The fastest way to look smart is to notice what everyone else skimmed.

Cleverness is often just reading more carefully than the room did. Most people skim, and whatever they skipped sits there unclaimed: the condition in the question, the line in the brief, the detail in the article everybody is arguing about. Pointing at it looks like insight and is mostly thoroughness, an available advantage that almost nobody takes.

Be the one who read it this week. Before a discussion, reread the actual thing rather than the summary. In class, read the question twice and note exactly what it asks. When you spot the bit everyone missed, say it plainly and without smugness.