--- title: "1 Audience Thinking Quotes By Bill McGowan" description: "1 Audience Thinking quotes by Bill McGowan. Plus more from Bill McGowan and more Audience Thinking sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a3/bill-mcgowan-19272_too-much-power_focus-on-what-you-want-to-say-not-on-wha_715325.jpg" --- > [“Focus on What You Want to Say, Not on What You Think the Audience Is Thinking Many people pay too much attention to how others perceive them, and this puts too much power in the hands of the listener and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mcgowan/focus-on-what-you-want-to-say-not-on-what-you-think-the-audience-is/) [Bill McGowan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mcgowan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a3/bill-mcgowan-19272_too-much-power_focus-on-what-you-want-to-say-not-on-wha_715325.jpg) ## More by Bill McGowan > [“For the next three hours . . .” Wow! Talk about an interest-killer. The last thing any audience wants to be reminded of is that it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mcgowan/for-the-next-three-hours-wow-talk-about-an-interest-killer-the-last/) [Bill McGowan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mcgowan/) > [“fact, good communication is a lot like pasta sauce. The more you boil down and reduce a sauce, the more dynamic the flavor. Speaking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mcgowan/fact-good-communication-is-a-lot-like-pasta-sauce-the-more-you-boil/) [Bill McGowan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mcgowan/) > [“According to Inside Apple, Steve Jobs practiced dozens of times before a big presentation, staging and rehearsing so that nothing was left to chance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mcgowan/according-to-inside-apple-steve-jobs-practiced-dozens-of-times-before/) [Bill McGowan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mcgowan/) > [“The Conviction Principle Convey certainty with words, eye contact, posture, and tone of voice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mcgowan/the-conviction-principle-convey-certainty-with-words-eye-contact/) [Bill McGowan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mcgowan/) > [“To Drive Home a Point People think that the more they elaborate and explain, the more convincing they will be. They confuse quantity with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mcgowan/to-drive-home-a-point-people-think-that-the-more-they-elaborate-and/) [Bill McGowan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mcgowan/) > [“To be more thoughtful and selective, we need time. To gain more time, we need to slow down. Yes, it really is as simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mcgowan/to-be-more-thoughtful-and-selective-we-need-time-to-gain-more-time-we/) [Bill McGowan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mcgowan/) > [“Speaking cleanly is a very Zen experience. It’s about being 100 percent focused on the thought you are in the midst of articulating. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mcgowan/speaking-cleanly-is-a-very-zen-experience-it-s-about-being-100/) [Bill McGowan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mcgowan/) > [“Gratuitous Gratitude Gratitude has a place, but don’t spend the first full minute of your remarks thanking a long laundry list of people. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mcgowan/gratuitous-gratitude-gratitude-has-a-place-but-don-t-spend-the-first/) [Bill McGowan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mcgowan/) > [“Consumers don’t want to know about the process of how something came into existence. What they want to know is: How will this product…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mcgowan/consumers-don-t-want-to-know-about-the-process-of-how-something-came/) [Bill McGowan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mcgowan/) > [“Focus on What You Want to Say, Not on What You Think the Audience Is Thinking Many people pay too much attention to how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mcgowan/focus-on-what-you-want-to-say-not-on-what-you-think-the-audience-is/) [Bill McGowan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mcgowan/) > [“Prepare, prepare, prepare. Practice, practice, practice. From here on, accept every invitation you get to do public speaking. Be the first one with your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mcgowan/prepare-prepare-prepare-practice-practice-practice-from-here-on/) [Bill McGowan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mcgowan/) > [“Discomfort Many of us are uncomfortable with silence, so we compensate by filling that silence with words.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mcgowan/discomfort-many-of-us-are-uncomfortable-with-silence-so-we-compensate/) [Bill McGowan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mcgowan/) > [“Five minutes before you start speaking, take a long inhale through your nose—hold it for a couple of seconds—and then very slowly exhale through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mcgowan/five-minutes-before-you-start-speaking-take-a-long-inhale-through/) [Bill McGowan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mcgowan/) > [“Being on the Defensive Many people think that the faster they talk, the more convincing they’ll sound. As I’ve said before, however, the opposite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mcgowan/being-on-the-defensive-many-people-think-that-the-faster-they-talk/) [Bill McGowan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mcgowan/) > [“The first thirty seconds of any conversation or presentation are like the last two minutes of a football game. This is when victory or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mcgowan/the-first-thirty-seconds-of-any-conversation-or-presentation-are-like/) [Bill McGowan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mcgowan/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/audience-thinking/bill-mcgowan/#itemlist", "name": "1 Audience Thinking Quotes By Bill McGowan", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Focus on What You Want to Say, Not on What You Think the Audience Is Thinking Many people pay too much attention to how others perceive them, and this puts too much power in the hands of the listener and not enough in the head of the speaker. There is not enough bandwidth in your brain for you to concentrate simultaneously on your point, your delivery, and what you think your listener might be thinking based on his or her facial expressions. 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