How To Look Smart on Meetings

Business LoungeNovember 21, 2017

Do you have a business meeting coming soon on your schedule? Then you should read those pieces of advice given by Sarah Cooper in her latest book called 100 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings: How to Get By Without Even Trying. Here we are sharing just a few of them. No. 4 is fantastic!

“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer. It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” — Albert Einstein

You should draw a Venn diagram

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First of all, what is a Venn diagram? It is a logical diagram which shows all the possible relations between a finite number of different sets. Drawing one such diagram is a good way to look smart. It doesn’t even have to be neither precise nor correct, no. It is just a way for you to represent yourself as a thinking individual and before you even know it, your colleagues will start discussing and analyzing it. And you’d be the one who triggered the discussion. Your boss will like it!

You should turn the percentage into fractions

This will additionally underline your thinking abilities and also show your knowledge of mathematics. So, if someone says, “About 25 percent of all the people in the world are afraid of dying,” you will say, “That is basically one in four, right?” All your colleagues will nod their heads and you will be the one in the center of their attention.

You should start using sentence “Let’s take a step back now!”

This is a good sentence to use as a reminder of the real goal of the meeting. You can say, ”Can we take a step back here and get back to our basic ideas?” Everyone will look up at you and stop their own thoughts for a moment. You cold continue, “Let’s remind ourselves of the problem are we actually trying to solve here!”

You should nod from time to time while taking notes

You don’t really have to take notes if you don’t want to, just pretend you are doing so and the effect will be the same. Nodding is a very important thing here since it bonds people on the ground of mutual understanding. Isn’t it convenient that you are constantly agreeing with your boss and that he sees it? But, be careful! Don’t overdo it because he will realize that you are a fake.

You should slowly repeat the last words the boss have said

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If the boss says, ”We should subtract that amount from the overall costs,” you should repeat this sentence before continuing with your own thoughts. Just do it and see the results! Your boss will be satisfied that you have been listening to his words and that you are constantly helping on the matter in question.

You should often say ‘Will this scale?’

Not many people know what this saying actually means, but they are still using it since it sounds cool. Do it yourself as an attention grabber. No one will question it and you will look very smart.

You should go around the room

This is important because it requires a lot of guts. Just stand up and continue with your speech so that everyone looks at you and thinks, ”Why did he/she get up now in the middle of the sentence?” Again, you are the center of their attention and while you’re speaking everyone will listen to you, even unintentionally. How many people would dare to stand up and speak in such a manner? Not many, we are quite sure. And if you would just go to the corner and take a deep, contemplative sigh, all of your colleagues will be bewildered about your actual thoughts.

You should ask the presenter to get a slide back

This is one more sentence to be used as an attention grabber, “Sorry, could you get a slide back?” No presenter likes it, but you will be seen as someone who pays a lot of attention to the presentation itself. Here, everyone will think that you’re paying more attention than everyone else is. Even if you haven’t been listening nor looking, just stare there for a moment and say, “OK, continue now.”

You should step out for ‘a very important call’

Just take your phone and say, ”I am really sorry. I hope you don’t mind me going out for just a moment to deal with an emergency call.” Of course, don’t let this ‘call’ last for long, just a minute or two since you don’t want to be disrespectful to your colleagues. After returning state something like, ”All right, that was handled. Where were we?”