100 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings: How to Get By Without Even Trying

Product Description

"Sly satire that will bring endless joy to anyone who has ever endured the drudgery of corporate life."―Dan Lyons, writer for HBO's Silicon Valley and New York Times-bestselling author of Disrupted

Top Reviews

Never laughed so hard in a long time
by Aardvark8 (5 out of 5 stars)
April 16, 2017

This is a hilarious book. It is kinda like Dilbert in that many things mentioned you have seen happen already on your modern workplace, but then she has suggestions for things for you to do that are only half tongue-in-cheek --they do have the effect of making you appear smarter in the cynical world she paints.

Even though the implication is you should avoid the behaviors she enumerates, you can make use of some of these techniques yourself if you can't think of anything substantive to contribute to a meeting.

I have to say this is one of my favorite books--and I read a lot of books so that's saying a lot.
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Absolutely Hilarious!
by Adam (5 out of 5 stars)
October 5, 2016

Anyone who's ever worked in a corporate job will immediately love this book. Sarah's humor is biting and reads like it's straight out of HBO's Silicon Valley. Her twitter feed is also a must-follow @sarahcpr. One of my favorite little snippets is the idea of using the "royal we," like, "We really need to take a look at that issue" when you're not really involved at all. You can take credit for all the good stuff while simultaneously spreading the blame, perfect! I know for a fact I'll appear smarter in all of my upcoming meetings.
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The tech culture send-up we needed - laugh till you cry.
by Adriana Devine (5 out of 5 stars)
October 4, 2016

I read this book in a day, yet I shall never shut up about it until my dying breath. It's so F&*#ING funny, and the most brilliant send-up of modern "disruptive" corporate culture published to date.

You don't understand, but I'll try to explain. I have cried, multiple times, reading the same damn page. I literally laugh so hard and long that tears run down my face. This is extremely problematic, because I read it the first time at my desk at work. Cooper's writing cuts me to the quick - she's captured my experience working in software and opened my eyes to the extended f&*#ery of the rest of the corporate world.

Here's the intensely subversive aspect of her book that blows my mind - I now intentionally use some of these tips in meetings, and swear to god I seem smarter. That makes up for the snorting bursts of laughter that I experience now that I see bosses and coworkers unintentionally acting out her finest work.
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Funny, worth a read, probably not great value though
by Amazon Customer (3 out of 5 stars)
May 8, 2017

I saw an article on BuzzFeed about this book and read through the extracts it had and honestly was in stitches laughing. Then i decided to buy the e-book and enjoy the rest of the 100 ways to look smart. Unfortunately like most 'previews' the good stuff had already been showed and the material left in the book was filler. The humor is very relate-able and anyone who works in the office or professional space will find some value in it, but honestly it just kind of became so-so as i got towards the end. Maybe the ludicrous nature of the workplace dawned on me and satire became a reminder of reality, maybe it just lost steam. This is something that could have been found as a full free web article and probably wasn't worth the $12 a paid for it as an e-book i honestly wont ever read again. I would say that it needed more content per item to be a sale item, its currently a bit light on the material.
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Stop being the 'stupid one' in your meeting
by Arctic_Knight907 (5 out of 5 stars)
October 8, 2016

Do you like tips on how to succeed? Are you drawn to internet articles that give advice on how to be a better manager, a better coworker, a better person? Then 100 Tips to Feel Smart in Meetings is definitely for you. I guarantee it'll improve your day and probably your career.

It begins with Sarah Cooper, a knowledgeable, high powered professional that knows the struggles of today's fast-paced and demanding corporate environment. Starting from humble Medium posts and graduating to actual books, nobody has a better grasp of what drives employees today. Overnight, careers transformed. I can't tell you how many promotions this book is responsible for.
100 Tips to Feel Smart in Meetings, starts that transformation with an aspect we all can relate to instantly: the office meeting. Cooper's sage advice will make you wonder why you never thought of these things before and optimize these critical interactions with your coworkers. It even includes handy illustrations, to reinforce the message or in case your grasp of the English language is challenged. Can an advice book be this transformational, this inspirational? Yes, yes it can. Without any reservation, I would recommend 100 Tips to Feel Smart in Meetings to anybody.
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I love these kinds of books! Great tricks you can incorporate in your life.
by Corrin Fates (5 out of 5 stars)
January 27, 2019

I saw this in one of the Amazon bookstores, and pondered whether I should get it or not. Sure enough, I had bought it online and picked up a few new tricks! The book comes with a neat pin-up that depicts a couple key tricks that are very useful.

Parts of the book, I couldn't really apply in the workplace, but i wont' take any starts out for that. Some may be able to apply those aspects in a different way. If you're the type of person that likes to improve yourself or pick out situations where you see someone else using them, this book is brilliant!
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Naked and Vulnerable.
by J. Baldwin (5 out of 5 stars)
October 9, 2016

To paraphrase Mike Myers's character Dieter, this book looks at me while I am naked and calls its friends.

Is it really satire, or is it a thoughtful analysis of what's wrong with corporate America? Both! Have I done some of these things? I'm afraid so. Have any of these things advanced my career? Emphatically, no. Why do I tolerate it when others use these tricks in meetings I'm in? Because I just don't care anymore.

I suggest you buy a copy for every member of your team, ask them to memorize it, and call out numbers whenever someone uses one of the tricks. Eventually people simply announce the trick number instead of going through the pain of actually executing a trick.

Sort of like this famous parable: (see below as the review system doesn't allow links)

Maybe, just maybe, if we follow Sarah's lead, we can make corporate America great again.
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A man is sent to prison for the first time. At night, the lights in the cell block are turned off, and his cellmate goes over to the bars and yells, "Number twelve!" The whole cell block breaks out laughing. A few minutes later, somebody else in the cell block yells, "Number four!" Again, the whole cell bloock breaks out laughing.

The new guy asks his cellmate what's going on. "Well," says the older prisoner, "we've all been in this here prison for so long, we all know the same jokes. So we just yell out the number instead of saying the whole joke."

So the new guy walks up to the bars and yells, "Number six!" There was dead silence in the cell block. He asks the older prisoner, "What's wrong? Why didn't I get any laughs?"
"Well," said the older man, "sometimes it's not the joke, but how you tell it."
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Fun gift!
by Katie (5 out of 5 stars)
December 16, 2016

I purchased this book as a gift for my boyfriend. He took it to work and read it while waiting for a meeting to start. His co-workers loved it! He then proceeded to finish it that same day. He mentioned that while being funny, the book also has some great content in it that could be put to use. I plan to read it at some point. Great buy!
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Funny and Informative!
by Roy Foster (5 out of 5 stars)
January 19, 2018

What a delightful book. I initially ordered this for my grown daughter, after she regaled me with tales of her business meetings and the characters involved. When the book arrived, I decided to scan through it and was struck by the well thought out meeting "tricks". Some caused me to laugh out loud. Some immediately brought to mind some of my coworkers and some I'm holding onto to use in my own meetings. Sarah Cooper writes with fresh honesty and gentle wit. Why did she write this book? Ms. Cooper tells you: "..because someone paid me to. But I also wrote it because I had a deadline." Oh, I "forgot" to gift this to my daughter, so looks like I'll need to order another copy.
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bought this as an office prank, and it was worth it.
by Samuel Hong (5 out of 5 stars)
April 21, 2017

I bought this book as a joke for our management meetings. This is not a centerpiece of our display at the front office so that our peers and customers engage in conversation. They know that we are [semi]professional. This book made me crack up more than once. totally worth it.

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