One of my favourite parts of the video. I love the smile and "huh" look on his face while he is listening. What caught my attention was when Michael said "auritory ears". Certainly a word not too many people would use. But that is Michael and his way of speaking
Here is a link i thought was interesting talking about this scene:
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"This is It": What Michael Jackson can teach us about executive communications
The other day I went to an IABC presentation with Roger Friedensen and Ray Hornak of Forge Communications in Raleigh, NC. Their essential approach to communications (which I love) is that they are problem-solvers. The next day, I found a great example of this approach when I was watching "This Is It", the amazing documentary about what was to be Michael Jackson's swan song concert series in London last year.
Go to about the 43 min. mark of "This Is It" and you'll find a fascinating microcosm of executive communications finesse and problem-solving in action. In the spirit of avoiding copyright infringements, I've transcribed it below (comments in parentheses are MINE). But get the movie and listen to it if you can - you'll hear director Kenny Ortega work his magic in a way that reading these words cannot fully convey.
Michael Jackson has just completed a run through of a song and is shaking his head and pulling or tapping on his ear.
MJ: "You guys, I gotta tell you this... When I'm trying to hear, it's like someone's fist is pushing in my ear... It's really very difficult... I know you mean well but I'm trying to adjust to the inner ears, okay? With the love, with the love - L-O-V-E - it's not easy though..."
(HUH? WHAT IS HE TALKING ABOUT?)
Offscreen, loud and clear over the PA system, we hear director Kenny Ortega, in a deep, smooth, measured voice: "Michael, one more time - I couldn't hear you, sir."
(BY ASKING THIS, ORTEGA SEEMS TO BE BUYING TIME TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE PROBLEM IS - HOPING TO GET JACKSON TO EXPRESS IT MORE CLEARLY)
MJ: "The inner ears are very difficult for me, when you raised - the use - just your real own, you know, aural, auritory ears.
(DOUBLE HUH?)
It feels like, it feels like somebody's fist, their FIST is shoved into your ear.
(HERE HE PUNCHES THE AIR AND PRACTICALLY SPITS THE WORD "FIST" - HE'S CLEARLY UPSET BY SOMETHING)
I'm trying to hear and I can't.
(A HA! WE JUST FOUND THE PROBLEM)
So I'm, I'm, I'm adjusting to the situation..."
KO: "Michael, is there anything they can give you now in your ears to make it better in terms of volume or mix?
(YOU REALLY HAVE TO HEAR THIS: ORTEGA'S CADENCE IS POWERFUL, SOLID AND SLOW - HIS WORDS EACH SEEM TO WEIGH A TON; HIS VOLUME IS EVEN, HIS TONE ONE OF COMPETENCE AND CONTROL. HE CAN FIX THIS.)
Now there's a pause - you can almost see the path that Ortega has cleared for Jackson. There's someone in control who understands the situation. This calms Jackson and helps him find the words for what he really needs.
MJ: "Um, if we could just bring it down a little bit."
(WOW, NOW THAT'S A CLEAR REQUEST.)
KO: (to engineers) "Bring it down a little bit please."
(AGAIN, THE CALM, SOLID TONE - REPEATING JACKSON'S WORDS VERBATIM SO HE KNOWS HE'S BEEN HEARD.)
KO: "Anything else, Michael? You want to hear more of anything, you want to hear more voice, you want to hear more...?"
MJ: "No."
(THE FISSURE OF CREATIVE ENERGY THAT CRACKED OPEN THIS EXCHANGE HAS BEEN SEALED. NOW JACKSON CAN REFOCUS ALL HIS CREATIVE ENERGY ON CREATING.)
KO: "Okay, Michael, after the next song, if it hasn't adjusted to your liking, will you please let us know?"
(THE ALL-IMPORTANT FOLLOW-THROUGH, IN ADVANCE. ORTEGA WANTS TO ASSURE JACKSON THAT HE WILL NOT LET THIS DROP UNTIL IT'S EXACTLY THE WAY THE BOSS NEEDS IT TO BE.)
MJ: "Sure."
(YOU CAN SEE AND FEEL THAT JACKSON HAS LET IT GO, THAT NOW HE CAN GET BACK TO CREATING HIS ONE-AND-ONLY KIND OF MAGIC.)
KO: "Thank you. Would you like to pick it up from..."
I kept watching this clip over and over, fascinated by how Ortega provides Jackson with the sense that he (Jackson) is in total control while conveying the unspoken truth that, in fact, Ortega is handling everything so that Jackson can be free to create - to do what he does best and not be burdened by the technical, logistical or other elements that get in his way.
Why couldn't Jackson just have said, "Hey, the volume's too loud - please turn it down" and moved along? Let's face it, creative superstars are not often known for their plain and direct approaches to problem-solving. There's almost always drama involved. Skilled communicators and message people need to know how to strip out the drama and hear what their boss is actually asking for and what they need.
Michael Jackson was heading this mega-million dollar enterprise; there was tremendous pressure and responsibility on him, just as there is with our CEOs. Thoughts tend to tumble out complicated, twisted and sometimes downright incomprehensible under that kind of pressure. As the man tasked with communicating Jackson's vision and brilliance, Ortega's job was to translate that foreign language of creative expression and refocus it onto what the actual problem was - and then solve that problem in a way that made his boss feel comfortable, powerful and self-assured. I think Ortega is an absolute master at this. (The exchange also illuminates the benefits of a long and deep working relationship - Ortega knew his boss very, very well, and it shows.)
So I think "this is it" - our job as executive communication specialists is to shine a spotlight on the message, to hold it to its mark center stage - where it belongs - and to get all the other crap out of our messenger's way smoothly, competently and respectfully. The ones who can do that are the true communication superstars.
