Start 2024 off with a bang! Learn the No-Script Method

We are hosting a special workshop on my proven method to speak from your heart and connect with an audience. Anyone can master The No Script Method and deliver a speech without the need for a script or notes. I will show you how.

 We will also reference some valuable concepts, such as Start with a Bang, available in more detail through our YouTube channel Native Voice.

 How to register. Here are the details.

When: January 22 (Mon.), 2024, 19:00 -21:00.

Where: Good Heavens British Bar (Shimokitazawa)

2F, 5-32-5 Daizawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan 155-0032

Plenty of food and drinks available.

Fee: ¥7,000 yen (1 FREE drink). Reservation required

Seats are limited, so reserve today by: Email: tb@gonative.jp

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How to master the art of public speaking

You Can Master the Art of Public Speaking: 5 Essential Tips for Success

Master the art of speaking? Yes. Do you think that’s a stretch? I can assure you that it’s not only possible to become an expert in public speaking, but you can become someone who enjoys public speaking and seeks opportunities to give presentations.

We all know that public speaking is an essential skill that can significantly impact both your personal and professional life. Whether you are presenting in front of a large audience, delivering a speech at a conference, or simply expressing your ideas in a meeting, effective public speaking can boost your confidence and leave a lasting impression on your listeners. Let’s explore five indispensable tips to help you become a better public speaker and captivate your audience from the very beginning. We will also reference some valuable concepts, such as Start with a Bang and The No Script Method, available in more detail through Native Voice.

1.     Start with a Bang: One of the most important keys to effective public speaking is grabbing your audience's attention right from the start. Instead of a typical slog into the main content, it’s best to beginning with a compelling opening that piques their interest. This could be an intriguing fact, a powerful quote, a thought-provoking question, or even a personal anecdote. Starting with a bang sets the tone for your speech and keeps your audience engaged throughout.

2.     Harness the Power of Stories: People love stories. Narratives have a unique way of connecting with listeners on an emotional level, making your message more memorable. Three keys to an engaging story are A) Make it personal. Something you witnessed or experienced. B) Make it real. A true story or based on true events. C) Vivid. Include vivid details such as names, colors, and smells. Whether you're sharing a personal experience, using a case study, or weaving a semi-fictional tale, incorporating stories into your speech can make it relatable and impactful. It helps your audience visualize the concepts you're presenting and allows them to see the practical application of your ideas. Remember, a well-told story can leave a lasting impression on your listeners.

3.     The No Script Method: While preparation is essential for any successful speech, being overly reliant on a script can hinder your performance. The No Script Method will inspire you to understand your content thoroughly, internalize key points, and speak naturally without the need for memorization. This approach allows for flexibility and spontaneity, making your delivery more authentic and engaging. Practice with key bullet points and visual aids, and let your passion for the subject shine through. I can give you a detailed personal guide on how to master my No Script Method.

4.     Embrace Visuals and Body Language: A compelling presentation isn't just about the words you speak. Visual aids, such as images or props, can enhance understanding and keep your audience interested. Additionally, pay attention to your body language – maintain eye contact, use gestures to emphasize key points, and project confidence through your posture. Non-verbal cues can significantly impact how your message is received and perceived by your audience.

5.     Prepare, Practice & Seek Feedback: Like any skill, becoming an exceptional public speaker takes practice. Rehearse your speech multiple times, ideally in front of specific friends or colleagues you can count on to provide honest, constructive feedback, rather than just cheering you on. Analyze your strengths and areas for improvement and work on refining your delivery. Embrace each speaking opportunity as a chance to grow and become a more polished and confident public speaker.

Becoming a better public speaker requires attention, practice, and a willingness to step out of your comfort zone. However, you will be surprised at how quickly and how much you can improve if you set your mind to it.  By starting with a bang, incorporating stories, adopting the No Script Method, utilizing visuals and body language effectively, and seeking continuous improvement, you really can master the art of public speaking. Remember, it's not about being perfect; it's about connecting with your audience and delivering your message with authenticity and impact.

Are you starting to believe? You don’t have to take my word for it, please listen to the voices of some of the folks we have helped to become confident speakers at the Native Voice website.

Thank you, Masked Man.

Masks. Today, our heroes, Batman and the Lone Ranger are wearing the wrong kind, while our villains, bandits and rouges, are wearing the right kind, then there are the numbskulls not wearing masks at all. Make sure you get it right for your health and for others, but also because mask vigilantes are waiting around every corner to berate you, film you and dox you. Not the 2020 you imagined?

If you had asked me in 1980 what I thought the most divisive political issues in 2020 would be, I might have said, “Android Rights and the lack of fueling stations for flying cars.” I certainly would not have said, “Wearing a mask and whether or not cops have the right to kill unarmed black folks for misdemeanors.”

I have encountered people on the Tokyo Metro without masks, clearly tipsy and having spirited conversations less than a meter away and my immediate reaction was fear. After all I’ve done to avoid corona, I have to worry about catching it from some thoughtless drunk in the subway.

According to the experts I have read, these are the mask rules. Ordinary citizens who are not in health care or other front line services should wear a mask when on public transport, including taxis, entering a shop, office, restaurant or public building, or whenever they are likely to have a face-to-face interaction with a stranger or a friend they don’t live with.

Have you seen my new autumn collection?

Let’s be clear. Initially, I hated wearing protective face masks. My face sweats. My glasses fog. Anxiety rears its ugly head, perhaps because of my mild claustrophobia, but whatever the reason, masks were not my thing. You’d never even see me wearing a mask on Halloween.

However, I understand that these are exceptional times and wearing a mask is important in certain situations. Nobody wants to get or spread COVID-19. Thus, I am wearing a mask when the situation warrants it. And, actually, I have gotten used to it. In fact, I am a keen observer of “mask fashion.” Sneakers? Tired. Masks: Wired.

Find a mask that matches your outfit, your face, your hair, or all three. Get a mask with your favorite sports team or rock band’s logo (The Rolling Stones have a complete line up). Wear a mask that has a political statement. Rainbow? BLM? There’s a lot to choose from.

You can run, and you can hide

However, after watching people around Tokyo, I have started to wonder if for some folks wearing a mask is merely a way of being polite. That’s because, aside from folks just flouting the rules, I’ve been seeing all kinds of strange sights. People driving alone in cars with masks on. Two ladies, who were clearly casual friends, lowering their masks to have a chat in from of Lawsons, then parting and pulling their masks back up. People jogging or cycling all alone with masks on.

Why should I care about how other people wear their masks? Well, the biggest issue is that I don’t want to get COVID-19. So anytime someone on the Metro is using a mask as a chin strap, that’s a threat to my life.  Also, as a resident of Japan, there’s a chance of being publicly shamed if you are not doing what everyone else is doing. Whether or not someone scolds you, the tension is there.

As a gaijin, I have gotten used to being stared at, but aside from blowing my nose, I try my best not to stand out in a bad way. I follow all the manner rules. I especially don’t want to be seen as someone whose behavior might endanger the health of others.

Listen carefully to the experts

According to experts in the field, there is very little chance of catching the virus outdoors, unless you stop and talk to someone, or heaven forbid someone sneezes or coughs right in your face. There is almost zero chance of catching or spreading it while cycling or running unless you are running in a tight pack, despite what NHK has suggested. Yet, you see people walking around in parks and on deserted streets wearing masks. Maybe they just don’t feel like taking their masks on and off. I can understand that.

On the other hand, I see people on public transport and other situations lowering their masks to talk. Coughing or sneezing into their masks but not covering their mouth. These are always people who appear like they should know better. Middle aged or older. Well dressed and likely well educated. What are they thinking? Better yet, are they thinking at all?

My advice. Wear a mask. Think about why you are wearing it.  Try to keep your distance from anyone not wearing a mask. When you are wearing a mask, you STILL have to cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough. Like it or not, masks are here to stay. Now get your mask fashion up to speed, and avoid the ultimate fashion faux pas. Your life depends on it.

Remembering the handshake

Do you recall your very first handshake? Probably not. With any luck, you might be able to remember your very last. Thanks to COVID-19 and the concept of “social distancing,” we may have seen the end of the handshake as a standard greeting. Perhaps one day, the handshake will linger on as the greeting of outlaws.

A specific instance does not stand out, but I vaguely remember, as a child, first being asked to shake hands with one of my dad’s friends or colleagues. It was a small, early step toward manhood. That firm grasp. A quick pump and release. A sparkle in his eyes that said you had passed the test.

Thanks for the dead fish

I also remember the first time I met someone who failed the test. As my career took me to Japan, in 1990, and for some time after, it was still possible to meet a grown man who had no idea how to shake hands. I will never forget the sensation I felt as I made contact with his clammy hand. It was as if someone had placed a dead fish in my palm. To a Westerner, you could not make a worse first impression.

For some reason, I associate the handshake with masculinity, but I have certainly shaken hands with plenty of women. Many of them were my bosses. My mother taught me that it’s considerate to allow the lady to take your hand first and set the terms of the embrace. The logic being that women generally tend to wear more rings and more elaborate rings than men. It can be torturous to have your fingers crushed between the very rings you are wearing. 

Along the way, I learned other forms of hand greetings. I can distinctly remember, back in the lately 1960s, one of my sisters asking me to give her some skin and sticking out her palm flat in from of me. I had no idea what she meant.

It wasn’t long before “Gimme five” was common parlance, but it would be awhile before the “high five” would become the standard celebratory greeting in the sports world,  foreshadowing the “low five” and the “fist pump.” Whatever happened to the “high ten”?

A hand full of soul

Early in my teens, in the late ‘70s, I remember my friend’s brother, who had served in Viet Nam recently enough to still hang out in his regulation army jacket (along with his beard and ponytail), teaching us the “cool” handshake. Elbows pointed down, fist straight up, hands clasped as in prayer. 

From that point on, I had two handshakes: the one I used with all my friends and anyone I wanted to think I was cool (or normal), and the straight-ahead one I used with older folks, relatives and figures of authority, like the church pastor.

You’re not my brother

In my freshman year of college, I discovered that to some people there’s a racial element to the handshake one chooses. I will never forget this line. “Keep it white, Tom. Keep it white.” Spoken by Steve Greenley, who was pointing his fingers at my elbow forcing me to give him a straight-ahead handshake. I was flabbergasted. I grasped what he was alluding to, but I knew nothing of black culture. I had grown up in a white section of New Jersey and never even interacted with a black kid until high school.  Aside from one of my dad’s American Airlines colleagues (who would’ve used the business handshake), everyone I had ever shook hands with, up to that point, had been white.

Later I would learn some of the elaborate variations tacked on to the cool handshake (finger snaps, etc.), but not well enough to make me look cool while doing them. Quite the opposite, in fact. Yet, I still fondly remember that handshake as a way to express my identity as separate from the establishment.

In my college fraternity days, I would learn a “secret” handshake that involved the interlocking of certain digits, only to be used with fellow brothers. Then, one evening, at a party I was horrified when a non-brother sprung the very same handshake on me with a wicked grin. Thus, teaching me a lesson about the fickle nature of secrets.

Get ready to take a bow

After 30 years in Japan, I get much more use out of the straight-ahead handshake, despite a dearth of white people living here (har!). Moreover, bowing is still the primary greeting in business interactions, after the ceremonial business card exchange, a maneuver that includes a lot of close contact even though the fingers do not actually touch.

Is the business card exchange another greeting we will have to reconsider in the coming months and years? Perhaps. But it looks like the writing is on the wall for the future of handshakes. Bowing seems to be the best bet for whenever the post COVID-19 world starts coming together.  My advice: Start practicing your bow style now.

Does Japan have 2020 vision?

Welcome to the year of the rat. True to its nature, the opening month of 2020 unleashed a fusillade of annoying, frightening and sickening world events at a pace that would make Usain Bolt take notice. Let’s take a look at how Japan is weathering the pestilence and scrambling to prepare for the looming summer Olympics. The forecast is not pretty.

It’s OUR stadium, not yours.

Well, the brand new ¥157 billion Olympic Stadium opened to the press with all the carefully planned fanfare that Japan excels at, but laughter and confusion over clunky English slogans and signage managed to steal a bit of the thunder, earning derision from Japan’s English-speaking community.

The cherry on the sundae was the main welcoming sign blasting in bold type, “Hello, Our Stadium.” This copy is so typically and uniquely Japanese, it’s difficult to quibble with, unless of course it was created for an international audience. Ooops. Those who reside in Japan are well used to these kinds of signs and slogans. Take a decade and you’ll find an ordinary English word that became popular and was exploited in every manner possible until it died a meaningless death. “Let’s” (Let’s Kiosk, Let’s Sports), “Fair” to indicate a sale, “My” (My City, My Bag, My Lord, My Sharona…just kidding). Lately, “Smile” has been en vogue with non-natives believing it has the same meaning as “happiness.” Perhaps, “Hello” is on the rise.

You would think with all the money they poured into constructing Our Stadium—which makes one wonder if they didn’t use golden cement—they could have spent a little more on a native check of the English messaging. Hint, hint.

The Tokyo Olympic Marathon Gets Run Out of Town

Witnessing the gradual disintegration of the Tokyo version of the 2020 Olympic marathon was mildly entertaining. At least we were able watch it live. The same won’t be true for the actual marathon. Due to concerns about hot and humid August weather in Tokyo (who knew?), the Japan Olympic Organizing Committee began announcing plans to move up the start an hour—7 am…6 am…5 am—until they ran out of morning. What next? In steps the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to handle the problem with its usual finesse. Ahem. How about moving it to a cooler place? Let’s pick the farthest place from Tokyo that’s still in Japan.

Thus, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic marathon, the marquee event of the entire Olympiad, where people line the streets and cheer for the runners until they finish with a lap inside the brand-new Olympic Stadium will be held in….checks notes…Sapporo. A mere 1,768 kilometers to the north or, if you will, the next big island up.

“The decision-making process was top-down from the IOC and made without regard to the wishes or opinions of the Japan side. Its timing was largely in response to the poor optics of women dropping out of the Doha World Championships marathon a few weeks earlier,” says Brett Larner, a World Athletics authorized Athlete Representative and editor of Japan Running News—“the world’s window to elite Japanese distance running."

Larner contends that the move to Sapporo may only offer a slight benefit to athletes, as the city will still be hot and humid in August. Moreover, he wonders if the move could actually have a negative effect resulting in a larger number of people expecting cool conditions and thus poorly prepared for hot weather.

“Many athletes have spent years focusing on training and preparation for the specifics of Tokyo and its marathon and race walk courses,” he says, noting that some runners even visited Tokyo at their own expense to train on the Tokyo course.

“Japan staged its marathon trials on the Olympic course, allowing its marathoners to try out course-specific tactics. All of that preparation was eliminated by the move, which was announced just nine months out,” says Larner.

Moreover, with all the concerns about health, what about the added travel?

Get all your Tokyo Olympic updates at the “Info Garden”

“For the men's marathon in particular, the IOC has insisted that the medalists be back in Tokyo to take part in the medal ceremony at the Olympic closing ceremonies,” says Larner..”

“Factor in anti-doping requirements, which can take hours if a dehydrated athlete cannot produce a urine sample, and it is hard to see how this can be done without seriously compromising either the athletes' health or the integrity of the anti-doping process,” he says. Most importantly, for Japan running fans, the move is a slap in the face the home team.

“For the marathoners, the chance to finish in an Olympic stadium in front of a massive crowd is one of the dreams that drives them. Tokyo was actually going to be the Olympics that brought this back, with both a stadium start and finish,” says Larner.  

According to Larner, the Sapporo course will have the athletes start and finish in a park while running loops around a city a thousand kilometers away from the Olympics. Sounds like a bit like a charity fun run.

“It’s less an Olympic marathon than a marathon held simultaneously with an Olympic Games happening in another part of the same country,” says Larner. Ouch.

Another Corona, but hold the virus, please. 

Perhaps the gods do not want Japan to have a successful Olympics. China’s latest export, the novel coronavirus, is clearly not what the doctor ordered. It’s the kind of global catastrophe with the potential to bring border control and international travel to a standstill. With about a thousand Chinese athletes and delegates and even more fans preparing to visit Tokyo in about six months, the coronavirus is a very sticky problem. Surprisingly the Japanese government took the unique approach of sending a plane to Wuhan, China to bring infected Japanese back home, and then even let some people go untested. And, currently, there’s a quarantined cruise ship in Yokohama holding 3,700 people in what has been called a “floating prison.”

As of this writing,—the numbers change hourly—there were about 40,600 cases documented in China, with 910 dead, and 97 cases in Japan, including those on the quarantined cruise ship. On the bright side, 3,332 people worldwide have recovered. However, many countries have banned flights from China and some businesses are refusing Chinese customers. It will be interesting to see how this plays out as summer approaches. You can be sure the Japan Olympic Committee is praying for a vaccine. The last thing they need is another Olympic-size headache.

Plastic bags are just the tip of the melting ice berg

Dear readers, I have one word for you, “plastics.”

If you don’t recognize that film reference, I feel sorry for you. However, I’m not talking about a career, unless your university degree is in environmental studies. I’m talking about waste. Lots of it. Tons of it. Mountains of it. And, of course, I’m talking about you, Japan.  

However, I believe too much emphasis is placed on plastic bags. The kind that goods are placed in at convenience stores and supermarkets. For example, since our local Summit supermarket started taxing shoppers for bags, nearly everyone brings their own re-useable bag. And this is true at most supermarkets around Japan these days. I’m concerned with all the other bits of random plastic that are part of the Japan consumer experience.

Would you like a spoon with your cone?

Case in point. Take a visit to Baskin Robbins, affectionately known as “31” in Japan, and the name behind not only delicious ice cream but perhaps the greatest brand logo in the history of logos. The first thing that happens when you walk in the door is that a sales clerk will thrust a free ice cream sample on a tiny, sturdy pink plastic spoon, into your face. Free ice cream. Impossible to refuse. It’s gone in seconds and so is the single-use spoon.

Now you have a dilemma. Do you request another sample of a flavor you want to try and waste another spoon, adding more plastic to the landfills and oceans of our fair planet, or just make your purchase? Anyway, you finally decide on butter brickle and request a cone. Best way to enjoy ice cream in my book—strolling around on a hot summer day with an ice cream cone.

Here’s where the insanity begins, in Japan at least, they give you ANOTHER pink plastic spoon with your ice cream cone. Who needs a spoon with an ice cream cone? That’s like getting a fork with a sandwich. I always refuse it, but sometimes I'm not quick enough and I wonder what happens to that spoon that has touched my ice cream. I’ll bet you it gets tossed as well. However, I often see Japanese people eating ice cream cones with spoons. Go figure.

Wrap it up. I’ll trash it.

These kinds of transactions happen a thousand times a day in Tokyo. You buy anything from convenience store, say a quart of milk and if you’re not quick enough, they’ll thrust a plastic straw into your bag. The other day I bought two onigiri (rice balls), which are designed to be eaten by hand. No other way to do it, in fact. And a fork was put in my plastic bag along with my plastic wrapped onigiri. We have a whole collection of these forks and spoons and straws at home, patiently awaiting a picnic that never happens.

 Japan is a nation of wrapping, and I’m not talking about kimono. Wrapping things that are individually wrapped, placed in boxes wrapped in plastic, placed in plastic bags, placed in fancy paper bags.  We know this because we have to separate our trash into “burnable” and “non-burnable” bags and every week we stuff all that single-use plastic into plastic bags to be left for the trash collectors and hauled off to where?

If you want to impress a tourist or your friends back home, give them a box of tea or rice crackers or sweet bean paste cakes. The first thing they will say is, “I love the packaging. Everything is wrapped so beautifully.” Beautifully and needlessly. Like the wrapping paper from a birthday present, all that beautiful wrapping, which is usually made of plastic, goes in the bin minutes after it’s seen. From there it’s heading straight to the nearest landfill or ocean and washing up soon at a beach near you.

It’s green, plastic and inedible. What’s it for?

Your average “gift” box of sembei (rice crackers) or sweet bean cakes will feature a box of say nine individually wrapped portions in a cardboard box, with a molded plastic tray featuring slots for each treat and often a plastic sleeve that goes over the whole thing which is topped by another cardboard cover. It’s a modest amount of food that will leave enough trash to start your own landfill.  

Another bit of plastic that foreigners living in Japan find perplexing are the fake pieces of grass (haran leaf), that come with convenience store sashimi. Purely decorative, these little pieces of plastic serve absolutely no purpose. Unlike artificial grass which you can play sports on or artificial flowers, which at least look beautiful from afar, these little monsters are ugly and completely unnecessary. Why do they exist? Tradition? Ignorance? It’s probably money, like everything thing else. Somebody always gains when the environment loses.

On the other hand, Kit Kat recently made the news in Japan for deciding to change the wrapping of their famous snacks from plastic to paper. And, the other day, I did receive a paper straw with my ginger ale at a gourmet restaurant featuring locally sourced food. Good signs, no doubt. Now let’s get rid of the plastic sashimi grass.