The Long and The Short Of It

Episode 338 - Mic Check

Transcript:

Jen: Hello, Pete. Is this thing on?

Pete: Hello, Jen. Yes, it's on. You've done this three hundred times at this point, the microphone is working.

Jen: Oh, that's good. Because today, I want to ask you, what kind of mic checker are you?

Pete: I mean, that is a question that I did not expect you to ask. What kind of mic checker am I? I think I'm the kind of mic check person that says the bare minimum requirement of words when asked to check a mic.

Jen: Oh, that is the perfect tee up. Let's go. This is The Long and The Short Of It.

Pete: I'm replaying like the last time I was asked to do a mic check for a keynote, and there's that initial like, "Oh my god, what am I going to say?" But then, I just go, "Alright, let's just check the mic to make sure this is working." "That's great. That's perfect. That's all we need." And I'm like, "Alright, alright, off I go." That would be how I would think about this. Does that make sense? Is that what you're asking?

Jen: Yes. Because this whole episode is inspired by something really funny you've said to me, which was that you had someone say to you, when they were checking a mic, that sometimes they say, "We need to do a mic check," and the person just goes, "Check."

Pete: Yeah, yeah. Or like, "Test." It's like, "We need you to say a few more words. We need you to say a few more things, like..."

Jen: "Just a couple more words."

Pete: Oh, and ironically, the person I'm talking about like goes on to deliver a forty-five minute keynote. Like, it's not like they don't have words to say.

Jen: Oh my gosh. Well, that little comment just unlocked this whole hilarious scenario in my brain. And I find it hilarious...I have no idea if the listeners are going to find it hilarious. But what came up for me is Broadway mic checks.

Pete: Okay.

Jen: They are so funny. And if you're doing a tour, you do a mic check every time you open in a new theater. So like, for some of these Broadway tours, it's like every Tuesday at five o'clock, you have your sound check.

Pete: So it's part of your routine.

Jen: Yes. You get your mic on, you go to the stage, and one at a time, you check the mic. Okay, now this seems pretty cut and dry.

Pete: Right, like it's part of your process.

Jen: But Peter...oh my gosh. And I'm making this sound like this is exclusive to Broadway shows. This is for any show where people are using mics.

Pete: Right. Oh, and like I said, this was at a conference where someone was giving a keynote, and they were asked to check the mic. And god, I've heard this so many times, and they go, "Test," and the person at the back is like, "We need more."

Jen: Okay. So what I've done is, I've started to sort people into different mic checking categories.

Pete: Oh my gosh, alright.

Jen: So, maybe we'll like come up with names for these.

Pete: Yeah.

Jen: This is such a crunchy noodle but I just found it so funny, I was like, "We have to record about this."

Pete: Alright.

Jen: Okay. So one person gets up and does the same thing they do every time. So it could be that they recite a poem, or they say, "A, B, C, D, E, F, G," or, "1-2-3-4-5, 1-2-3-4-5," whatever it is. And when you're doing a musical, you often have to sing something too, so they may have the same like high loud line picked out and the soft low line picked out. And they just do it like it's a script. Okay, so that's the scripted mic check. Right?

Pete: Right. "This is my process, this is what I say," the scripted mic check. Yeah, I love that. Alright, scripted mic check is category one.

Jen: Okay. At the other end of the spectrum, way on the other end of the spectrum, is the person who seems surprised that they're checking their mic and they don't know what to say, and it sounds like, "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. I don't know what to say. I don't know what to say right now. Umm...1-2-3-4-5?" "Can you sing something?" "Oh gosh, oh gosh. The entire score just flew out of my head. I don't know any songs." And that's what it sounds like.

Pete: Oh my god. Which is, yeah, I mean, painfully funny because it's like, "What are you talking about? We do this every Tuesday at five. Like, why?"

Jen: Right.

Pete: "How is this surprise every time?"

Jen: Okay. And then, there is the person who's like, "I have a live mic. Therefore, it is time to do my stand-up routine." And they're just like cracking jokes, even when they hear from the back of the house, "That's all we need right now." They're like, "But wait. I'm just getting to the good part."

Pete: "Here comes the punch-line."

Jen: "My mic is live. I've got to finish the joke."

Pete: "Here comes the punch-line." They're giving you the routine that nobody asked for. Yeah, that's so funny.

Jen: Ahh.

Pete: Oh, wow.

Jen: And it's just making me think about, like there's this thing called the Spotlight Effect.

Pete: Mmm.

Jen: It's that feeling that you have that everyone is watching everything that you're doing.

Pete: Oh, yeah.

Jen: And I guess when your mic is hot, it makes sense.

Pete: Yeah.

Jen: But honestly, like nobody cares what your sound check is like.

Pete: Yeah.

Jen: But people's personalities get sort of magnified, and their FOPO (fear of people's opinions) is on like elegant display.

Pete: Yeah, so true. Wait, where do you sit on this spectrum?

Jen: I think when I was younger, I was really embarrassed about being person number one.

Pete: Hmm.

Jen: So, I pretended to be person number two.

Pete: Oh, interesting.

Jen: Yeah. And then, when I went into directing, I found out how annoying it is when people are surprised by a mic check. So I think I took that as my cue to be like, "You don't have to be entertaining right now. Just be efficient. Like, go in and do the thing."

Pete: Yeah. Just be efficient. Okay. So that's funny, because the thing in my head is like, what does this say about us and our personalities? Because my answer to the question is, I guess this is almost person number four, which is like, "What does the sound checker need as a bare minimum, so that I can get an A and deliver that?"

Jen: Yeah.

Pete: Like that's what it is for me, is like, "How do I give that person exactly what they want, and no more or no less?" Because I'm a people-pleaser and I want an A, so that's just like a quirk of mine that comes out in a sound check. Isn't that funny? So I'll say, you know, I don't know, like, "I'm giving you some sound so that you can test your mic." And they'll go, "That's great." And you're like, "Cool. Okay, great." So it's not scripted but it's always like maybe one sentence, and my hope is that is exactly what they need. I don't want to waste their time. I don't want them to waste my time. Like, it's very much couched in a people-pleaser syndrome.

Jen: Well, so this is interesting, because my guess is that in that scenario, that's a really good person to be.

Pete: Right.

Jen: "What do you need from me?" "This is what I need from you." "Great. Let me give you exactly what you need. Nothing more, nothing less."

Pete: Yeah.

Jen: That feels like one of those moments where that really works.

Pete: Right. Which is great, in certain contexts. Then, you've got other contexts like, you know, in certain business contexts, where it's like, "Under-promise and over-deliver, and always go above and beyond." And sort of like, that's cool in certain contexts. But when we just need to do a sound check, we don't need you to over-deliver. We just need you to deliver.

Jen: Right. Okay. So maybe like the moral of this story goes back to something we have mentioned on many an episode (although maybe not as recently), context is everything. Because if I was holding a mic and I'm on stage at a comedy club, and I say to the audience, "What do you want," it might not land.

Pete: Right. "What do you want me to talk about?"

Jen: I need to give them my stand-up routine, and get the laughs.

Pete: Yeah.

Jen: And I actually do need to see the jokes all the way through to the punch-line.

Pete: Hmm. Yeah. Context is everything is such a good reminder. And this is not related to sound checks, but I was doing a workshop yesterday and we were talking about effective communication, and someone had shared that something they're really trying to focus on is being more succinct. And we were kind of riffing on this idea that like being succinct is almost never a bad thing.

Jen: Mmm.

Pete: You know? Like especially in corporate world, which is where this workshop was being held, we could all benefit from being more succinct. And so, we went on a bit of a tangent about that, "How do we be more succinct?" And we talked about, "Concise is nice," which is like this fun little rhyme that I like to share with people. And at the end of the session, I had five minutes to spare, and I said, "If you want to stay back and ask a question, please feel free to stay back and ask a question." And a few people stayed back and asked questions, and one of them was a lawyer, and she said, "I love the idea of 'concise is nice'. I understand that people want me to be concise. And I have an obligation, as a lawyer, to tell you the following steps as part of us following the right legal practice. So how do I recognize that the person wants me to be concise, but also recognize that I can't, by law, be super concise because I have to share with them what I have to share with them." But the context is everything in this, where you're a lawyer and you need to say a certain thing, versus, "Oh, I just need you to like tell me the punch-line so we can move on."

Jen: Oh, that is so good. So, concise is relative to the context.

Pete: Right. Yeah.

Jen: Because for the lawyer, "concise" means, "I've said everything that you need to hear."

Pete: Right.

Jen: That's concise. "I'm not saying more than you need, but I am covering every single base with you," equals "concise".

Pete: Right. And the premise of the workshop was kind of about human-centered communication, "How do we start with who's it for and communicate to people in a way that's resonating with them," things that we've talked about on this podcast many times before. And so, she said, "So how do I make that human-centered, if the human on the other side of this just wants the output?" And I said, "You could just acknowledge everything you just told me. Which is like, if I put the human at the center and go, 'Look, I understand you probably just want me to give you a summary, and I can't do that because I'm a lawyer. And here are the things we need to step through, so that's what we're going to do.'" So it's like, acknowledge the thing that they think they need or the thing they think that you need to give them. Hmm.

Jen: Oh, I feel like...who knew mic checks would unlock so many useful nuggets? But yes, one of the great things we can do as communicators is say the other person's objection before they do. Before they have the thought in their mind, you actually say it, so to your point, "You're probably going to want me to get to the punch-line, but because of my obligation to you, I'm not going to do it that fast. That might be annoying, but we're going to do it this way anyway, because it's in your best interest." So instead of just starting and being like droning on and on, and the person's thinking, "Gosh, why don't they just get to the punch-line already," it sets the context.

Pete: Right. It does. And especially what's wild about it is, in the latter example, if you don't acknowledge it but you're still thinking it, it's like, "I know this person's just thinking they want me to get to the point, but I'm just going to keep going on anyway." It's like, acknowledge that you know that about them.

Jen: Right. Yes, yes, yes. Okay, here's something else that I just realized comes up. I'm thinking back to my young days when I didn't know myself that well, and I just like assumed that everything was feedback about me specifically, as opposed to it was like just information.

Pete: Right, right.

Jen: You know? So they say, you know, "Sing a little for us." So I sing my little thing and I do my little thing, and then, I stop.And they go, "We actually need a little bit more." I'd take that as, "You did that wrong."

Pete: Right, right. So do I. Oh my god, that's so funny. Yeah.

Jen: Right? And it's just like, no, actually. You know, if I'm trying now to put myself behind the sound table, I'm like, "Oh, no. Last week, we were in a two-thousand-seat house. This week, we're in a six-thousand-seat house. Of course, they need to listen to how it is coming through in this size space. Like, of course they need more. I didn't do it wrong. They just aren't done with their part of the job yet."

Pete: Right. You taught me this idea, which I think about a lot, as it relates to receiving feedback. Which was, when you have that moment...because gosh, I've had that moment of like, "This is what I heard." And I think you actually have literally said to me, "What did they say, in quotes?"

Jen: Yep.

Pete: Like, "Use quotation marks."

Jen: That's right.

Pete: And in that context, you go, "Oh, what they said was, 'We need a little more.' Okay, so that's what they said. You interpreted that and told yourself a story that that means that you're not good enough or you did the wrong thing. That's not what they said."

Jen: Right.

Pete: So, I mean, I think about that. I use that a lot, as it relates to like processing feedback. Before you spiral, just write down, even, what did they say in quotation marks?

Jen: Yeah. It is such a useful reframe.

Pete: Right. Because there's a fair chance that it was a comment on the thing, as opposed to a comment on or an attack on your personality.

Jen: Mmm-hmm, that's right. So the other thing that is coming up for me, Pete, another little nugget...I know I've said this a million times on this podcast, is, when something is genuinely a surprise, it should surprise you. Surprises are indeed surprising. But when something is not a surprise, when you see the bridge, cross it before you get to it.

Pete: Mmm.

Jen: Like, it shouldn't be a surprise that you have sound check today. And allowing yourself to be rattled by something that isn't a surprise does not leave you a lot of energy to dance with the things that actually are surprises.

Pete: Mmm. Yeah, that's true.

Jen: It's just like a lot of unnecessary energy expense.

Pete: Yeah, I love that. Such a great reminder. And it's something within your control. Like, "Here is something I know that's coming. How do I set myself up with that, so that I can save energy for everything else?"

Jen: Exactly.

Pete: Hmm. I feel like I'm never going to be more aware of what I say than in my next sound check, as what I have here. I'm going to be so self-aware.

Jen: Sorry.

Pete: And so, I feel like everyone listening next time I do a sound check, is going to be like, "Oh my god. I've got to make sure I really deliver what I need to deliver here, no more or no less."

Jen: Oh god, it's so true. So I've put you in your head, sorry about it. It might make you a better sound checker.

Pete: It's true. And ironically, as we reach a close on this episode, I'm finding myself become that person that you described, where it's like, "Oh my God, I don't know what to say. How do I wrap this episode up? I'm not really sure what to say. I'm surprised that we made it to the conclusion, even though we've done this three hundred and forty-three times. What am I meant to say, so that I can land the plane to try and wrap this episode up?"

Jen: I think what you need to say, Pete, is: That is The Long and The Short Of It.