How to Convince Someone You’re Smart

There are broadly two ways you can convince someone you're knowledgeable about a particular field.

1. Create confusion. Usually done when you liberally use the field's jargon to the point where they don't know what you're talking about but the confidence in your voice leads them to assume you do.
2. Create understanding. Boiling down the complexities of your field to a language they can understand and by doing so, igniting their awe and curiosity until the passion in your voice convinces them you're an expert.

While both methods may achieve your desired outcome of being seen as an intellectual in their eyes, only one of them leaves a lasting impression.

"Knowledge is a process of piling up facts; wisdom lies in their simplification" Martin H. Fischer