--- title: The One Simple Thing That Can Make You Much More Impressive description: Show More Enthusiasm Professor Stephen Ceci taught his class the way he had for the past 20 years, replicating nearly everything imaginable: Same book, same... canonical: https://time.com/109342/the-one-simple-thing-that-can-make-you-much-more-impressive/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-23T04:01:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:54:08.779Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The One Simple Thing That Can Make You Much More Impressive og:description: Show More Enthusiasm Professor Stephen Ceci taught his class the way he had for the past 20 years, replicating nearly everything imaginable: Same book, same... og:url: https://time.com/109342/the-one-simple-thing-that-can-make-you-much-more-impressive/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The One Simple Thing That Can Make You Much More Impressive twitter:description: Show More Enthusiasm Professor Stephen Ceci taught his class the way he had for the past 20 years, replicating nearly everything imaginable: Same book, same... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # The One Simple Thing That Can Make You Much More Impressive by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker May 23, 2014 4:01 AM UTC by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker May 23, 2014 4:01 AM UTC ## **Show More Enthusiasm** Professor Stephen Ceci taught his class the way he had for the past 20 years, replicating nearly everything imaginable: Same book, same lectures, same exams… _even the same student demographics._ Via [The Tell: The Little Clues That Reveal Big Truths about Who We Are](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BKRW51E/?tag=spacforrent-20): **There was zero difference in the content.** **The only change was this semester he presented more enthusiastically, gesturing with his hands and modulating his voice.** What happened? **His student ratings went up — in every single category,** **_even those that had nothing to do with enthusiasm._** Via [The Tell: The Little Clues That Reveal Big Truths about Who We Are](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BKRW51E/?tag=spacforrent-20): **He was seen as more knowledgeable, more tolerant, more accessible, more organized.** Via [The Tell: The Little Clues That Reveal Big Truths about Who We Are](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BKRW51E/?tag=spacforrent-20): **Students said they learned more. They felt the grading was fairer.** **_They even said the textbook was better._** **And all he did was gesture more and modulate his voice.** Via [The Tell: The Little Clues That Reveal Big Truths about Who We Are](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BKRW51E/?tag=spacforrent-20): Next time you need to impress, it might be worth being a little more enthusiastic. (Yes, I was _slightly_ tempted to end that last sentence with seven exclamation points.) **Join 45K+ readers.** Get a free weekly update via email [here](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD). Related posts: [How To Make Your Life Better By Sending Five Simple Emails](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/07/make-your-life-better/) [6 Hostage Negotiation Techniques That Will Get You What You Want](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/06/hostage-negotiation/) [Which professions have the most psychopaths? The fewest?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/11/professions-most-fewest-psychopaths/) _This piece originally appeared on_ [_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/)_._ The One Simple Thing That Can Make You Much More Impressive ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/109342/the-one-simple-thing-that-can-make-you-much-more-impressive/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/109342/the-one-simple-thing-that-can-make-you-much-more-impressive/"},"headline":"The One Simple Thing That Can Make You Much More Impressive","datePublished":"2014-05-23T04:01:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:54:08.779Z","description":"Show More Enthusiasm Professor Stephen Ceci taught his class the way he had for the past 20 years, replicating nearly everything imaginable: Same book, same...","url":"https://time.com/109342/the-one-simple-thing-that-can-make-you-much-more-impressive/","keywords":["Psychology"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/109342/the-one-simple-thing-that-can-make-you-much-more-impressive/","name":"The One Simple Thing That Can Make You Much More Impressive"}}]}] ```