In Part One, we looked at the mental barrier created when Japanese executives believe their English must be perfect before they can communicate with confidence. Once that hurdle is cleared, executive presence becomes much more practical. Eye contact, voice, gestures and posture can all be coached. The challenge is that several of these behaviours run directly against familiar Japanese cultural norms about modesty, politeness and not standing out.
Why can executive presence feel unnatural for Japanese executives?
Executive presence requires Japanese executives to stand out, be heard and project confidence, even though traditional Japanese social norms often reward modesty and fitting in. That cultural tension means the physical techniques are usually easier to understand than to adopt.
Appearing unsure, timid, shy, modest or bashful can be interpreted positively in Japan because these behaviours avoid drawing unnecessary attention to oneself. International executive communication often demands the opposite. On stage, in a conference or in a senior meeting, the executive has to become more visible and deliberately command attention. The role has changed from ordinary interpersonal interaction to professional performance. Coaching therefore has to address mindset as well as technique, because simply telling someone to "look confident" does not remove years of cultural conditioning.
Mini-summary: Executive presence requires permission to stand out. Japanese executives need to recognise that presenting and senior-level communication demand a different behavioural mode.
How much eye contact creates executive presence?
Around six seconds of direct eye contact can engage an individual without becoming excessively intrusive.Used across the room, deliberate eye contact makes an executive appear more confident, credible and connected to the audience.
Direct eye contact carries different cultural expectations. In many Western business settings it is associated with credibility and trust, whereas Japanese people may be taught to avoid staring directly into another person's eyes and instead look toward the forehead or throat. When presenting, however, the executive's role is different from an everyday conversation. They need to engage people individually and make the audience feel included. Coaching can help executives become comfortable with this unfamiliar behaviour until they realise they were always physically capable of doing it; the real barrier was mental.
Mini-summary: Use deliberate eye contact to engage the room. About six seconds gives enough connection to create impact without turning the interaction into a stare.
Why does vocal power matter for executive presence?
A strong voice helps an executive sound confident and ensures the message reaches the audience with authority. A small, quiet voice can disappear in the room and allow attention to drift away.
Speaking loudly can feel impolite to Japanese executives, so increasing volume often creates considerable discomfort during coaching. Video replay is particularly useful. Executives may feel as though they are shouting when instructed to project more strongly, yet when they watch the recording they often discover that they simply look and sound confident. Volume is only one element. Voice modulation and greater vocal range help emphasise important ideas and project more power. The objective is not constant loudness but sufficient amplification and variation to support the message.
Mini-summary: Project the voice rather than protecting it. Use appropriate volume and modulation so confidence can be heard as well as seen.
How should executives use gestures when presenting?
Gestures should visibly reinforce the words being spoken rather than being hidden, frozen or disconnected from the message. Combining gestures with eye contact and vocal modulation creates a powerful impression of confidence and credibility.
Japanese executives often hold their hands behind their backs because they are unsure what to do with them. Others lock their hands together in front of the body. These positions may feel stable, but they remove an important communication tool. Gestures can emphasise size, direction, importance and contrast. If something is large, the hands can show width; if something is tall or short, one hand can establish the measure. The gesture and the language must be congruent or the movement becomes a distraction rather than reinforcement.
Mini-summary: Free your hands and make gestures purposeful. Let the movement visually strengthen the exact point you are making.
How long should a presentation gesture last?
A gesture has a short useful life and should normally be switched off rather than held indefinitely. Holding the same gesture for around fifteen seconds or longer can drain its impact and turn it into an irritating visual distraction.
Effective gestures are dynamic. They appear when needed, reinforce the point and then disappear as the hands return to a neutral position. This prevents repetitive or frozen body language from competing with the speaker's words. Congruence also matters. A gesture that contradicts the verbal message makes the audience work harder to interpret what the presenter means. Executive presence is strengthened when the voice, words, eyes and physical movement all communicate the same idea at the same moment.
Mini-summary: Turn gestures on and off. Keep them brief, natural and completely aligned with the meaning of your words.
What posture creates stronger executive presence?
Stand straight and tall, command the whole room and project your energy outward rather than allowing distracting movement to dilute the message. Strong posture creates the impression of solidity, professionalism and gravitas.
Slouching, leaning, continually shifting weight, wandering around the stage or walking rapidly back and forth all compete with the content. So does engaging only one side of the audience. The executive should use the whole body to command the entire space. The Japanese concept of "ki" (気), or vital life force, is useful here: imagine projecting energy into the audience and filling the room with it. When posture works together with eye contact, vocal modulation and gestures, the separate techniques combine into a much stronger overall presence.
Mini-summary: Fill the room physically and energetically. Strong posture completes the combination of eye contact, voice and gesture that creates executive presence.
Conclusion
Executive presence is not one trick. It is the combined impression created by eye contact, vocal power, purposeful gestures, strong posture and the mindset to use them confidently. For Japanese executives, the difficult part is often not learning the mechanics but giving themselves permission to move beyond cultural habits that discourage standing out. Once that mindset changes, the techniques reinforce each other and create the solidity and gravitas expected of an executive on the international stage.
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 programs, 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.
