100 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings

This is a great gift to give to friends who work in an office. I wouldn't suggest to give it to co-workers because then they'd be able to identify when you do any of these (and if you've sat in a meeting, you would have been guilty of at least 10).. I've sat on committees, led meetings, and participated in meetings (in fact, just had one this morning) and I can actually pick out so many of these! After reading this book, I know when I sit in these crazy long meetings, I will try not to laugh. It may even make these meetings bearable.
Wait, before I do recommend using any of these tips, we need to back up a chapter and figure out how this fits into our career roadmap. On the other hand, the tips in this book really took the words right out of my mouth. Let's consult with other readers of this book, to understand whether it will make any future readers seem smarter. (See! Already using the tips and I DO sound smarter!)

Oh my god. Did my boss write this book? Probably not, because he would have seen this is 100% serious and an effective training tool. Do they make people in management take classes on how to be numb? This book had me torn between laughter and gasps; those weird diagrams? I’ve seen that stuff for real, presented at meetings hosted by pricey consultants we’ve brought in to increase productivity, or my personal favorite – to increase happiness in employees. I am going to buy a print copy of this book for my library’s professional collection. I can’t wait to see who takes it seriously (and there will be some)

A riot to read and scarily true. Makes me question the IQ of everyone in meetings I attend! I'd love to have a copy on my desk and give to all my friends and family who have to suffer through business meetings.

Sarah Cooper is a business genius. I can only guess that it's out of the kindness of her heart that she's sharing this information with people at the minimal cost of this book instead of charging $500 a head at a seminar. This stuff is invaluable!

And it works! I've sat through many, many meetings with directors, presidents, and generals, and looking back on them, it was these intelligent folk who actually used these methods!

Pacing the room is a sign a leader is thinking really hard.

Asking people to stay after the meeting to discuss important things further (like who's going to lunch).

Using the "I have a hard stop" method? Smart.

She even gives hints for teleconferences:

How many times have I heard leaders tell everyone to "go on mute" in a phone meeting; particularly when you could hear snoring, peeing, flushing, or barking in the background?

Or (also in a phone meeting) ask "Who's speaking?"

And the language she uses? It's the exact same corporate-speak double-speak these same people use to appear really, really smart!

And it's obvious that she's got the background to backup her research.

"It's estimated that we spend 75% of our waking lives in meetings [I bet it's more!], holding 11 million of them annually. But more than a a third of those meetings are spent planning another meeting [Yes! I hate meeting-planning meetings!], while another sixth are spent asking someone to repeat what she just said because I wasn't paying attention, while still another three-sixths really should have been an e-mail [So - 3 out of 6 meetings should be email exchanges? (See, I'm learning!)]."

"In a brainstorming meeting, the pressure of coming up with incredible new ideas can be debilitating. Luckily, the last thing most corporations want are new ideas."

Plus she says some great things I never would have thought about:

"The most important thing to remember at a networking event is not to punch everyone you meet in the face."

Too true! Too true…

But don't take my word for it, read Sarah's book and find out how to looks truly smart in meetings.

Though I have to disagree with trick #5, "Repeat the last thing the engineer said…" Cooper suggests that you can appear smart (and get credit for it). But in my experience here, the really smart people repeat the last thing the woman said. Other men are even more likely to dismiss the original source when this is the case, and more likely to give you the credit for the intelligent comment. I'm surprised that, being a woman who appears smart in meetings, Cooper hasn't actually experienced this.

(That's my contribution and you get that for free!)

Though, to her credit, she does give advice about being a woman in a male-dominated workplace.

Completely worth reading if you want to appear smart in meetings.

Or have experienced this kind of stuff and want to laugh your way through this book.

If only my razor were this sharp

As western civilization melts into oblivion, someone needs to record the proceedings and report on it. That person is Sarah Cooper, who has written a wonderfully perceptive, dangerously prescriptive and ultimately shameful book on meetings. It has been honed on her website TheCooperReview, and in her appearances, and it shows. The book is tight, direct, on target and all too true. It keeps its pace, never gets tiresome, and delivers knockout punches continuously.

Cooper also illustrates really well, with a cartoon on almost every page. My favorite is the What To Do With Your Face section, where she shows the impact and importance of numerous facial expressions employed at meetings. Her economy of line alone is worth the price of admission. Hirschfeld would not disapprove.

Cooper belabors the obvious to great effect (“Like most women, I’m not a man”), and her sarcasm could get anyone fired. It all makes for a delightful, effortless read that should replace the dreary One Minute Manager on every desk.

David Wineberg

Working in corporate, I spent an obscene amount of my time either in meetings or on conference calls. This book had me cracking up the entire time because it is all just SO TRUE.

This book is an absolute must for anyone who works in a corporate environment and looks at their calendar and literally groans.

I'm not sure if another other book made me simultaneously cry with laughter and despair. Or if any other book can be hilarious and depressing at the same time. If you've been to enough meetings, you'll recognise These People. If you don't, you're probably it.

A great use for this book is to bring it to every meeting with your and write down the name of the colleague or manager who exhibits the behavior. Or check it off when you pull that line on everyone else. Just try not to get fired.

There's even illustrations for each trick, and a handy guide to useful facial expressions and what to do with your hands during a meeting. The line art is delightful.

In all seriousness, these people exist and sometimes your best weapon is a subtle sarcasm. Buy it as a lifeline for a friend or family member who is drowning in meetings. Buy it for the manager whose life revolves around meetings or that turd-polishing colleague who not-so-casually name-drops the boss's first name like they'll be doing their nails together later.

'100 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings: How to Get By Without Even Trying' will be available Oct 4. All I can say is, "Ship it!" (Trick #71)

This book was hilarious. I love the doodles, the nod to my generation's short attention span with bullet points and to-the-point tips, and the flippant sarcasm sprinkled throughout the book.
It also kind of got me thinking on some points, but whether or not I use these tips at work is to be determined.
Overall, this is a short, funny book that sheds some humor on the meetings no one really wants to be in. (You know, like the memo on a new plan for customers that totally could have been an email)
This is definitely a book you want to get for yourself and a friend, so you have an inside joke to enjoy when the top manager pulls one of these tips on you.

I really enjoy reading this, proveides some tricks that can use, carefully, at reunions to be at the spotlight. Also is freaking funny because the way it's writting.

I will not share this book with my co-workers because it will reveal my secrets to success--when and if I should become successful actionizing these techniques.

Extremely funny, yes, but true. Sadly true? I'm not sure. It sure takes the pressure off of having to accomplish things. Accomplishing things is hard. I am inspired by the idea of seeming to accomplish things.

How does anything every happen if we're all just thinking of bacon? We should work for the bacon growers association.

This book was hilarious. Really, really funny.
I have to admit I was a bit confused with all these numbers. The title says 100 tricks to appear smart in meetings, but there were definitely more numbers in this book than 100, because many chapters were also subdivided. But in the end I just decided to trust the author and the publisher and I am sure that there are at least 100 tricks in this book, if not even more.

I don't work in an office, so I don't have to attend meetings, but a friend of mine tells (rather complains) about these meetings very often and I just realised that so many things in this book are true. But I think this also proves that this book is suitable for everyone, no matter what or where he or she is working.

I also enjoyed the little drawings. They made you feel the situation instead of just reading about it, because so many people appear to fidget, jump or move around while giving a speech.

I positively enjoyed reading this book. The tips were laugh-out-loud funny. I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. One of the best books ARCs I've read all year. I can't wait to implement these tips in real-life.

I attend a lot of meetings ... in fact, I conduct a lot of meetings. So I knew this book would be helpful to me because ... well, I want to appear smarter in meetings.

The book is divided into three parts:

* Setting the stage - entering a conference room, 10 key strategies for appearing smart in general meetings, 21 meaningless diagrams to draw on whiteboards, one to convince your coworker that you care, and more
* Core conversation - owning the conference room, how to make your meeting seem less like a meeting even though it's totally a meeting, how to nail a big pitch by not saying much of anything, and more
* Next steps - leaving a conference room, how to build relationships with people you'll never see again, what to do with your hands during a networking event, and more

The book is funny and sarcastic. Obviously some things can't be done without getting fired but some things I think could be possible ... if nothing else for the amusement of yourself in a boring meeting and to see what you can actually get away with.

This book was awesome! Everyone who has ever had the displeasure of attending endless meaningless meetings will be able to rejoice by reading this book. I highly recommend it. Note that this is a humorous book, not a self-help type of book.

Thanks to this book it is going to be very hard to keep a straight face at my next meeting. Hilarious and so true. Highly recommended.

This book was ace (as one of my colleagues says on a regular basis!). Working in an office on a daily basis, this book really hit home with me and I thought at times it was brilliant, it was really genuinely funny and I and know already the person I need to buy a copy for! Thoroughly enjoyable and recommended for anyone out there stuck in meeting after meeting as I often find myself... 5 stars from me!!