Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 3: Appearing smart
• Part 2 of 3: Building skills
• Part 3 of 3: Continuing education
• Tips
• Warnings

Cleverness is often grouped under the same heading as intelligence, but it is not quite the same. Smartness is often how you come across to other people, how quick you are at analyzing and responding to situations, and how smart or creative your ideas are. The Greek hero Odysseus was considered very smart (he told the Cyclops that his name was Nobody, so the Cyclops wouldn't be able to tell anyone who blinded him). You may not beat mythical creatures with it, but cleverness is a skill you can learn and something you can develop too.

To step

Part 1 of 3: Appearing smart

1. Speak last. If you wait during a conversation and listen to the different participants before mixing, you will appear smarter simply because you have more time to listen to each person's different opinions and perspectives. This allows you to better evaluate this information before you come up with your own opinion.
   • For example, suppose you are talking to your cousin Bob, your Aunt Milly, and your sister Sarah about the best way to roast a turkey. Let the other three fight it out first while you just listen, and consider the effectiveness of each method. Then, as soon as the discussion begins to fade, bring up your own idea. Make it slightly different from the rest; if you agree with any of the other arguments, perhaps Aunt Milly's, give a more convincing argument than she has, or a reason for choosing the one that the others have not yet considered.
   • This is also a good time to avoid coming across as an opponent or know-it-all, because you are not immediately ahead of the curve and immediately say everything that comes to your mind.
   • Often the last speaker will not say what is obvious, or just repeat the facts. Instead, the person will usually come up with something more creative or more original, something that people will often remember better.
2. Have some factual knowledge on hand. These are the kinds of facts that you will quickly have on hand to support a discussion of whatever point you make. Chances are, you really won't have an appropriate fact in your pocket for every discussion you might have, so pick the ones that are most important to you.
   • For example, if you are really passionate about global climate change, it might be important to have statistics on the difference between weather and climate, showing what has changed quickly in recent years (and how that's linked to something like carbon dioxide), and how this differs with the slower, long-term climate changes that occur without human help.
   • It is especially good to collect facts (real facts) about those things that everyone assumes to be true. Blowing general assumptions can make you appear very smart.
3. Learn the correct group language. Each group or work environment has its own specific language. This can manifest in the form of acronyms or abbreviations, or even nicknames for certain things. Learning the vocabulary of the place you are or visit will make you appear to be a lot more informed.
   • For example, in angling there are many different words and phrases that you will need to learn when you are a beginner. If you don't know terms like 'cast' (the movement you make when you cast the rod) or a 'lie' (those places in a river or lake where there are most fish), you are more likely to come across as someone who doesn't knows what he's doing, the opposite of smart.
   • If you don't know the lingo someone is using, pay close attention to the context of the words. Usually you can find out its meaning. Otherwise, take someone aside to ask what it means so that not everyone finds out that you don't understand everything they are saying.
4. Be convincing. Often times persuasion and cleverness are linked together in people's minds. Having ready factual knowledge and speaking last can make you appear convincing, but those are not the only possibilities. Persuasiveness is basically getting people to do the things you think are the best option for both them and you, as opposed to manipulation.
   • Context and timing are very important parts of persuasion.
   • Be clear and keep it concise. The faster and more clearly you bring up the problem, the sooner they will understand exactly what you are asking of them and want to go along with it. People often don't like you to run around things.
   • Avoid jargon. People won't listen to you if they don't understand what you're saying, and it won't make you smarter if you can't get your point across. Unless you're talking to people who understand the same technical terms, don't use them.
5. Offer simple solutions. Very often a problem does not have to be solved in a complex way. Often the simplest solution is the best, and also the solution that is usually not thought of. People are often determined to find the most complicated and complex way to do things. You will stand out by not falling into that trap.
   • A good question to ask when looking for a solution is: What can you do less of? This usually helps to rule out the less productive options.
   • Also ask specific questions. If you want to improve time management, don't ask the question, "How can we improve time management?" This question is too big and you usually get comprehensive answers. A better question might be "What tools could help us work faster" or "If we spend 2 hours on a particular project instead of 4, how can we work faster to achieve the same result?"
6. Grow confidence. By having confidence in yourself and your work, you will appear smarter than someone who is very intelligent but has little self-confidence. People tend to believe in someone who appears self-aware, even if there isn't much to back it up. Present yourself as someone full of self-confidence and cleverness follows naturally.
   • Use body language to trick your brain into thinking that you are completely comfortable, even if you are not. Stand upright, walk with a confident gait, as if you were a man / woman of the world. Keep your body language open. Don't cross your arms and dare to look people in the eye.
   • Think positive or neutral about yourself. If you get thoughts like 'I'm a loser' or 'I'm stupid', accept that thought and then think 'I think I'm a loser, but last week I was made employee of the year, or do you realize that you have a very good job. '
   • Don't compare yourself to other people. For example, don't try to outdo others with your cleverness and don't compare your own cleverness to theirs. Intelligence is not a competition, and turning it into a competition will only make you feel more bad about yourself for annoying other people and chasing them away with an obsession to always want to be the best.

Part 2 of 3: Building skills

1. Don't always do it by the book. It is good to know how things should be done, especially since you can then throw that way of thinking overboard. By doing things differently than expected, you demonstrate that you can think quickly. This is something that people often take as a sign of cleverness.
   • For example, if your professor gives you an assignment for an essay, ask if you can use it creatively. Show how your choice meets the requirements, even though you approach it completely differently. (If you are taking a lesson on short stories, ask if you can write a short story yourself using the knowledge gained in the lesson, and write a follow-up examining your own work.)
   • This is also about doing the unexpected. If you always work by the rules or only do something as you have been taught, it does not mean that you are not smart, but often that you do not appear smart. So you don't rely entirely on some kind of intelligence or doing things.
2. Dare to think outside the box. This step goes hand in hand with not working by the book, because you will often have to think outside the box to do that. To be smart you will have to come up with creative solutions to problems.
   • View the problem from a different perspective. Something that people who use creative solutions effectively do is present the problem in a different way. You practice this skill by making an obvious choice (such as writing a standard paper) and now imagine how you can approach the creation of the paper in a different way so that you still convey the same information, but in a different way. , more appealing way (telling a story, making a collage or painting).
   • Daydreaming. It turns out that daydreaming can actually contribute incredibly well to creative, solution thinking. By daydreaming you create connections and you can retrieve information. This is why many of the best ideas arise in the shower or right before going to bed. If you find something difficult, take a moment to daydream. Chances are that by relaxing and letting your thoughts run wild, you will come up with a creative idea that will work.
   • Brainstorming is another great way to grow your creativity, especially within a group. Present the problem and let people come up with all the ideas they can come up with without judging the ideas. Let people add to the ideas that come up. You can do this yourself too, as long as you don't judge anything.
3. Wonder what is the worst that can happen. Fear is one of the biggest obstacles to creative thinking, which itself is an important aspect of cleverness. The more creative and workable your solutions and ideas, the more people will believe in your skills.
   • Ask yourself things like, what happens when you get fired? What if your best customer drops out? What if you fail your exam? What if the publisher doesn't want to buy your book? The answer to each of these questions can free you from fear or show you where you will need to work on solutions, which in turn will open up opportunities and generate more ideas.
   • When you come up with ideas and possible solutions, leave your criticism aside for a while until they are more crystallized. Criticism and the fear of criticism can be a huge creativity killer, which can also destroy your cleverness. When you've finished brainstorming and are better able to evaluate ideas, it's time for feedback and criticism.
4. Set parameters. Problems and possibilities that are poorly defined and super vague can make it incredibly difficult to come up with strong or creative solutions and ideas. Even if problems and issues that you need to solve for are placed on your board without parameters, you will always have to set some for yourself.
   • Setting imaginary parameters can help generate ideas. For example, if you are working on a project for your work, imagine yourself running out of money; how do you complete the task successfully without money? Imagine that you are not allowed to use the fixed rules, written or unwritten; how would you proceed and do things differently? Imagine there is a time limit to come up with a solution (say: 5 minutes)? What can you come up with in such a short period of time?
   • For example, Dr. Seuss wrote Green Eggs and Ham because his editor had challenged him to come up with a complete book using no more than 50 different words. That limitation helped him become one of the best-known Dr. Seuss books.

Part 3 of 3: Continuing education

1. Study smart people. Don't assume you've reached a peak of cleverness. There is no such thing. You will have to learn constantly, and a good way to do that is to study people you or others think are smart.
   • Ask yourself what makes those people seem so smart: do they have a quirky comment about everything? Are they able to provide facts and figures on the spot? Do they have creative solutions?
   • Pick or observe some of the most striking traits of the smart people you know and integrate them into your own work and life.
2. Keep up with the news. Many people who are considered smart are completely up to date. They pay attention to what is going on around them and can speak with knowledge (or seem to know something about it) about news and background.
   • Try to be aware of multiple points of view so that you don't get information from just one source. For example: instead of hearing all your news via the NOS, you can also try other channels. Research the information, statistics and "facts" presented by the various broadcasters (on the internet, via the radio, television or newspaper). This will give you a better, more balanced vision and allow you to talk about the news in a more informed way.
3. Start with word games. Words and the way they give meaning to each other can make you appear smart because they are so important in communicating. Wordplay involves things like puns, cryptograms, and simply using language in a way that reveals sensory details that other people may not have noticed.
   • Practice describing things in an unusual way and focus on aspects that people usually ignore. For example, describing fire as silky or a way to put into words the sound of the waves on the beach.
   • Slip an alliteration or pun into your language every now and then. Practice noticing and pointing them out in someone else's speech.
4. Remember information. One way to appear smart is to practice memorizing facts and information so that you can recall them with ease. Fortunately, there are techniques to make it easier to retrieve information from your memory.
   • Pay close attention to the information the first time. Make sure you get the correct information. You will never actually lose information (except through illness or injury), so make sure the information you put in is actually correct.
   • Write things down several times. Writing down something you want to remember will make it easier to remember and will make it stick better. The more you practice this, the easier it will be to retrieve something.
   • Choose carefully what you want to remember. Sherlock Holmes once compared his own brain to an attic. Rather than storing whatever you come across, good or bad, pick the information and facts that you are interested in and that can help you.
   • Dare to raise your hand if you want to ask or know an answer during class.

Tips

• Remember, after all, most people are more concerned with themselves than you. If you pay attention to them, they are more likely to find you smart, insightful and clear, but also nice. Just ask people about themselves and don't immediately waltz over it with your own opinions and stories.
• If someone in your class doesn't understand something, try to help.

Warnings

• For some reason, sarcasm and wanting to appear smart often go hand in hand. Unless you really want to annoy people with your "cleverness," sarcasm is usually not the best route to take.