Learn how to do anything: How to Impress Someone

There are lots of reasons why you'd want to impress someone. Maybe you're looking to really show your girlfriend that you're husband material. Maybe you're new in town and looking to make friends. Maybe you just want to show your boss that you're ready for a promotion. No matter the reason, it's not that hard to impress someone with just a bit of work and a couple tricks.

Steps

Impressing A Friend or Acquaintance

Seek out new and interesting experiences. Being a champion couch sitter really isn't going to impress your friends or the people that you meet. You need for there to be more to you than someone that just watches prime time and goes to a pub every now and again. Seek out new experiences and, preferably, do things that people don't normally get the chance to do. When you tell people you do or have done these things, they'll be very keen to hear what it was like so that they can live vicariously through you.
- For example, you could try setting up a charity to raise money for funding small business loans in impoverished countries; or take advantage of midnight hikes with a group of like-minded outdoorsmen.
- The best way to go about these experiences is to try to do the sort of things that you've always wanted to do. This will make things fun for you but also give you the chance to do something impressive.
Care about other people. Everyone wants to be caring and do good things for other people but it's very easy to get swept up in our own lives and not follow through. If you're aware enough and work to make things better for other people, your friends and acquaintances will notice.
- For example, being nice and supportive to vulnerable people and people whom others are usually rude to (like the disabled, door-to-door religious people, waiters, and the homeless) will really impress most people.
Develop a talent. Talents are always impressive, often even when they're kind of dumb. You can hone skills you already have into full blown talents with a little work or you can try new things and develop the skills you've always wanted to have. Stop making excuses like "I'm not that kind of person" or "I'm not talented enough to try ____": just go out there and try. No one is good at things on the first go and really interesting skills take time to learn but learning them at all will impress most people.
- For example, drawing is a good example of a talent which you can easily teach yourself and which does not require any kind of innate temperament or skill.
- Learning to play the piano is also relatively easy and doesn’t take a lot of money to get started. Buy a cheap, used keyboard and start teaching yourself using our guide and some Youtube videos.
- Try learning origami. This is a relatively simple skill to start learning but it looks very impressive very quickly. It also means that you’ll always have a cheap gift to give someone in a pinch.
Try to be well-informed. Stay up to date on the important news and political developments in order to be aware and ready to go when people start discussing those topics. You'll be able to chime in and join the conversation or even fill people in on aspects that they didn't know or understand.^[1] This will impress them.
- Being well informed is useful because it doesn't require you to be super smart. Reading the newspaper and trying to understand politics doesn't require being a genius. But your knowledge and information can help other people make smart decisions in addition to putting you in a favorable light.
- Just remember to always be curious and skeptical. Always question everything. People make mistakes and it's possible that what you have read or believed in the past has since turned out to be wrong.
Be humble. Of course, as you do all of these awesome things to impress people, you have to remember to be humble. Don’t brag or rub it in people’s faces that you do all these things. In fact, try not to tell them outright at all. Instead, let them see you doing these things in a normal way. This will make it seem more natural and also let you show off without looking like a jerk.
- For example, when your friend invites you to a party, say something like, “I’ll try to make it but I usually volunteer at the church on Friday nights. I might have to be a bit late.”
- When you're going to meet them somewhere, show up early. Start doing an impressive activity like reading a classic novel or practicing guitar. They'll catch you "in the act" and be impressed. You don't even have to say anything.

Impressing A Significant Other

Go out of your way to make them happy. The easiest way to impress someone that you are either dating or want to date is to go out of your way to make them happy. Do this unselfishly and just because you want to see them smile. They can almost always tell the difference. Try to base what you do on what you know about them and what matters most to them.
- For example, you could bring your girlfriend an entire box of her favorite donuts when you know she's having a bad day. Include a note that says something like "I tried to find something as sweet as you but they only had a dozen of these left."
- Another example would be to leave a fridge full of pre-prepared meals for a guy friend when you know he's sick or going to be very busy, so that he doesn't have to cook for himself. He'll be smitten.
Remember the things they say. Pay attention when your significant other talks and log away tidbits of information for later, even if you have to write them down. Remembering small, off-hand comments that they make and acting on those comments can earn you serious points.
- For example, maybe your girlfriend mentions off-hand, once that Valentines Day is her favorite time of year because it's the only time when she can find conversation hearts, her favorite candy. Find a supply company and surprise her in a few months when her birthday rolls around with an entire bag full of the candy.
Care about the things they care about. Show your significant other how much the things that matter to them also matter to you. Doing things selflessly to make the people that they love happy or embracing a hobby that let's them shine goes a long way to show that you are above the rest of the competition.
- For example, maybe your girlfriend is really into ballet. It might not be your thing, but you can take a few secret lessons on the side from a local community center and surprise her by taking her on a special date and dancing with her.
- Another example would be if your boyfriend has an autistic brother whom he's very close with. Play with his brother and maybe even go out with him to movies or other fun locations. Since he usually sees his disabled brother being treated poorly, he'll be blown away by how openly caring and non-judgmental you are.
Show your complexity as a person. This is especially important when you're first getting to know someone that you'd like to date. Letting them see that you are a fully developed, interesting person can really surprise them if all they currently have to go on is a stereotype. Have opinions, show your passions, and do things instead of just sitting around.^[2] These all show them what they can look forward to when they're with you.
- For example, you might be a closet book collector. Instead of hiding this maybe nerdy hobby, show it off instead. Let them see your collection and show them the book that reminds you of them. They'll be surprised and fascinated by your passion and hopeful that you can show the same level of enthusiasm toward them.
Be unashamedly yourself. When you focus on just being yourself, without shame or trying to hide what makes you happy or upset, you show a lot of confidence, and we all know how sexy and impressive confidence is, right? The ability to be comfortable in your own skin is also a trait many people feel like they don't have. When they see that you do, they'll be impressed and want to be around you more so that they can live vicariously and also learn how to be more confident just being themselves.

Impressing In A Professional Situation

Work hard without expecting something in return. In order to impress your boss, a potential boss, or your coworkers, you should generally start by working very hard without expectation of reward.^[3] This makes you a selfless team player who works hard for her own merit. People will generally want to reward that kind of behavior and your bosses will be impressed, if they're aware enough to notice.
- You should also do all of this work while keeping a positive attitude. Try not to complain too much and when you do bring up problems, remember to present them with a suggested solution and in a happy way.
- For example, keep your ear to the ground for tech developments that could improve efficiency in your office.
- Another example would be really pushing to get things done ahead of schedule so that you have time to do more work or to go back and make the work you did as good as it can possibly be.
Take on extra responsibilities. Another behavior which really impresses bosses, coworkers, and future employers is taking on more duties than you technically have to. Working the bare minimum is fine and doing it well will generally make people happy, but going the extra mile to make sure more gets done and gets done well will really catch attention.
- For example, if your boss has a mindless paperwork task, offer to take it on for them so that they can refocus their efforts on improving the rest of the office.
- Another example would be pushing to finish early and then cleaning up the office at the end of every day so that people can relax and focus on their work.
Anticipate needs and solve problems, even if they don't affect you. A good worker doesn't just do the work they've been given; they also anticipate and look for ways to fix problems so that everyone can work better and the work they do can be higher quality.^[4] You should notice the problems that come up in your own day-to-day activities and look for ways that you can make those problems go away. However, if you also notice problems that plague your coworkers, you can also find solutions for those problems and suggest them, even if the problems don't affect you at all.
- For example, lets say you notice that two coworkers aren't getting along because they both think the other is too slow at getting in the different pieces of paperwork that they each need to do their job. You can suggest a solution, such as a scheduling or process change, that helps their jobs both go more smoothly.
Find ways to do more quality work with fewer resources. When you find ways to do more work at high quality with fewer resources, you can generally save your employer a lot of money. As it turns out, they like that! Look for ways that you can streamline what you do and make your work, as well as the work that others do, more efficient. Your boss will be really impressed.
- For example, maybe you've noticed that a piece of paperwork which is almost completely identical gets filled out by you and another person as well. Talk to your boss about having one or the other of you do both sheets, in order to fill them out faster and more efficiently.
Be a supportive team player. Coworkers, bosses, and future employers all love to see someone who's a great team player. Share the credit, even when you did most of the work. Compliment coworkers on their strengths and ask for their advice when you're working on something you know they know a lot about. Be similarly helpful when other people look to you for help. These kinds of behaviors show that you want to work with everyone to make sure that your company can do the best work possible.
- This is especially impressive if you're in the under 35 crowd, because the older generations tend to see younger generations as poor team players.