Yo-Yo Ma Tells Stories.

Thumbing through my notes this morning I came across a story from a book I read back in January called Imagine. The story is about the Grammy award winning cellist, Yo-Yo Ma. We all know him as he’s probably the most famous cello player to ever live. Even if you haven’t heard his music, you’ve probably at least heard his name. He’s kind of a big deal.

The story goes like this: Yo-Yo Ma prepares to go on stage for a performance in front of thousands of people. Backstage, his demeanor is bright and cheerful just like always. Then just before the show, he takes some time to himself running through the performance in his mind. After those moments of intense concentration, he’s back to being cheerful and interacting with people backstage just before he goes on. He steps out on stage, smiles and bows, and begins to play. What happens next is amazing. He begins to communicate with the audience through the music. It’s like he’s telling them a story and they can’t help but listen. They’re drawn in by the subtle nuances, phrase dynamics, and his movement. You can feel the connection live in the room. The flawless performance ends and the audience cheers in appreciation.

When asked about the way he performs and if he worry’s about making a mistake, Ma had this to say:

“If you are only worried about not making a mistake, then you will communicate nothing… My job is to retrace the story so that the audience feels the suspense. It’s all about making people care about what happens next.”

If you worry about making a mistake, you communicate nothing. The point is not tell the story with perfection, the point is the story. It’s about connection. It’s about making them care about what comes next. This is how we must think about our work as well. The creative stories we tell don’t have to be perfect but they do do have to be told. Connection with our audience through our individual medium is not only how we make a living, it’s how we communicate to them. They want to hear the story. They want to know what happens next. If we worry about making a mistake, we’ll never be able to tell it with the sincerity it deserves.

Ma went on to say:

“I welcome that first mistake. Then I can shrug it off and go on with the performance and turn off that part of my mind that judges everything.”

The part of your brain that judges everything could care less about connection. It’s main concern is self. In order to tell good stories and communicate, we have to switch it off. Let it go, make that first mistake and move on. Make people care about what comes next and allow yourself to forget the mistake that no one noticed but you. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be told.

Happy Thursday!