these executives and they realise they can do it. They could always do it in fact, but mentally they were not ready to do it and that is where we apply the magic.

Engaging the audience, especially an international audience, makes a huge difference to the credibility of the Japanese executive. They come across as supremely confidence and sure of what they are saying. Let’s face it, we are all suckers for buying the confidence of others and by extension, what they are saying. The voice has to back it up though. A tiny little voice gets lost very quickly and audience attention drifts away. Speaking with a loud voice is not polite in Japan, so we run into another cultural barrier.

We use a lot of video in our coaching and while the Japanese executive may feel they are screaming out their words, under our coaching direction for them to go louder, when they see the replay, they realise it just looked extremely confident. “Seeing is believing” is definitely a necessity here to overcome the mindset that loud is bad. Amplifying the message really makes such a difference to be taken seriously and for people to dwell upon what you are saying. Again, it is adding that patina of confidence to the message and our own credibility standing behind the message. It sounds simple – when appropriate, speak louder. However these executives are not even close to the loudness required, so they need a lot of support to help them through this barrier. We also have to keep pushing them to go bigger with their voice modulation, to have more vocal range, to project more power.

Holding their hands behind their back is a favourite of Japanese executives when speaking, usually because they are not sure what to do with their hands. They feel this anchors them and provides stability when they speak. That may be true, but it negates a lot of the power available to us as speakers, especially when we can employ our gestures to really emphasise a point we want to make. Combining eye contact and voice modulation with our gestures is a dynamite combination. It creates so much power and credibility for the message. Hiding our hands behind our back or locking our hands together in front of our body are denying us access to this tremendous tool.

Gestures have a very short use by date though. Holding the same gesture beyond around fifteen seconds just sees the power of that tool evaporate and the residue is just an annoying distraction. We have to turn the gestures on and off. Gestures also have to be congruent with what we are saying. We can show something large by extending the width between our hands or we can use one hand as a measure and show something tall or short. The words have to match up with what we are indicating or it looks strange and is an unnecessary distraction from our message.

Posture is another indicator of confidence. Slouching, leaning on something, shifting our weight continuously, wandering around the stage, walking too briskly to and fro, only engaging half of the audience are all competition with what is coming out of our mouth. We want to appear professional and that means standing straight and tall like a professional. It means commanding the whole room with our body language. There is a Japanese word “ki” (気), which is describing our vital life force and we want to employ that when speaking. We want to be projecting our energy into the audience and across the room, we want to fill up the entire space with our energy.

Using correct eye contact, voice modulation, gestures and posture together creates an impression of solidity and gravitas. This adds up to creating a sense of “executive presence” when we are speaking. For Japanese executives, the hardest parts for them are straying from the cultural confines of their upbringing, to become a force in public. Naturally, we teach them how to secure all of the attributes needed to have executive presence, but the key is how we teach them the necessary mindset shift, to bring it all together.