I am fairly well read and I have a decent working knowledge of vocabulary, however whenever I speak, both in an informal and formal setting, I just sound like an idiot. I feel like a lot of what I say is sort of nebulous. I feel like I have difficulty with the precision with my language. And though I have a decent knowledge of vocabulary, my personal use of it is limited.
For those of you well spoken on here: how do I get there?
Are there any books that help with this problem?
Nicholas Carter
If you don't sound intelligent, you aren't intelligent.
Parker Bell
You're stupid. You can't express yourself in writing either.
Go back to posting BRAAAP posts on /r9k/
Andrew Russell
Don't speak. Be as silent as much as possible. Give the briefest, most direct, simple answers. Only contribute something substantial to a conversation when you've seriously considered it.
Christian Reyes
Get really, very, truly familiar with one subject. Practice speaking on it. Make some powerpoint slides. Give your brief to yourself or to a willing audience. Take questions. Practice until you can answer questions on the subject off the top of your head.
Keep doing this with new subjects until your confidence has increased.
Kevin Gonzalez
And don't worry about style. Use plain language that you are comfortable with.
Don't be envious of mere rhetoricians.
t. Socrates.
Dylan Cox
Ouch. Do you mean that?
Cooper Campbell
In normal, everyday conversation? If you're truly intelligent you will usually sound intelligent. And even if you're not that great at speaking, people will likely still consider you intelligent.
Public speaking is a bit different, though. It's just one of those things that you won't be good at until you practice it a lot. I remember a professor of mine talking about how he was awful at talking in front of a class at first, but it gradually became second nature as he did it more.
Christopher Ross
>If you're truly intelligent you will usually sound intelligent. And even if you're not that great at speaking, people will likely still consider you intelligent.
That's what gets to me is that people say I am intelligent but I feel like I'm not even close to saying what I mean and I don't understand where they get this idea
Eli Miller
Try reading your next book aloud. Your real problem is that you simply do not practice talking enough.
Nolan Cooper
do you have ADHD? maybe w/ processing deficits too? how much weed have you smoked for the past 5 years? LSD use? communication, thinking clearly, all that stuff has been mangled a good deal for me. I was never an effective writer, but like you I had a strong vocabulary, and I could demonstrate my understanding of language and related skills of reasoning on say, standardized tests and all. Lately however I feel like I'm coming to understand that the gestalt of my cognition is fucking wacky and that it takes a great amount of effort to communicate clearly and with precision. I'm reading philosophy nowadays in hopes that I can reason more fluidly and articulate concepts more effectively, because otherwise I dunno, I'm stuck looking like an idiot for the rest of my life, when my self-regard is too high to tolerate that.
Jordan Stewart
I will try this I do have ADHD but I hated the medication so I stopped taking it. But I feel like you are in a very similar boat to myself. I've never smoked or done drugs or anything but I do feel like lately, it is getting tougher to communicate. Guess I'll die.
Easton Martin
Bumping
Just for some more opinions on this
Carter Lopez
Just act like a pseud. People who speak "intelligently" usually don't have much going on up there. Talk to any aspie 140+ math major at your uni. You'll find that they come off as pretty dopey, in conversation.
Luke Williams
140+ IQ, rather.
Mason Anderson
That's mean towards Finns and Dutchfags.
Hudson Green
>few >le few
wow, I had to do some serious deducing
Joseph Roberts
Uhh, you shouldn't care about sounding intelligent when you speak. I have a very limited vocabulary, yet I still got a 141 composite IQ score from the WAIS-IV, when I took it at 3 years ago at 17.
Only dummies are impressed by flowery language.
Luis Green
The trick is to speak superficially. If you try too hard to say exactly what you think you'll end up stumbling over your words, pausing for too long, repeating yourself, digressing.
Easton Moore
>Don't be envious of mere rhetoricians.
But rhetoricians get money+pussy+power while Socrates got hemlock.
Blake Clark
Actual answer: pause before answering questions or replying to people. Stop saying 'um'. Seem confident.
People only mention their IQs when they have no real accomplishments to draw on
Christian Price
>only dummies are impressed by flowery language Flowery language isn't what makes you sound intelligent though. It's being able to show that you understand things when you speak, and to speak in a concise way.
Henry Smith
I bet you think hard work matters.
Isaac Turner
you suck at gambling
Mason Edwards
Are you going to enlighten me with your brilliant deduction? I could give you an answer right now that proves you are wrong, but I want to hear what you've imagined.
Asher Cruz
Shake your head whenever people speak to you. Then when they're done speaking say, "That's cute," then inform them why they're wrong, and why their entire lifestyle is damaging humanity.
Christopher Perry
>reading Shakespeare >my friend A calls me up >"I know this is short notice bro, but B and C wanna go to the club with us" >go there with them >start unconsciously talking in iambic pentameter >try to hit on a girl in sonnet form >my friends ask me why I sound like such a fag >mfw And that was when I realized that I had autism
Ryan Gutierrez
Looks like we're all very similar. ADHD-PI and all.
I think the only thing that helps is 1) working to strengthen your weak cognitive areas; 2) understanding the way you structure ideas (the way you should v. the way you do... so you develop better habits); 3) understanding the way you speak when you think (I kind of shut down a bit, can't do both at once); and 4) sheer amount of practice, whether it is by studying the material you want to talk about, or trying to talk about it in a concise way over and over again, etc.
Liam Campbell
I am actually mentally retarded.
Alexander Campbell
Hemlock > everything else
Socrates was a great man.
Adam Perez
Whatever you do, don't use words you're unfamiliar with or jargon.
Anyone who uses words like "deconstruct", "reify", or "geo-political" are idiots not to be trusted.
Thomas James
Talk to yourself outloud.
vocabulary is a small portion Practicing turning your thoughts into words on the spot will help conversations go more fluidly. Also instead of saying uhm or ahh, take a pause.
Nolan Gonzalez
Don't say things like: um, uh, like, err. It is OK to take pauses to think of what to say
Carter Ross
this. Example of this is Dr Jordan Peterson
Andrew Nguyen
Sounds like you have a problem with articulation, not vocabulary. If this isn't the case, you have what my roommate has, which is a case of the 'I wanna be smarter than I am's
Use this handy starter guide-
>Say the word issue as iss-you, NOT ish-yew >Constantly repeat phrases, such as 'to say the least' after doing exactly the opposite >Create an audible pause in your cadence whilst you deliberately pronounce words incorrectly or pick a malaprop >Say 'Next [insert day of the week]' when you mean goddamn tomorrow.
Or... you could just think before you speak. Kinda tough in a fast paced conversation, but if you keep responses simple, then you should have no problems.
Nebulous... Moron.
Xavier Watson
Try you best not to swear, swearing is the mark of the uneducated lower class. Speak clearly, don't slur your words. Talk from the bottom of your bosom. Have something to say, and stay relevant. Ask better questions.
Jose Young
sounds like your roommate is smarter than you, and is the dominant one in conversation
Jayden Gray
>tfw to smart to swear or use proper grammer
Brayden Ross
>try not to swear >have spent my entire life in a shitty part of Scotland This is actually really hard. It's like trying to stop using vowels.
Andrew Cooper
Do you think stupid people think like that? I know younstill feel to ignorant, naive and generally lost, but you have to realize thatbyou're already on a different level of introspection, which is already deeper than the ones of most people you will meet in your lifetime.