Sarah Cooper's 100 Tricks to Look Smart in Meetings

20210130 #3 Suggest to everyone that we 'take a step back and look at the big picture.' (e.g., 'Okay, should we step back for a moment and think about this objectively?') #8 Ask the presenter to go back to the previous slide (e.g., 'Sorry, could you pull that last slide back up?' (stare at the screen for about 7 seconds.) 'Okay, never mind, let's move on.') When a junior colleague gave me this book, the title made me smirk at first, but reading it, I related even more (having actually witnessed this exact behavior in meetings more times than I can count). Still, I think we should go a little easier on people who pull these 'look-smart' moves, whether in meetings or in daily life — aren't we all a little guilty of it? Take today's #openfacedsandwichwithscrambledeggs, for instance: piled high with colorful ingredients to look impressive, but honestly a headache to actually eat. -Heat olive oil in a pan and toast the bread on both sides. -Top the bread with mayonnaise, carrot rapé, scrambled eggs, the prettiest chicory in the world, and shrimp, then finish with parmesan. A recipe that's as much of a hassle to eat as it was to make. A whole sink full of dishes to show for it.