10 Ways to Look Smarter Than You Are

10) Walk in Step with Others

People make a number of assumptions about you based on appearance alone. Before you even open your mouth those around you have generally already came to some conclusion about your lifestyle, your personality and your intelligence. This biased set of assumptions are also informed by the way you walk. Studies have shown that people use speed of movement to infer the state of mind of others. Put simply, if you’re rushing around at high speed people will assume that you have too many things on your mind and are unable to cope with the demands that have been placed on you. Similarly, walk too slow and people will decide that you have your head in the clouds, you have nowhere you need to be and no one relies on you to fulfill any kind of important task. By walking in step with others you can avoid this whole issue and simply blend in with the crowd.