--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once I could persuade these guys that all…" description: "\"Once I could persuade these guys that all I wanted to hear from them was what they did - Tell me what you do - once you can persuade someone that this ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b7/roger-angell-18160_after_once-i-could-persuade-these-guys-that-al_2963773.png" --- # Once I could persuade these guys that all I wanted to hear… ![“Once I could persuade these guys that all I wanted to hear from them was what they did - Tell me what you do - once you can persuade someone that this is all you're after, you can't shut them up because we're all fascinated by what we do.” quote by Roger Angell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b7/roger-angell-18160_after_once-i-could-persuade-these-guys-that-al_2963773.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b7/roger-angell-18160_after_once-i-could-persuade-these-guys-that-al_2963773.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b7/roger-angell-18160_after_once-i-could-persuade-these-guys-that-al_2963773.png) > “Once I could persuade these guys that all I wanted to hear from them was what they did - Tell me what you do - once you can persuade someone that this is all you're after, you can't shut them up because we're all fascinated by what we do.” [Roger Angell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-angell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding people’s work reveals their motivations; once convinced, they become engaged and talkative. **In simple terms:** People open up when you focus on their work. Key Takeaway Listen to others’ passions. Themes communication motivation curiosity Mood inquisitive engaging Type journalistic educational When to use this quote - interviews - team building - coaching sessions Key Concepts psychology of conversation storytelling Questions to Reflect On - How does focusing on work foster dialogue? - What if someone resists sharing? A Different Perspective May overlook deeper issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [After](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/after/) [Because](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/because/) [Could](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/could/) [Did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/did/) [Fascinated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fascinated/) [Guys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guys/) [Hear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hear/) [Me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/me/) [Once](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/once/) [Persuade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persuade/) [Persuade Guys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persuade-guys-1538584/) [Persuade Shut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persuade-shut-4527549/) [Shut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shut/) [Shut Fascinated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shut-fascinated-4527550/) [Someone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/someone/) [Tell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tell/) [Tell Persuade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tell-persuade-4527548/) [Them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/them/) [Up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/up/) [Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanted/) [You](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you/) ## Related quotes > [The producers try to get me to persuade guys I'm interested in to be on it. If the paparazzi shoot me out on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrina-patridge/the-producers-try-to-get-me-to-persuade-guys-i-m-interested-in-to-be/) [Audrina Patridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrina-patridge/) > [It was not hard to persuade people that the market was sound; as always in such times they asked only that the dispiriting voices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/it-was-not-hard-to-persuade-people-that-the-market-was-sound-as/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Even within the band, if I cannot manage to persuade the members of what I see to be the next course of action, how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fripp/even-within-the-band-if-i-cannot-manage-to-persuade-the-members-of/) [Robert Fripp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fripp/) > [I would rather try to persuade a man to go along, because once I have persuaded him, he will stick. If I scare him,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/i-would-rather-try-to-persuade-a-man-to-go-along-because-once-i-have/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [I know people who will gently persuade you to be forthcoming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/i-know-people-who-will-gently-persuade-you-to-be-forthcoming/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [For thousands of years, humans have used the art of storytelling to motivate and persuade.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-soltis-anderson/for-thousands-of-years-humans-have-used-the-art-of-storytelling-to/) [Kristen Soltis Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-soltis-anderson/) > [I have noticed that no sooner do people embark on a course of action which they do not find wholly satisfactory than they muster…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morice/i-have-noticed-that-no-sooner-do-people-embark-on-a-course-of-action/) [Anne Morice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morice/) > [ I like \[Barak\] Obama. I like him. So how far does rationality help to persuade anybody? You know, I'm not so sure. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/i-like-barak-obama-i-like-him-so-how-far-does-rationality-help-to/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [“Convince is for thought; persuade is for action.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-wood/convince-is-for-thought-persuade-is-for-action/) [Monica Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-wood/) > [One of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears by listening to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-rusk/one-of-the-best-ways-to-persuade-others-is-with-your-ears-by/) [Dean Rusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-rusk/) > [Presidents are evaluated not by what they did by the stroke of their own pen; it's what they persuade Congress to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-w-brands/presidents-are-evaluated-not-by-what-they-did-by-the-stroke-of-their/) [H. W. Brands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-w-brands/) > [“And if I am asked today to advise a young writer who has not yet made up his mind what way to go, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/and-if-i-am-asked-today-to-advise-a-young-writer-who-has-not-yet-made/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [To design is much more than simply to assemble, to order, or even to edit: it is to add value and meaning, to illuminate,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-rand/to-design-is-much-more-than-simply-to-assemble-to-order-or-even-to/) [Paul Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-rand/) > [I always believed as a speechwriter that if you could persuade the president to commit himself to certain words, he would feel himself committed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-frum/i-always-believed-as-a-speechwriter-that-if-you-could-persuade-the/) [David Frum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-frum/) > [“Don't think you can persuade me with appeals to my intellectual vanity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/don-t-think-you-can-persuade-me-with-appeals-to-my-intellectual-vanity/) [Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) ## More by Roger Angell > [Losing is the bane and bugbear of every professional athlete's existence, but in baseball the monster seems to hang closer than in other sports,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-angell/losing-is-the-bane-and-bugbear-of-every-professional-athlete-s/) [Roger Angell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-angell/) > [We are all writers and readers as well as communicators with the need at times to please and satisfy ourselves with the clear and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-angell/we-are-all-writers-and-readers-as-well-as-communicators-with-the-need/) [Roger Angell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-angell/) > [Life is tough and brimming with loss, and the most we can do about it is to glimpse ourselves clear now and then, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-angell/life-is-tough-and-brimming-with-loss-and-the-most-we-can-do-about-it/) [Roger Angell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-angell/) > [Our stories about our own lives are a form of fiction, I began to see and become more insistent as we grow older, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-angell/our-stories-about-our-own-lives-are-a-form-of-fiction-i-began-to-see/) [Roger Angell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-angell/) > [“my favorite urban flower, the baseball box score”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-angell/my-favorite-urban-flower-the-baseball-box-score/) [Roger Angell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-angell/) > [Baseball’s absolute unpredictability makes amateurs of us all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-angell/baseball-s-absolute-unpredictability-makes-amateurs-of-us-all/) [Roger Angell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-angell/) > [This was a new recognition that perfection is admirable but a trifle inhuman, and that a stumbling kind of semi-success can be much more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-angell/this-was-a-new-recognition-that-perfection-is-admirable-but-a-trifle/) [Roger Angell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-angell/) > [Baseball's time is seamless and invisible, a bubble within which players move at exactly the same pace and rhythms as all their predecessors. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-angell/baseball-s-time-is-seamless-and-invisible-a-bubble-within-which/) [Roger Angell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-angell/) > [I felt what I almost always feel when I am watching a ballgame: Just for those two or three hours, there is really no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-angell/i-felt-what-i-almost-always-feel-when-i-am-watching-a-ballgame-just/) [Roger Angell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-angell/) > [I don’t read Scripture and cling to no life precepts, except perhaps to Walter Cronkite’s rules for old men, which he did not deliver…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-angell/i-don-t-read-scripture-and-cling-to-no-life-precepts-except-perhaps/) [Roger Angell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-angell/) > [Sports are too much with us. 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No other small package comes as close to the ideal design and utility. It is a perfect object for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-angell/any-baseball-is-beautiful-no-other-small-package-comes-as-close-to/) [Roger Angell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-angell/) [Explore all 35 Roger Angell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-angell/) ## More After quotes > [At the drop of a hat, people will say there are no roles for women after 40. 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