* Develop a knowing smile. It works even better if you can get it with a bit of a twinkle in your eye and an appropriate hand gesture, like holding one knuckle thoughtfully to your lips, or gesturing with your thumb like Dana Carvey used to do during his George Bush Sr. impersonation.

* I thought about putting read a newspaper here—the 15 to 20 minutes a day you spend would be useful time—but you can frankly get just as much value by combining Jay Leno’s monologue with a dose of The Daily Show.

* Drink from a mug. It doesn’t matter what you’re drinking; you just plain look smarter if it’s a mug that you’re drinking it from. Cans are trashy, bottles (unless they’re water bottles!) are worse. For maximum effect, have a picture of some famous intellectual or a college logo on the side.

Read the complete list at I Thought a Think