Night Owl: Do you tend to stay awake late at night?  The Savanna-IQ interaction hypothesis suggests that people with high IQs tend to be the first to practice "new" evolutionary behaviors in our species, like going to sleep later.   

Naturally Curious: People with higher IQs ask a lot of questions and seek more answers. If you are constantly contemplating what you don't know, you may be smarter than you think!

Open Minded: The willingness to try new experiences, concepts, alternate solutions and (when provided with ample evidence) the willingness to change one's values or beliefs, is a sign of high intelligence. 

Humor: According to the University of New Mexico, humor is largely based on wit and linguistic creative. In other words if you are the "funny one", you may be smartest amongst your peers.  

Empathy: Being able to read emotions and empathize with people not only is a sign of EQ (Emotional Intelligence) but IQ as well. Large parts of the brain responsible for these abilities overlap leading to positive correlation between EQ and IQ.

Procrastination: People with higher IQ's are shown to be easily distracted and may overwhelm themselves by picking up new projects despite ongoing projects.

Adaptable: Intelligent people tend to be flexible and can overcome situations by adapting to their environment. ​

​How did you score?? Smarter than you thought I bet!

​Gail Becker didn’t think that she would ever do another printed catalog for her company, Becker Arena Products, due to the cost and headache it was to complete. As the popularity of hockey has grown over the last three decades, so has their business. In business for 30 years, Gail and her husband, Jim, have seen a lot of changes in their industry.  They started out selling supplies to rink owners and managers, and now they are the leading supplier of arena materials for general contractors and architects, as well as large park and rec departments internationally. 

Humans tend to be bad at emotional awareness. As a result, when we're arguing a point with someone, we tend to use words and images that work on us, not necessarily that speak to the other person.
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So, if you want to persuade someone, such as in sales or sharing a vision, listen to how they try to speak to you.
For example, one partner in a conversation might use concepts like “power, tradition and authority” to make a case, while the other might rely on “science, statistics or fairness”. One person might argue with tons of emotional insight, while someone else might bring up studies and peer reviews. Modify your language to match to whom you are speaking in order to have clear communication and make sure you are both “saying the same thing”. They will feel understood and you will strengthen the relationship.

Most us don't think twice about the way we sit in our chairs, angle our shoulders, or how we hold that cup of coffee we have in our hands every morning. However, how you position and use your body has a huge impact on those around us. Why is this info in a marketing and design email? Because brand marketing is everything you put forth, your print, digital and even in-person impressions to your client. They rarely teach this stuff in school, so... NLC is helping out the world. You’re welcome.

Context is important, so always keep the setting in mind when assessing someone else's signals or trying to monitor your own.

FOCUS ON THE HANDS/FEET

Like the direction of feet tell the listener where you really want to go, the hands leak important nonverbal cues as well. This is an important tip, so pay super close attention to this next part. Look for particular hand signals, such as the other person putting their hands in their pockets or hand on head. This can indicate anything from nervousness to outright deception. Unconscious pointing indicated by hand gestures can also speak volumes. When making hand gestures, a person will point in the general direction of the person they share an affinity with (this nonverbal cue is especially important to watch for during meetings and when interacting in groups). 

​Momma said it was rude to point, but in this case, it is a good thing!