Pitch Perfect Quotes

“The first thirty seconds of any conversation or presentation are like the last two minutes of a football game. This is when victory or defeat is determined, the period of time when your audience is deciding whether you are interesting enough for them to continue paying attention. Say just the right thing, and the communication game is yours. Your audience gets hooked, and they’re enticed to hear what you will say next. Get it wrong, and your listeners start daydreaming, checking their smartphones, or plotting their conversational exit strategy.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“paying attention to your words as well as the words of others. Do that and I think you’ll find that much of what you and others say just isn’t necessary, and that every point could be made better and clearer with fewer words rather than more.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“A good speech should be a like a woman’s skirt: long enough to cover the subject and short enough to create interest. —WINSTON CHURCHILL”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“The Pasta-Sauce Principle Cure boredom by boiling down your message, making it as rich and brief as possible. When in doubt, cut more out. If people want more, they’ll ask for seconds.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“Good communicators don’t equivocate. They don’t start sentences with “I think that . . .” They also avoid wishy-washy language, such as sort of and kind of. They have the courage to say what they mean and confidently state their point.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“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. Guessing the engagement level of your audience will create excess anxiety that speeds up your pace. In reality, you can never know what’s going on in someone else’s head. Facial expressions aren’t a referendum on your performance.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“To be more thoughtful and selective, we need time. To gain more time, we need to slow down. Yes, it really is as simple as that.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“Want to be a great communicator? Try writing a screenplay. Even if your story is more hideous than the films Ishtar and Gigli combined, you’ll learn how to capture and hold attention. That’s because a screenplay forces you to make your point through visual description, action, or dialogue. Abstract or theoretical content is not allowed. The activity forces you to discover and develop visual storytelling.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“Your Conformity Zone As a general rule, if everyone else is doing it, you don’t want to do it. Starting off a presentation or conversation the way everyone else starts them makes your listeners think, I’ve heard this a million times. Although your content will be different, the packaging upfront is the same, causing your listeners to sink into their chairs.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“The Scorsese Principle Hold attention with visual images that illustrate a story. I think most who have seen Martin Scorsese’s film Goodfellas remember the scene of Paul Sorvino thinly slicing a garlic clove with a razor blade in prison. That visual illustrated the gourmet lifestyle his wiseguys were living even behind bars. Through your words, craft stories that are so engaging that the listener is hanging on every detail. Direct the film that plays in your listener’s mind.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“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 the mouth. This technique will quiet all the distracting noise swirling in your head, slow your racing pulse, replenish your lungs with air, and stabilize your voice. Try it. It works!”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“Even if you need to fake it, you want to exude a palpable enthusiasm for the chance to get up and speak. If your audience is getting the sense that you’re loving every minute of the opportunity, they will see your performance through a more favorable lens. Conversely, if you look uptight and nervous, that anxiety will spread to your audience.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“HOLDING YOUR AUDIENCE’S attention is like winning a tennis match at Wimbledon. You better have a clearly defined strategy, execute it brilliantly, and muzzle any inner voice of self-doubt, or you’ll get crushed.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of your listener.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“But I had just crossed the threshold from TV journalist to businessman, where pleasing the client at all costs is the prime directive.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“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 you’re talking away but your brain is replaying and analyzing something that you said five seconds ago because you’re not sure it was the best way to say it, that puts you in peril. Allowing your mouth to continue without guidance from your brain could cause a whole host of problems.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“It’s for this reason that consumers are more likely to pay attention to a commercial with a silent segment. It’s also why comedians come to a dead halt before delivering a punch line. The silence attracts attention, giving the next thought more impact.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“Discomfort Many of us are uncomfortable with silence, so we compensate by filling that silence with words.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“Anxiety Whenever you are tense and anxious, your thoughts speed up, triggering you to accelerate your speaking pace, too. The more adrenaline you have, the faster you will be tempted to talk, and the more verbal fender benders you’ll have along the way.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“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 is true. The more quickly you talk, the more defensive, anxious, and uncertain you sound.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“To Drive Home a Point People think that the more they elaborate and explain, the more convincing they will be. They confuse quantity with persuasiveness. So they often say the same thing over and over again, talk in circles, and even tell random stories that don’t support their message. This, however, doesn’t persuade people. Instead, it bores them.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“fact, good communication is a lot like pasta sauce. The more you boil down and reduce a sauce, the more dynamic the flavor. Speaking redundantly and using filler words in your communication is like adding water to the sauce. The result is something bland and forgettable.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“I’ve given you plenty of ways not to start your presentation. What’s a better approach? Well, think of how a journalist writes a news story. Good journalists put their most compelling material in the first paragraph, known as the lead. This is the sentence or paragraph that grabs the readers or viewers, enticing them to want more. An effective lead is often surprising—even counterintuitive. It makes the reader think, What’s this about? I want to know more.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“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 you must convey thanks—for instance to your superiors—do it quickly and then view what comes after your thanks as your true headliner. The Buried Lead Nearly all presentations could be drastically improved with one quick and simple edit: lopping off the first two paragraphs. Try it. You’ll be amazed at how engaging an abrupt start can be. Why slowly build to making your point when providing an unexpected jolt to your audience works so much better?”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“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 be captive for longer than your average Oliver Stone movie.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“Agenda Setting The most common mistake I hear throughout all corporate America is the ubiquitous and übertedious agenda-setting start (calling it by its acronym would actually be quite fitting). Here’s how an ASS sounds:”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“The Draper Principle Don Draper, in case you don’t know, is the fictional character from the hit AMC show Mad Men. He plays the creative director of a Manhattan advertising firm and is known for his effectiveness at pitching ideas. I based the final principle on him because I believe it’s one he would teach you himself if he were not in fact a work of fiction. The best way to stay on point is to make sure the flow and focus of the discussion plays to your strengths. If it strays elsewhere, away from an area in which you can shine, transition it back. It’s the ole Don Draper adage, “If you don’t like what’s being said, change the conversation.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“The Curiosity Principle The best broadcast interviewers earn trust by displaying genuine interest, as if there is nowhere else they’d rather be. They demonstrate this by maintaining an engaged facial expression. One of the reasons viewers loved the former Meet the Press anchor Tim Russert was because you could see on his face how much he really loved his job. He exuded an “I can’t believe I get paid to do this” demeanor. He could ask tough questions but seemed warm rather than obnoxious as he did so. As a result, his questions never seemed low-blow- or gotcha-style.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“The Conviction Principle Convey certainty with words, eye contact, posture, and tone of voice.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time

“The No-Tailgating Principle The speed with which you talk should be directly proportional to how certain you are about the next sentence coming out of your mouth. The more certain you are, the more briskly you can choose to speak. But if you’re prone to saying the first thing that pops into your head, a slower pace with strategic pausing is a sure way to prevent your mouth from tailgating your brain. And as with automobiles, when the lead car stops short from uncertainty of where to go next, it’s likely that the tailgater trailing behind will crash into the one in front. The verbal equivalent of a crash is filler: like, um, you know, etc. And et cetera, for that matter.”
― Bill McGowan, Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time