Episode #126: Have The 3Es In Place Or Get Off The Stage

In modern business, executives and managers are flooded with meetings, decks, and speeches. The last thing anyone needs is another dull, unfocused presentation that wastes time and drains energy. Not everyone should be on stage — at least not without preparation and intention.

The good news: you don’t need to be a “born” communicator to be a strong business presenter. Effective presenting is a skill that can be learned, refined, and scaled across your leadership team. The real question is not “Am I talented enough?” but “Am I motivated enough to do the work and respect my audience’s time?”

Mini-summary: Presenting is not a right; it is a responsibility. Any leader can become a capable presenter if they are willing to prepare seriously and focus on the value they bring to the audience.

Dale Carnegie, who pioneered business public speaking training in 1912, proposed three core conditions before anyone steps up to present:

1. Earned the Right

2. Excited

3. Eager

More than 100 years later, these 3Es still define whether a presentation succeeds or fails — whether in New York, Tokyo, or any major business center.

• Earned the Right: You have studied the topic, built real or observed experience, and can speak as a genuine subject-matter expert.

• Excited: You actually care about the topic and feel positive emotion toward it.

• Eager: You are keen to share value with your audience, not just to transmit information but to help them think and act differently.

For global and Japanese companies alike, these 3Es are a powerful filter: if a presenter cannot honestly say “yes” to all three, they should not be on that stage yet.

Mini-summary: Dale Carnegie’s 3Es provide a timeless checklist for executives: you must have expertise, genuine enthusiasm, and a strong desire to help your audience before you present.

You earn the right to speak when you have done the work.

That includes:

• Deep study of the subject — not just reading a few articles, but understanding the key theories, frameworks, and debates.

• Practical experience — your own projects, successes, failures, and lessons learned.

• Leveraging others’ experience — stories and case studies from respected leaders, companies, or experts in your field.

In today’s environment, leaders are expected to be up to date. New research, new technologies, and new business models are constantly emerging. What you learned ten or twenty years ago is not enough. Your audience can and will fact-check you in real time on their smartphones.

“Reserve power” is essential: this is the extra knowledge you have prepared but may not use in your allotted time — backup data, deeper analysis, alternative examples. It signals credibility and confidence.

Mini-summary: You earn the right to present by combining study, experience, and ongoing learning — and by having more depth than you actually show on the slide deck.

Most presenters overload their slides with data, charts, and bullet points, assuming that “more information” equals “more value.” In reality, business audiences remember stories, not scattered facts.

High-impact presenters:

• Use personal stories about real projects, crises, and recoveries to illustrate key points.

• Bring in examples from other leaders and well-known companies to add credibility.

• Translate facts into narratives — a journey from challenge to solution to result.

Your audience can disagree with your conclusions, but they cannot argue with your experience. A powerful story — for example, a major failure in your business and how you turned it around — can teach more than a dozen theoretical slides.

This is especially relevant in cross-cultural contexts such as Tokyo business environments, where humility and authenticity are highly valued. A well-told story that is real, relevant, and reflective will resonate far more than generic, corporate language.

Mini-summary: Stories anchor your message in human experience. When leaders share real successes and failures, audiences pay attention, learn, and remember.

You can have:

• Professionally designed slides

• Clear structure

• Flawless timing

• Impressive title and job role

…and still give a lifeless, forgettable presentation.

We have all seen senior executives — including global CEOs — deliver technically polished talks that are painfully dull because they lack passion. They speak as if they are reading a script. They show no emotional connection to the topic, the company, or the audience.

The result:

• The brand is damaged.

• The leader’s personal credibility drops.

• The audience leaves with no takeaway, no inspiration, and no desire to act.

By contrast, even a “boring” topic can be transformed by an excited speaker who truly believes in the message. Enthusiasm is contagious. When you care, the audience feels it — and that emotional energy becomes persuasive power.

Mini-summary: Passion beats perfection. Audiences would rather follow an imperfect but passionate leader than a technically perfect presenter who clearly does not care.

A common failure among senior leaders is self-centered presenting: talking about what they want to say, not what the audience needs to hear.

Imagine a global executive speaking in Japan:

• He gives the same standard slide deck he uses everywhere in the world.

• He does not ask the organizers who will attend.

• He assumes that describing his huge company and global operations is enough.

• He does not tailor examples, stories, or recommendations to smaller Japanese companies or multinational subsidiaries in Japan.

In such cases, the presentation becomes:

• Irrelevant to small and mid-sized companies in the room

• Devoid of practical takeaways

• Blind to cultural context and business realities

Because business culture in Japan is highly polite, no one will publicly criticize this executive. He may leave thinking he did a good job, while in reality he has weakened his personal and corporate brand in a key market.

Mini-summary: When presenters ignore audience profile, company size, and cultural context, they deliver generic content that destroys engagement and silently damages reputation.

Executives and managers can dramatically improve their impact by deliberately applying the 3Es before every important talk, whether it is leadership training, sales presentations, investor updates, or internal town halls.

1. Earn the Right

• Study your topic beyond surface level.

• Refresh your knowledge with the latest research, market trends, and case studies.

• Prepare reserve power: additional examples, data, and stories you can use if needed.

2. Be Excited

• Choose angles and examples you genuinely care about.

• Connect the topic to your own values, career journey, and business mission.

• Let your natural enthusiasm show — through voice, facial expression, and body language.

3. Be Eager to Share Value

• Ask organizers who will attend: roles, company sizes, industries, and key challenges.

• Decide what specific value you want people to take away: insights, frameworks, tools, or inspiration.

• Build your talk around their problems, not your company’s organizational chart.

This mindset is at the heart of Dale Carnegie’s presentation training and executive coaching worldwide, including over six decades of work with Japanese and multinational companies in Tokyo.

Mini-summary: The 3Es are not theory; they are a practical preparation checklist. When leaders earn the right, show genuine excitement, and focus on delivering value, every presentation becomes a strategic asset.

• Presenting is a learned leadership skill. Talent is optional; preparation and respect for the audience are mandatory.

• Dale Carnegie’s 3Es — Earned the Right, Excited, Eager — are a timeless framework for assessing whether you should be on stage and how you should prepare.

• Stories outperform raw data. Real experiences, especially failures and recoveries, create emotional connection and lasting learning.

• Passion and audience focus define impact. A technically perfect but passionless presentation can damage your brand, while a tailored, energetic talk can strengthen trust and influence.

Founded in the U.S. in 1912, Dale Carnegie Training has supported individuals and companies worldwide for over a century in leadership, sales, presentation, executive coaching, and DEI. Our Tokyo office, established in 1963, has been empowering both Japanese and multinational corporate clients ever since.