Stop Trying To Sound Smart

Note: I don't mean you shouldn't be smart.

Just a reminder that you're not at [insert university here] or giving a presidential speech in everyday situations. Tone down the academy award speeches a bit.

Even if you were living that life, you should know that most people you encounter in your day-to-day won't bother to eloquently express the thoughts circulating in that ramen noodle soup they call a brain.

Let's break this issue down a bit. I love adding new words to my arsenal every chance I get. I do this in part to boost my personal development.

More so, I like to be ready so I can deconstruct unnecessarily convoluted conversations and help people understand the messages they're reading or listening to.

Hell, I've written an entire book on the importance of simplicity. The world is noisy enough, and I won't tolerate any more of it. What used to be a simple exchange of ideas has turned into a battle of egos and interpretation olympics.

"Smart" people will often try to diminish the listener with their expansive lexicon.

Average people will take that and, more than likely, misconstrue it and create more chaos.

End result: nothing is accomplished.

Any topic can be enhanced when you add a light splash of complexity to your lingo. Keyword: light. However, most normal conversations don't require big language from start to finish. Yes, it's really that simple.

Have you noticed that the media loves using confusing language in its stories? They do this because there are usually hidden narratives they're trying to push. Otherwise, we'd have a very straightforward broadcast of facts and none of this constant back and forth between one "expert" vs. another.

Pseudo-intellectuals, political parties, online marketers, religious groups/cults, and your local teenager trying to debate you about their pronouns are all guilty of trying extra hard to "sound" smart for the wrong reasons.

How Can You Tell?

Easy. When you begin to poke and dig at any argument on a point-by-point basis - AS YOU SHOULD if you're a truth seeker - it becomes clear that they don't understand how words or conversations work. This "language as a weapon" tactic to dominate the conversation is tired and played out.

If you've ever played Tetris, then you know the winning strategy is in how you position the piece, no matter which one it happens to be. Same with words. Whether you call it a potato or a spud, just make sure you're positioning your words of choice properly; one line at a time.

Among their numerous delusions, today's culture believes that using big words all the time equals being smarter or superior. This is similar to the thought process that being louder equals being more correct.

Both carry no weight for several reasons, but I'll give you three for now:

1. Average people using complex words usually don't know what they mean or how they're properly used.

One reason you shouldn't be bothered with simply "sounding" smart is that the average person hears a word, Googles it, reads the first definition and doesn't bother to explore its etymology, disambiguation, or modern context.

This leads to more confusion and disagreements than anyone needs to endure.

People with small vocabularies struggle enough to gather their thoughts. We should be making things easier, not more difficult.

2. If your main point makes no sense, your words are useless.

Great chefs can turn simple ingredients into spectacular dishes. Likewise, great communicators can skillfully turn simple words into powerful sentences. It's all a means to an end.

So as exciting as it is to have beefy dialogue from time to time, the words themselves aren't as important as the main point you're trying to get across. If your sole focus is to "sound smart" yet your main point is still confusing, then you lose everything.

Wise people know how to define concepts in more ways than one. It's ideal to be able to express a concept in at least three different ways for the sake of reaching an understanding. You don't need to pretend to be a walking dictionary to accomplish this.

3. The goal is clarity, concision, and confidence.

This is the best strategy that I've managed to use in any situation. Deliver your message clearly, concisely and confidently. Complex problems are often solved with simple solutions. With that in mind, keep it simple.

To summarize, knowledge can be demonstrated by your ability to retain information. Wisdom is demonstrated by how you apply this knowledge.

So be knowledgeable enough to build up your vocabulary, but wise enough to know when and how to use it.

That's it.

Write to you later.