If there were a handful of things we would need to know to become sharper and come across as smarter, here they are. This is aimed at the under 35 professional but certainly would be of help to anyone over 35 as well. It’s 2018 and as a former quizzer I have listed 18 categories for one to beef up in terms of knowledge announcement. If this is not your cup of tea, then spend a day soaking in the Knowledge Factory on Feb 9th in Mumbai.

This post originally appeared in Reputation Today Magazine 

These may seem trivial, but they will make you feel good because knowledge is power.

Information on Indian states – Capitals, Chief Ministers, Governors: how many of us know these about our own great nation. We have 29 states, 6 union territories and one national capital region.

Information on the US – States and Departments of the Government: we deal with American clients and organisations all the time. Isn’t it cool to know the names of the 50 states, the state capitals and the departments that are part of the federal government.

Information on countries – Capitals and currencies: We travel a lot and we will need to understand these for more informed conversations. Atleast knowing 50 of these won’t hurt.

Information on our Government – Council of Ministers with portfolios: The basics of Public Affairs is to know the list of key portfolios and who runs them. This changes every five years, so it is real fun to know.

CEOs of leading international and Indian corporations: Can we not read about the Fortune 100 companies and know the city where they are headquartered and who runs them globally.

(Related: India’s Biggest PR Firms)

Marketing Communication Holding Groups – and the entities within them: There are six of these that are prominent. Most of us have worked at or with one of these. If we have no clue of them, we have no reason being in PR.

Key Media Groups – and the outlets with editor names: There are a dozen of these. If we do not have a hang on them, no point talking media relations.

Names of a dozen artists/musicians: These could be Indian or from overseas but names we must know, music and painting of atleast a few we must recognise.

Names of a dozen sporting legends from diverse fields: Many of them endorse iconic brands, so we must recognise them.

Names of the five greatest Indian and American movies from each of the last three decades that we have watched: That would be 30 movie names that we have watched. Not too much I’m sure.

(Related: Top 5 Must Watch Movies for Communications Professionals)

Three current issues – globally and in India: This will happen if we read and read adequately.

– Amith Prabhu

Amith is the Dean of the School of Communications & Reputation (SCoRe)- A post graduate institute of Public Relations built by the Indian PR community. He is also the founder of the PRomise Foundation which organises PRAXIS, India’s annual summit of reputation management professionals. He can be reached @amithpr on twitter.