The easiest way to bore a smart person is to figure everything out for them, isn’t it?
But it’s exactly what happens in many talks. The speaker shows up as the smart guy who’s got everything figured out, leaving no space for the audience to figure anything out.
But smart people love to do that.
Giving your audience something to figure out, even it’s just a brief moment to think about your statements before you present your conclusion, can have a profound influence on how they engage with your thoughts.
Of course, when there’s nothing else to figure out, people might turn their attention on the argument itself and try to figure out if something could be wrong with it.
Which means that if you don’t leave space for critical (or even just curious) thinking, it could be that this is exactly what triggers it.
So, here’s a thought for your next talk. What if you didn’t show up as the smartest guy in the room but allowed the audience to feel smarter?