Michael:
00:00:01
“We learn theory in order to be right.
Michael:
00:00:03
But the coolest part that gets our attention is the wrongness.”
Michael:
00:00:10
These are the words of world-class bass player Victor Wooten.
Michael:
00:00:15
And if we translate that to communication, we see similar things.
Michael:
00:00:19
I mean, of course we can give an amazing speech by doing all the right things.
Michael:
00:00:25
In fact, that's exactly what most people strive for when preparing
Michael:
00:00:30
for an important speech, such as a keynote or a big product launch.
Michael:
00:00:35
They try to get everything right.
Michael:
00:00:38
Only that it's not the rightness that gets our attention but
Michael:
00:00:44
the wrongness, the offness.
Michael:
00:00:47
Because right never breaks our expectations.
Michael:
00:00:50
Right is just, well, right.
Michael:
00:00:54
Now, if we look at Wooten’s advice when there's a wrong
Michael:
00:00:58
note, our audiences take notice.
Michael:
00:01:01
Their expectations are broken.
Michael:
00:01:03
So, their curiosity kicks in.
Michael:
00:01:06
Their figuring-out-what-comes-next brain mode is ignited.
Michael:
00:01:10
That's also why the great speeches that you recall right now, when I ask you
Michael:
00:01:15
to think of one, are precisely the ones that didn't do everything in order.
Michael:
00:01:21
That didn't do everything just like you expected it.
Michael:
00:01:26
It's exactly like Victor Wooten describes it when he continues with the above quote.
He said:
00:01:33
“When I just play the right notes, that's cool.
He said:
00:01:36
Cool.
He said:
00:01:37
But if I want you to go “whoa”, I stick a wrong note in there.
He said:
00:01:44
So the coolest notes are the wrong ones.”
He said:
00:01:48
And now let's take it one step further.
He said:
00:01:50
Miles Davis, the great jazz trumpeter, said that “when you hit a wrong note, it's
He said:
00:01:57
the next one that makes it good or bad”.
He said:
00:02:00
And that's what Wooten actually means.
He said:
00:02:04
If you play a wrong note that makes our audiences look over, and then
He said:
00:02:10
if we continue in a meaningful way, it makes our speech so much greater.
He said:
00:02:15
We broke their expectations.
He said:
00:02:17
We delivered something that exceeded their expectations.
He said:
00:02:21
And so we have their attention.
He said:
00:02:25
What's your next wrong move?
