Sep 13 – 14, 2025
Hitotsubashi University
Asia/Tokyo timezone

How Do Global Business Leaders Persuade Their Followers? A Corpus-Based Analysis of Business Presentations

Sep 13, 2025, 2:30 PM
55m
Main Building 2nd floor (Hitotsubashi University)

Main Building 2nd floor

Hitotsubashi University

2-1 Naka, Kunitachi, Tokyo 186-8601, Japan
Plenary Business Communications - Related Plenary 2 Room 26

Speaker

Yasuo Nakatani (Hosei University)

Description

This plenary presents findings from a large-scale corpus analysis of over one million words from the public speeches of 100 globally recognized leaders, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Larry Page. The results reveal a clear pattern: these leaders consistently use specific communication strategies designed to move their audience from passive listeners to active participants. In contrast, comparative analyses of English speeches by Japanese business leaders, such as Akio Toyoda, show that these persuasive strategies are often underutilized—highlighting a critical gap in global communication effectiveness.

Author

Yasuo Nakatani (Hosei University)

Presentation materials