Introduction

Hi, I’m Ray — a bilingual presentation trainer (Japanese-English) specializing in helping professionals get better and more confident at presenting.
I’ve helped hundreds of students, academics and businesspeople from various countries express their ideas more clearly across the cultural divide between their home language and English.

I love this work because I get to help students gain skills, build their confidence and achieve more through stronger communication skills.
My background as a legal translator (Japanese > English) helps me relate particularly well to the struggles of Japanese speakers working in English.

I was born and raised in the United States, where I attended the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard Law School. Interested in foreign languages and culture from an early age, I took Japanese language as an elective in college before heading to Japan to teach English for a few years.

After working a few years in the States as an attorney, I began working in Japanese > English translation of legal materials. In that role, I began giving presentations on legal translation in the J-E translation community.

To improve at presentations, I joined a local Toastmasters club and sharpened my skills. In the early 2000’s, I started leading and teaching others through the wider Toastmasters organization in the Seattle, Washington area. I often led seminars and presented keynotes.

In 2012, I was recruited to teach business communication at the Tohoku University Accounting School in Sendai, Japan. My students were mainly from Japan and other nations of East Asia but also from Europe, South Asia and Latin America. I retired from TU in spring of 2025.

I now teach presentation skills, assertiveness and negotiation at companies and institutions of higher learning. I also teach online classes to students in various countries.