Quotes & Sayings About Showmanship

Until Perry was five, the team of "Tex & Flo" continued to work the rodeo circuit. As a way of life, it wasn't "any gallon of ice cream," Perry once recalled: "Six of us riding in an old truck, sleeping in it, too, sometimes, living off mush and Hershey kisses and condensed milk. Hawks Brand condensed milk it was called, which is what weakened my kidneys - the sugar content - which is why I was always wetting the bed." Yet it was not an unhappy existence, especially for a little boy proud of his parents, admiring of their showmanship and courage - a happier life, certainly, than what replaced it. For Tex and Flo, both forced by ailments to retire from their occupation, settled near Reno, Nevada. — Truman Capote

In modern times, what impresses one is not a simple and unassuming statement of the truth, but superficial showmanship and display. — Nirmala Srivastava

As readers, we sense when the game is being played for real and when something else is afoot: pride, showmanship, the pursuit of power, self-aggrandizement, revenge, making money. Not that there's anything wrong with any of that, but I dislike closing a book with the sense that I've been had. — Stacey D'Erasmo

I was never one for the passenger seat. I have always wanted my level of entertainment and showmanship to be the same as a frontman. — Tommy Lee

The flames scorch the edges of her leather gloves, but she comes away with a small white flower the shape of a teardrop. When touched it expands and darkens to the color of blood before wilting and turning to ash. I've never seen anything like it. Nor do I particularly give a piss about the showmanship. It's too cold for that. — Pierce Brown

Like the theater, offering food and hospitality to people is a matter of showmanship, and no matter how simple the performance, unless you do it well, with love and originality, you have a flop on your hands. — James Beard

Every year, the Friday before the new Saturday-morning shows would premiere, the networks would do this big preview special, and I was always glued to the TV. As horrible as they were, they were entertaining at the time. There was a lot of showmanship from the networks based around the new lineup. — Seth MacFarlane

I wonder now whether inner coldness and desolation may not be the pre-condition for making the world believe, by a kind of fraudulent showmanship, that one's own wretched heart is still aglow. — W.G. Sebald

Pop is a little bit theatrical. That's the whole vibe. That's the point - is that it's great music, great melodies, great hooks. But, on top of it, it's a presentation. There's a showmanship about it. And that's why I wanted to be a pop star. — Adam Lambert

During my boxing career, you did not see the real Muhammad Ali. You just saw a little boxing and a little showmanship. It was after I retired from boxing that my true work began. — Muhammad Ali

Leadership is neither showmanship nor dictatorship. Leadership is a stewardship and a partnership. — Rick Warren

Personality is essential. It is in every work of art. When someone walks on stage for a performance and has charisma, everyone is convinced that he has personality. I find that charisma is merely a form of showmanship. Movie stars usually have it. A politician has to have it. — Lukas Foss

Any man who would change the World in a significant way must have showmanship, a genial willingness to shed other people's blood, and a plausible new religion to introduce during the brief period of repentance and horror that usually follows bloodshed. — Kurt Vonnegut

Everybody has forgotten about showmanship. People don't look like rock stars any more. They just look like regular dudes off the street. — Vince Neil

Although he had certain talents as a musician and a composer, he lacked the charisma or showmanship or whatever it was that made a performer stand out — Nicholas Sparks

The superhighway of celebrity and showmanship is filled with debris. — Douglas Brinkley

I think, of course, all politicians have a sense of their own image, but he had it in an unusual extent. And, when I first knew him in the '50s, when I was living in Johannesburg, I thought it was too much. I thought he had too theatrical a sense, like he was too much of a showman, and I wasn't quite sure what lay behind it. I was quite wrong, of course, because as soon as he went - before he went to jail, when he made two great speeches, it was already clear that there was a great deal behind that showmanship. — Anthony Sampson

My strong point is not rhetoric , it isn't showmanship, it isn't big promises - those things that create the glamour and the excitement that people call charisma and warmth. — Richard M. Nixon

Well, I also love magic, which is, you know, different than showmanship. Magic's an art where you use slight of hand or illusion to create wonder. — David Blaine

I've always loved the showmanship of professional wrestling. While I love making movies, I love that platform, too. — Dwayne Johnson

Our priests and presidents, our surgeons and lawyers, our educators and newscasters need worry less about satisfying the demands of their discipline than the demands of good showmanship. — Neil Postman

In our more arrogant moments, the sin of pride - or superbia, in Augustine's Latin formulation - takes over our personalities and shuts us off from those around us. We become dull to others when all we seek to do is assert how well things are going for us, just as friendship has a chance to grow only when we fare to share what we are afraid of and regret. The rest is merely showmanship. The flaws whose exposure we so dread, the indiscretions we know we would be mocked for, the secrets that keep our conversations with our so-called friends superficial and inert - all of these emerge as simply part of the human condition. — Alain De Botton

In our national discourse and in pursuing our national agenda, we must never leave anyone behind. We must reach out to the many who may have been disaffected and left confused by political games, deceit and showmanship. The people first must transcend every level of society. — Najib Razak

I watched Ali, studied Ali, and I studied Sugar Ray Robinson. I watched them display showmanship. I watched them use pizzazz, personality, and charisma. I took things from them and borrowed things from them because boxing is entertainment. — Sugar Ray Leonard

I heard there were two local guys in town doing songs and comedy so I thought I'd take a look ... they took my breath away ... with their music, comedy, and showmanship ... 'Dakaboom'.. is the genuine article! Two voices in perfect harmony, and with joyful abandon and humor, they take you on a magical, musical, modern day vaudeville tour!! Ben McLain and Paul Peglar are headed for stardom. They are unique, they are original, and they are known as 'Dakaboom.' Don't miss 'em 'cause you're in for a treat! — Tommy Smothers

The whole showmanship is NOT to answer every question. — Roman Polanski

He's good, this guy, Savannah whispered softly in Gregori's mind. He grabs everyone right away and holds them. Good showmanship.
He is a fake.
This isn't meant to be real, Gregori, she scolded. It is fun. Everyone is here to have a good time. If you prefer not to go, I can meet you later. It isn't as if it's really dangerous. We aren't going to meet any real vampires.
Like hell I will meet you later. If I left your side, every man in the room would be swarming around you. — Christine Feehan

Wine snobbery, of course, is part showmanship, part sophistication, part knowledge, and part bluff — Leonard Bernstein

Increasingly, we are emptying the connection,
respect, and empathy out of one of the most important and healthy of human experiences and turning it into branding, showmanship, and posturing. In the midst of this epidemic and cultural shift into narcissism, relationships have taken the hardest hit of all. — Ramani Durvasula

We must get the American public to look past the glitter, beyond the showmanship, to the reality, the hard substance of things. And we'll do it not so much with speeches that will bring people to their feet as with speeches that bring people to their senses. — Mario Cuomo

Whosoever assumes a religious garb pleases not God even a bit. O ye men, understand this clearly in your minds, that God is attained not through showmanship. They who practice deceit, attain not Deliverance in the Hereafter. They do so only to accomplish the affairs of the world and even the kings worship them for their appearance! But through showmanship, God is attained not, howsoever one searches. He who subdues his mind alone recognizes the Transcendent God. — Guru Gobind Singh

The secret of showmanship consists not of what you really do, but what the mystery-loving public thinks you do. — Harry Houdini

My showmanship only comes out when I hold the violin - with Lady Tin-Yin in my arms, I don't care who watches. A peace comes over me, something I call my violin calm. — Stacey Lee

Decorating in relation to hotels is really nothing more than planned showmanship or the art of attracting attention in a delightful way and thus creating an increased consumer acceptance. It gives the guest the feeling of anticipation, excitement, expectancy, delight, and pride in the management of his favorit hotel. — Dorothy Draper

Foundational principles - don't criticize, condemn, or complain; talk about others' interests; if you're wrong, admit it; let others save face. Such principles don't make you a clever conversationalist or a resourceful raconteur. They remind you to consider others' needs before you speak. They encourage you to address difficult subjects honestly and graciously. They prod you to become a kinder, humbler manager, spouse, colleague, salesperson, and parent. Ultimately, they challenge you to gain influence in others' lives not through showmanship or manipulation but through a genuine habit of expressing greater respect, empathy, and grace. — Dale Carnegie

Merely stating a truth isn't enough. The truth has to be made vivid, interesting, dramatic. You have to use showmanship. — Dale Carnegie