#77 Conveying Intelligence & Conversation Starters

Welcome back!

There’s something about the warm weather that just energizes me. It’s not just about getting outside or exercising more, though; I want to see more, do more, experience more. Learn more. Produce more.

But the weather shouldn’t affect that, right? It’s really just an excuse for inactivity. The weather’s got me down, I don’t feel like it.

It’s up to US to push past those excuses, no matter what the weather or other circumstances, and force ourselves to Take Action.

I read this quote the other day and it stuck with me:

“The first minute of action is worth more than a year of perfect planning.”

Just do the thing. Start already. That’s when the real magic happens…you can continue planning and learning while doing. After all, there’s no better teacher than experience.

So whatever it is that you’ve been planning to do, over-thinking about, waiting for the perfect time, your goal for this week is to simply begin.

Take. Action.

Speaking of which: lights, camera…

👊 Actionable Content This Week

Elevating Your Brand 🤝 

• How to Make Your Intelligence Known in Cool Communicator

• Boosting Your Networking Skills with Did You Know? (formerly Convo Starters)

Fattening The Wallet 💰️ 

• Money Hacks, Business Ideas, and More in Hustle Hub

Boosting Your Productivity 📊 

• Always Informed: The More Secure the AI, The More Productive We Can Be!

Hustle Hub 📈 

• YOUR SUCCESS:  24 Life & Money hacks, courtesy of Forbes.

• THEIR SUCCESS: Want to turn failure into success? Take a lesson from Kenny Clark and Entrepreneur.

• YOUR SUCCESS: Here are the “best new business ideas for July 2024,” from Yahoo Finance.

Cool Communicator 💯 

HOW TO PRESENT (OR FEIGN 🤣) INTELLIGENCE

Came across an interesting article on Buzzfeed last week titled “People Are Revealing ‘Subtle Signs’ They Notice Right Away That Indicate Someone is Incredibly Intelligent” (jeez, that’s a long title) and noticed a lot of them have to do with communication, so we’re extracting our Top 5 for you below.

TL;DR Takeaways

1. Confidence While Saying “I don’t know” - We’ve talked about this in the past, but it’s worth repeating — when you don’t know the answer to a question or solution to a problem, you are far better off admitting it and expressing a willingness to find the information than trying to bull**** your way through the conversation. It is more efficient from a communication standpoint, and it presents as genuine and, yes, intelligent.
   

2. The Ability to Discuss Nuanced Ideas - Our world is becoming increasingly partisan, where we feel pressured, for whatever reason, to choose a side on any and every topic. But it’s those who can take nuanced stances and express them clearly that continue to stand out as the most intelligent, reasonable, and well-rounded.
   

3. The Willingness to Ask Questions - A variation of this appeared multiple times, but it rings true. Intelligent people aren’t afraid to ask when they don’t know something, they are more interested in WHY or HOW than they are in WHAT, and then are excellent listeners when receiving the answers they’ve requested.
   

4. The Ability to Adapt Communication Styles - We talk about this all the time in Cool Communicator! There is no one-size-fits-all communication style; you need to adjust depending on the situation, factoring in things like your audience, purpose, and what’s going on around you.
   

5. Avoidance of Absolutes - There are exceptions to every rule, and yet far too often people with platforms choose to deal in absolutes. This shows either ignorance or dishonesty, neither of which you want attached to you. Instead, qualify your assertions when appropriate - “I think,” “many times,” “usually,” etc. These make your claims more accurate while also demonstrating an open-mindedness that’s typical of intelligent people.

O.T.F
O.F.T: One Final Thought

Strong communication skills are not necessary to be intelligent, but they’re most often necessary to convey intelligence. You can be a once-in-a-generation visionary inside your mind, but if no one else can access it, you’ll never make the most of it.

Developing your communication skills is imperative for reaching your full potential. It allows you to thrive at work and lets others see who you truly are and what you’re capable of.

Did You Know? 👀 

• Self-Interest: Did you know “mini-bursts of exercise” as part of your evening routine can help you sleep longer?
  

• Human Interest: Did you know a recent study shows “multiple moves during childhood” can increase risk of depression?
  

• Artificial Interest: Did you know that the first wave of AI innovation is over? 

Always Informed 🤖 

🔐 SECURITY:

AI becomes more and more accessible by the day, which means that we all have power that we didn’t have previously. And as the saying goes, with great power comes…greater need for security?

All the tech giants seem to think so. Google, OpenAI, Microsoft, Amazon Nvidia, and plenty others recently formed the Coalition for Secure AI (CoSAI), an initiative designed to “enhance trust and security in AI use and deployment.”

Now, of course these companies are going to want to do that - they’ve invested a ton in the development of this tech and want to reap the rewards ($$$), which can only happen if consumers use their products and services. And the only way we’ll use them is if we trust them. So this coalition wasn’t founded out of the goodness of these CEOs’ hearts.

That said, the initiative will produce a great resource that future developers and learn from and lean on, and if the end result is that the most readily available AI tools are safe for millions to use, then count us as supporters of CoSAI!

Before You Go

We hope you enjoyed this week’s edition. We always strive to put our readers first and care deeply about your feedback, so if you have any suggestions, please drop us a line at [email protected].

Next week, we’ll be back with an all-new Making Cents, some Expert Advice, and a Major Moves catching you up on important developments in the world of business.

See you then!

You are now On The Fly and In The Know