First published on LinkedIn - December 11th
If you have 2-minutes, listen to this great clip of Herbie Hancock talking about performing with Miles Davis. It is a real gem:
https://youtu.be/f19Z9Y0U92A?si=AOUxIDKQABLCJT5L
If you don’t have time, here is the bulk of what Herbie says.
“And I remember that we were playing ‘So What’, and it was a really hot night. The music was on. Right in the middle of Miles’ solo, when he was playing one of his amazing solos, I played the wrong chord. Completely wrong. It sounded like a big mistake. And Miles paused for a second… and then he played some notes that made my chord right. He made it ‘correct’. Miles didn’t hear it as a mistake, he heard it as something that happened. Just an event. And so, that was part of the reality of what was happening at the that moment.
“Since he didn’t hear it as a mistake he felt it was his responsibility to find something that fit.”
I love the phrase "And Miles paused for a second". That is a key part of being able to adapt to what is happening in the room, to be listening so you receive it, and to give yourself a moment to decide what to do with it. We can believe that spontaneity is supposed to be instantaneous. If it does not appear in your brain immediately, you are somehow failing at being spontaneous. No! Accept what has happened, take a moment to think, and calmly do what seems most appropriate in the moment.
Anyone who has come across improv theory will recognise this within “Yes … And”.
Herbie’s story is a wonderful example of the power of having a plan, but being open to adapt to what is happening in the moment. Rather than being fixed on an exact version of a performance, Miles was open and accepting of things that might change the delivery on that evening in that room with these people.
This is such an important skill if you want to move from being a good presenter (prepared, planned, scripted) to being a truly versatile presenter (prepared, receptive, ready to adapt).
Lee Jackson, shared this excellent clip with me [thank you Lee]. He writes about it in his book "Get Good at Life". Lee writes about Miles’ response, “… and since he didn’t hear it as a mistake, he felt it was his responsibility to find something that fit and he was able to do that. That taught me a very big lesson…the important thing is that we grow and the only way we can grow is to have a mind that’s open enough to be able to experience situations as they are and turn poison into medicine. Take whatever situation you have, and make something constructive happen with it…”.
For us to grow from being a good presenter to being a great presenter, we need to have a mind that’s “open enough”.
Lee’s powerful phrase here is “turn poison into medicine”. As we present things will happen. They may be small things like someone sneezes, or major things like someone starts challenging the data that you are sharing. If you consider either as a form of poison to be avoided at all costs, you limit your ability to be anything beyond ‘good’. We only move towards greatness when we are ready to take anything that happens in the moment and look for a way to incorporate it into what we are saying.
We should aim to be a little more like Miles Davis.
Lee’s book is available here: www.leejackson.org/book
Our Book, The Versatile Presenter, comes out in February: Making Presentations | The Versatile Presenter | Book
Illustration by John Cooper.