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120 Examples of Talent

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Talents are mental strengths that are useful to a pursuit, art, profession, activity or task. These include innate abilities that come naturally to an individual and abilities that have resulted from learning, development and disciplined practice. The following are common examples of talent.
Acting
Adventure sports
Analysis
Archery
Architectural design
Astronomy
Beauty artistry
Business acumen and commercial awareness
Calligraphy and lettering
Carpentry
Character design
Chemistry
Choreography
Coaching
Coding
Community building
Cooking
Costume design
Crafts
Creative writing
Cultural activities and traditional crafts
Customer advocacy
Customer service
Dancing
Diy projects
Drawing and illustration
Environmental action
Establishing credibility and trust
Experiments
Explaining the complex in simple terms
Fashion design
Film making
Fishing
Game design
Gardening
Geography and maps
Geology
Graphic design
Helping others
Housework
Influencing and persuading others
Interior design
Journalism
Languages
Leading teams and groupwork
Listening
Magic tricks
Makeup artistry
Management
Martial arts
Mathematics
Media production and editing
Music composition and performances
Music instruments
Nature talents such as botany
Negotiation
Origami
Outdoor activities such as hiking
Painting
Performance art
Pet training
Photography
Physics
Presentations and presentation design
Problem-solving
Public speaking
Quilting
Relationship building
Reliability and diligence
Research
Resolving conflicts
Resourcefulness and inventiveness
Running
Sailing
Sales and marketing
Science
Self-improvement such as time management
Set design
Singing
Skiing and snowboarding
Solving problems with design
Songwriting
Space related pursuits and interests
Sports and athletics
Storytelling
Strategic thinking and planning
Studying and test-taking
Swimming
Teaching
Technology
Theater directing
Traditional arts
Traditional dance and performances
Typography
Video games
Visual design
Visual effects and animation
Wayfinding, navigation and orienteering
Woodworking
Writing non-fiction

2024 Additions

The following talents were added as notable this year.
Aerial photography
Art direction
Artificial intelligence
Creative vision
Cybersecurity
Data curation
Data science
Digital art
Hybrid work fluency
Immersive experience design
Machine learning
Market research
Natural language processing
Risk management
Robotics
Sound design
User experience design
Videography
Visual communication
Voice acting

Key Talents

The following talents are foundational such that they are valuable to the pursuits above.

Verbal Intelligence

The ability to reason using a natural language such as English, Spanish or Mandarin Chinese. This includes thought processes based on language as people commonly think with words. As such, verbal intelligence has a wide range of applications in areas such as communication, strategic thinking, decision making and problem solving.

Visual Thinking

Reasoning using visualization. As with verbal intelligence, this is applicable to a wide range of problem spaces and includes thought processes and communication. For example, the ability to make a production line more efficient by visualizing the process on paper to identify inefficiencies.

Spatial Reasoning

Perception of 3-dimensional space and the ability to solve problems in areas such as pattern recognition, navigation and design. For example, a product designer who is able to make the interior of a vehicle feel roomy despite space constraints.

Situational Intelligence

A talent for handling fast moving and complex situations such as a chaotic video game.

Kinesthetic Intelligence

Perceptual-motor skills that allow an individual to use the body with precision and grace. This is the basis for talents in areas such as sports, dance and acting.

Musical Intelligence

Musical intelligence is considered a foundational type of thought that is independent of verbal, visual and kinesthetic intelligence. This is related to talents in music composition and performance.

Mathematical Intelligence

Talents related to math and logic.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is any thought process that is disciplined, objective and systematic. For example, the ability to see logical flaws and biases in your own analysis in order to improve it.

Rational Thought

Rational thought is the ability to think logically and to apply reasonable thinking to human complexities that aren't always completely logical such as emotion and culture. In other words, rational thought is thinking that can be viewed as reasonable within the context of a society and culture.

Social Intelligence

The ability to navigate society and cultures. This goes beyond intelligence as it benefits from character traits such as patience, emotional maturity, kindness or fearsome competitiveness. For example, the ability to get along with difficult neighbors by taking the high road.

Introspection

Introspection is intelligence related to the self such as an ability to understand and improve your own morality, character, personality, thought processes, knowledge, emotions and performance.

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the ability to read and respond intelligently to emotion. For example, a customer service agent who can see that an customer is upset at a perceived injustice who is able to influence the customer to reduce these negative emotions and reach a solution that strengths the customer relationship.

Fluid Intelligence

Fluid intelligence is the ability to adapt your thinking and acquire new knowledge. For example, a musician who appears to easily acquire the ability to play new instruments.

Crystallized Intelligence

Crystallized intelligence are acquired abilities and knowledge such as a musician who knows how to play 5 instruments due to years of experience.

Convergent Thinking

Convergent thinking is the ability to find the correct answer to problems based on existing systems and methods. For example, a structural engineer who can correctly calculate the loads a building can sustain in an earthquake.

Divergent Thinking

Divergent thinking is the ability to use creativity to develop new and non-obvious things such as a structural engineer who develops a new method for upgrading old buildings to be earthquake resistant.

Design Thinking

Design thinking is the ability to solve problems using design. For example, a hotel manager who solves customer satisfaction problems by designing a new incentive program for customer service staff.

Systems Thinking

Systems thinking is the ability to think through the impacts of change on complex systems to develop solutions to problems that don't have unintended consequences. For example, a solution to an environmental problem that doesn't cause other environmental problems.

Art

Artistic talent is the ability to create works of aesthetic value. For example, a painter who is eventually recognized for creating priceless works of art. Artistic talent is a strange domain whereby talent often goes unrecognized for an extended period of time. This is due a tendency for art to defy criticism and valuation.

Craft

A talent for creating objects of value with your hands.

Communication

Communication related talents such as writing, speaking, reading comprehension and listening.

Wit

Communication skills at speed that allow you to say something intelligent or humorous when the moment presents itself.

Storytelling

Storytelling is the ability to make information interesting. This applies to communication of fact and the crafting of fiction.

Public Speaking

A talent for communicating to groups such as the only speaker at a conference who wakes an audience up and invigorates them with ideas, emotion and humor.

Influencing

Influencing is the process of changing the ideas, emotional state and actions of others. For example, a crisis negotiator who is able to exert a calming effect on someone who is in an agitated mental state.

Relationship Building

A talent for establishing and sustaining productive relationships with others.

Strategy

Identifying effective plans to achieve goals in an environment of competition and constraint. For example, an entrepreneur who quickly gains market share against a larger competitor by serving niche markets that are ignored by the larger firm.

Problem Solving

A talent for solving problems such as an individual who is able to quickly determine the root cause of technical issues and design a fix.

Decision Making

The ability to make reasonable and timely decisions in an environment of ambiguity, risk and opportunity.

Leadership

A talent for leading groups to achieve common goals, solve problems and work together productively and creatively.

Attention to Detail

The ability to work with diligence to produce high quality work.

Risk Taking

A talent for taking calculated risks such as a trader who has demonstrated an ability to identify and execute trades with a highly favorable risk-reward ratio.

Risk Management

Talents related to the identification, analysis and treatment of risk such as a stunt coordinator in the film industry who is known for their ability to make the most daring of stunts safe.

Ambiguity & Forecasting

Dealing with ambiguity and the ability to develop reasonable estimates and forecasts. For example, an entrepreneur who is known for entering markets just as they are about to experience explosive growth and exiting before they fall into decline.
Overview: Talent Examples
Type
Definition
Mental strengths that are useful to a pursuit, art, profession, activity or task.
Related Concepts
More about talent
Area Of Expertise
Art
Character Building
Cognitive Abilities
Confidence
Creative Ability
Creative Works
Creativity
Credibility
Data Literacy
Decision Making
Design
Design Thinking
Employability
Expertise
Gaming Skills
Influencing
Knowledge
Leadership
Meaningful Work
Personal Presence
Personal Resilience
Problem Solving
Professional Self
Professionalism
Public Speaking
Qualifications
Self Direction
Self Management
Storytelling
Strengths
Systems Thinking
Visual Design
More ...
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The definition of stoicism with examples.

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The definition of competency with examples.

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The definition of imagination with examples.

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A list of common leadership qualities.

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The different between knowledge and wisdom with examples.

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The definition of aptitude with examples.

Conscientiousness

The definition of conscientiousness with examples.

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An overview of common types of intelligence.

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The difference between fluid and crystallized intelligence explained.

Types Of Artificial Intelligence

A few common types of artificial intelligence.

Thought Processes

A list of thinking approaches and types.

Logic vs Intelligence

The difference between logic and intelligence.

Social Intelligence

A definition of social intelligence with examples.

Emotional Intelligence

A complete overview of emotional intelligence.

Intrapersonal

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