One of the first things I learned in journalism school is that as a journalist, I needed to listen more than I talked.

The great thing about attending a conference is that you spend your day listening to people pour information from their brains. It’s like they’re opening a faucet of knowledge and all I have to do is shut my mouth and open my brain so I guzzle it all down.

In the 48+ hours I spent in Cleveland at Content Marketing World, I attended 8 panel sessions, 3 keynote sessions and a Q&A with Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame. Here’s a list of the best quotables I heard from CMW, along with commentary in GIF format. Because everything is best said through GIFs.

“Create the content your audience doesn’t know they need, but when they see it, they love it!”

— Andrew Davis, Author and Monumental Shift CEO (@DrewDavisHere)

“If I don’t wanna read it, my customers don’t wanna read it.”

— Frances Fortanely, Americas Field Marketing Director at VMware (@ffortanely)

“I’m open to exploring new technologies to tailor information so that the customer sees themselves and sees their problems being solved in new ways.”

— Nicole Smith, Global Digital Marketing Strategy Lead at Dell ( @nicoleatlarge)

“The problem with storytelling is that it’s really hard.”

— Buddy Scalera, Senior Director Content Strategy at The Medicines Company (@BuddyScalera)

“Story is about your customers. Your brand is just a plot point in their story.”

— Buddy Scalera, Senior Director Content Strategy at The Medicines Company (@BuddyScalera)

“We have to remember that we’re doing a commercial art. An art designed to enhance some business strategy.”

— Buddy Scalera, Senior Director Content Strategy at The Medicines Company (@BuddyScalera)

“Be present. Be in the moment. Understand what people are talking about, be interested and provide context.”

— Melissa Lemberg, Regional President at Manifest (@MelissaLemberg)

“A best practice isn’t ‘Can you stand out, can you be different?’ A best practice is devolving to ‘Can you build a listicle?’”

— Jay Acunzo, VP at NextView Ventures (@JayAcunzo)

“A great marketer isn’t concerned with everything she’s doing having a precedent.”

— Jay Acunzo, VP at NextView Ventures (@JayAcunzo)

“We need to be intrinsically motivated to create. We need to love what we do because we’ll seek it out more. We’ll make it better.”

— Jay Acunzo, VP at NextView Ventures (@JayAcunzo)

“[The first line] is the line that’s going to set the tone for the rest of the piece. It’s going to make people want to read you more or just shut down immediately.”

— Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs (@annhandley)

“While we read in silence, we ‘hear’ the words.”

— Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs (@annhandley)

“Don’t ever just go all in on style. Obviously, the content you create, the integrity of that, is way more important than the style.”

— Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs (@annhandley)

Want more on Content Marketing World? Be sure to check out what Manifest did at the show by visiting manifest.com/cmw.