I'd admit, 8/10 most of the time, I'm not the smartest person in the room. It's not easy keeping up with the other high functioning grey matters, but the benefits of being smart are hard to ignore. For one, you get to not be ignored. When you speak, people would listen and want to know what your opinion is.
There's also the fact that you stand out from the crowd at events, you get privileges in the workplaces, schools and are easily accepted; I don't need to preach about the benefits of popularity.
People give you this respect even when they don't know much about your life. You look smart, you seem important and you're treated with respect.
What if I say I can tell you how to look smart, gain all the perks without having to sleep with textbooks every night, and being Einstein's prodigy. ( Don't worry, I'd tell how to be his prodigy later, lol )
Like the saying goes in the movie Forrest Gump, "Smart is as smart does". You are smart if you act smart. If you do what smart people do consistently, you are smart.
Follow me as I tell you twelve ways on how to look smarter on Cozzy Thoughts.
1. Be More Expressive
The first thing you got to do is start being expressive when you talk. Yes, you have to switch things up when you talk. Avoid being monotone, you'd sound dumb. Learn to change your pitch and tone as you talk, emphasizing important words, and using body language to demonstrate.
When you sound sure of what you're saying, people tend to listen. More so, the energy in your expression tends to make the conversation interesting, all this making you sound smart.
2. Dress Smart
I have to say, this is one of the simplest things you can do to switch up your game on the smart scale. If you want to be taken seriously ever, you've got to look the part. Your dressing matters for first impressions.
Learn to wear clean fitted clothes and put on nice perfume to fit the part.
According to Riskology, your dressing changes the message people hear and this only proves that people who take care of themselves look smarter than people who don't.
3. Wear Glasses
Research shows that people who put on glasses come off naturally as smart. It might seem annoying at first and even less attractive to be putting on glasses especially if you aren't impaired, but it really does boost the intelligent look.
Studies show that dark-rimmed glasses are perceived as more intelligent but less attractive whereas that of rimless glasses is seen to be both smart and more trustworthy. Glasses anyone?
4. Stop swearing
Use words to sway not tell away your audience. Stop using swear words and speak clearly with more confidence. Studies show that when you use swear words and bad language, it makes you sound less smart.
I ain't need to buttress this point, just compare the dumbest person you know to the smartest, you'd come to terms with this.
5. Cut off Alcohol
There's nothing more off-putting for a smart person than to be caught with a glass of beer. For one thing, it makes you look quite irresponsible and well, not very smart.
This is backed by science under a term called the Imbibing idiot bias, which concluded that being spotted with alcohol tends to make people judge you as being less intelligent.
6. Talk Faster
You can use the strength of power talking to look smarter also. Being able to say a lot in a very short period of time tends to make people unconsciously think you know a lot. It is just the way we are wired.
But it also emanates confidence in what you are saying. Get rid of the umm and ahh in between and fire down. There are lots of resources out there that can help you out with your speech.
I'd just say, while talking just remember, always avoid speaking too softly, repeating yourself, and cutting others off.
7. Work On Your Posture
Learn to stand and walk upright. When you slouch a lot, you tend to look lazy, shy, and incompetent, not very smart. Fixing your posture can do more than just make you seem confident, you also avoid lots of back pain down the line.
Great posture is a sure way to look smart and confident whenever you are around peers.
8. Use Your Middle Initial
For some reason, when people see a middle initial in the name of a person, it makes that oerson come off as smart. Just say you met two guys with the names John F. Kennedy and Albert Einstein, and you had to guess which was a professor and a student, 8/10 you'd say John right.
Why? He sounds way more important, even though in reality we know that Albert is smarter( referring to their real identities ). So use your initials, and you'd be taken seriously even at face value.
9. Ask Insightful Questions
When you ask thought-provoking questions, you sound smart. People around you wonder what you're thinking. It's one way to make a good impression, especially when you can back it up with several facts about the subject.
10. Cite Your Sources
Oh now, no one, and I mean no one wants to mess with the 'I quote from' and " According to" guys. You know they have the ability to convince anyone they are sure of what they say and ultimately put you in your place in an argument. They are universally termed 'the smart ones.'
What if you could too, that'd be awesome. Learn to cite references by making mental notes around a particular subject or topic for reference, before meeting up with people with the same interests.
That way you're ready to engage in interesting conversations that would boost your smart radar.
11. Maintain Eye Contact
This one is very important, in addition to being expressive, maintaining eye contact with the people you are speaking or interacting with screams confidence. And a big chunk of confidence along with other things screams, yeah you guessed it...Smart.
Learn to maintain eye contact with the person you are interacting with and do that with different people at intervals in a crowd setting.
12. Smile
Have you ever met someone and the person is just putting on this confident smile in between talks, making you calm as well as perplexed? You can't help but wonder what that person knows that you don't right?
Well here's a look into why, in 2014, a study was made by Karel Kleisner and two colleagues about perceived intelligence in relation to people's looks. The results of it were that people can actually gauge or rather perceive intelligence from your looks, with those smiling rated as more intelligent.
The moral story of my blabbing is that it pays to smile more, and not just to look smarter, but also not to look calm and approachable.
13. Speak Last
Learn to listen more than you speak, and speak last. That way you get to absorb more information before responding. So when you speak, you can make better and informed contributions, knowing others' perceptions of the matter.
It also helps in groups and situations when you know little about the topic being discussed.
Instead of just saying things off your head you can help summarize and say what you think about others' viewpoints.
So this is all. Like everything, practice makes perfect. It might seem off at first doing these things but since they are not that difficult they are easy to stick with a little patience and persistence leading you to stand out as smart among your peers and live fully.
Like I hinted at the beginning, I'd drop some few pointers on how to actually become and grow smarter.
* Read books when you commute and before bed
* Surround yourself with smart people
* Explore and find new cultural experiences
* Keep up to date with the news for interesting conversations
* Listen to older folks
Have a go at these tips and tell me what you think in the comment box.
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