The Seven Best Ways To Appear Smarter Than You Act

Sometimes first impressions can be just that - impressions - and not necessarily an accurate picture of how people truly are. If you want to give an impression that you are bright and intelligent, here are a few ways - aside from wearing glasses - that you can trick people into believing you are smarter than you actually are. And who knows, maybe some of the methods will actually make you smarter or at least help you become a more interesting person.



Read a Quality Newspaper in Public and in Private


When you read newspapers like The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, you are reading material that is written at a higher educational level than your typical local newspaper. Not only will your brain be stimulated with words outside the mainstream, but the articles may give you topics to discuss with others at work or school or at your next cocktail party.

Work the Crossword Puzzle in the Sunday New York Times


This is not a puzzle for lightweights and pretty much everyone knows it. But puzzles are like games and every game has a few tricks that after awhile you'll learn and improve. While you're hanging out at coffee shops or between classes or on a break at work, keep plugging away at the Times cr
ossword and people will assume you are an intellectual.



Read Good Books


When you're looking for some leisure reading, skip the beach fiction and go right to the quality literature section of the book racks or library. You can peruse the Sunday Times magazine section for book reviews and see what is and what is not worth your time.

Play Chess


Chess is a game of strategy. It's a thinking game. Most people assume that if you play chess, you're a thinking person.

Dress Smart and Keep Clean


If you dress like a high school dropout, that's what people will assume. If you dress like an attorney, people will think differently about you. Your clothes tell people more about you than you could possibly tell them yourself. If you care about yourself, it will show through in how you dress. If you are clean-shaven, with neat hair and conservative makeup, people will treat you differently and assume you are more educated and intelligent than someone covered with tattoos and multiple piercings.

Don't Talk About the TV Shows You Watch


Whether you watch 30 minutes of television each night or three hours, if you want people to think you're smarter than you actually are, don't bring up TV in conversations with others. But then, don't be smug about it either. There's nothing more annoying than someone proclaiming they don't watch TV.

Keep a Journal


Nothing looks more intelligent than seeing someone writing in a journal. Make sure you are sitting in a public setting so that people will see you writing your thoughts. They will immediately think that you are not only intelligent but that you actually have some important thoughts developing in your brain.

Remember, being smart and appearing smart are two different things. You can only fake being smart for so long, however, so unless you want to be accused of being a fraud you may as well be happy being yourself. Besides, if you start appearing to be really smart and then you start attracting smart people who want to hang out with you, you may find that you're stuck with friends who don't watch TV, who play chess and would rather read a great novel than join you bar hopping on a Saturday night.