How to Sound Smarter

There are times in the lives of most people when they wish that they were, in some way or ways, smarter than they believe they really are. There are moments when we wish we knew more than we do or were in a position to sound well informed about something we are actually somewhat ignorant about. There are times and situations where we all want to be experienced as being - at least as sounding smarter than we really are. Hope is at hand! It is, indeed, possible to sound and come across as being a lot smarter than you really are. Here is an important tip that should help most people pull it off.

You may remember the film starring Peter Sellers, "Being There" (1979.) In this movie, Sellers plays a simple minded fellow named Chauncey Gardner. He says very little and people who encounter him interpret his simplistic, concrete one-liners as deep wisdom. The character is not deceiving anyone deliberately - He is being honestly who he is.

But, in his relative silence, he becomes a creation of the projected ideas of those around him. Ultimately, this probably mildly mentally retarded fellow is considered a good candidate for President! (Any relationship to prevailing or past political reality is regarded as having been entirely coincidental!) His silence is credited as a reflection of his deep intelligence, depth and understanding.

My father, who quit school in the ninth grade, had a strategy of silence. Essentially, he believed that the less he said, the less apparent it would be how very little he knew. Socially, he was not much of a player - But, people DID presume he knew and understood things he knew little if anything about. Family experience comes into play yet again in the words of one of my Grandfathers, who said, "When in doubt, shut your mout (sic.)" The idea is that the less you say, the less people will know what you don't know.