3

Think about your friend’s personality before you meet the person. Ask yourself what other traits the person has and find ways to focus on these in your conversations. For example, you could say, “You’re such an adventurous eater! How do you not get squeamish? Would you like to go out to dinner sometime and show me?”

Consider being up front with your friend about focusing on the person’s intellect. You could say, “Ack, I love talking about smart things with you but it starts to hurt my brain after a while. Have you seen the ads for the latest romantic comedy that Nora Ephron made?”

When someone is very smart or has a high IQ, the person may find that others only focus on that part of his or her personality. Remember that people are multifaceted and have many things to offer beyond intellect or other traits. Instead of focusing on your friend’s brainpower, forget about it. You can turn your attention to other things such as the person’s great sense of humor or activities both of you do. Not only does this keeps a conversation going, but it shows your friend that your interest is in more than his or her intellect.