Toronto, Nov 28 (ANI): The next time you head out for a party do remember to brush up your general knowledge, for sounding smart is just as important as looking smart on the cocktail-party circuit, according to a new Canadian survey.

The Harris/Decima survey, which polled 1,013, on behalf of MSN.ca has revealed that 79 per cent of Canadians admit they judge people they first meet based on how smart they are.

It showed that 20 per cent of them brush up on current events and popular culture before hitting the holiday party circuit.

Shirley Steinberg, a professor of media and culture at McGill University’s Faculty of Education, said we can thank the Internet for the ramped-up intellectual expectations.

“Before, if you were invited to a party, you were thinking about what you’re going to wear, how long you were going to be there or what you were going to drink or bring,” Globe and Mail quoted her as saying.

“Now you have that immediate response that you have to go and make yourself more knowledgeable,” she added.

There’s nothing wrong with doing a little research to boost your social life, says Steinberg. But “the mind can only handle so much quick Internet researching,” she says, adding that looking up facts on the fly via your BlackBerry or iPhone comes with its risks.

Debra Fine, the Denver-based author of The Fine Art of Small Talk, says that as long as you’re genuinely interested in the person you’re talking to, there’s no risk of coming off vacuous.

With updated intellectual armour, you would feel more at ease, which in turn draws others to you.

“If I feel comfortable with you, that takes us to the next level: It means I can do business with you. That’s my social currency,” said Fine. (ANI)