11 skills you can learn in a week that will impress just about anyone

Automatic transmissions are no doubt easier, but the ability to shift gears while driving still turns some heads. It's also a useful skill to have if you ever need to drive someone else's car.

The actual mechanics of using the clutch and gear shift are straightforward, but you'll probably spend most of your week learning how to time your shifts correctly. Nobody likes to lurch.

Speed-cubers — the people who solve Rubik's cubes as fast as possible, sometimes in less than 10 seconds — will tell you there's nothing all that special about the puzzle.

You just need to know a set of algorithms — or turn patterns — that orient pieces of the cube one at a time. Memorizing the order of those turns can be done surprisingly quickly.

A beginner could easily solve a Rubik's cube in less than two minutes over the course of a week.

Storytelling is a skill just like any other: There are rules to follow and mistakes to avoid to do it successfully.

The greatest storytellers captivate audiences by telling authentic stories that deliver on a promise, explains author and entrepreneur Seth Godin. The stories have drama and an arc. They go somewhere.

Also important: Good storytellers know when to end.

As Ankush Singhal writes, almost everyone needs to learn to parallel park to get a driver's license, yet many people can't do it well.

A week is plenty of time to get used to positioning the car next to the car in front and learning when (and how much) to turn the steering wheel.

Bonus points if you learn to do it all with one hand.

Cooking for other people is about as primitive as skills get, so it helps to have at least one dish as your go-to.

Many pasta dishes can be pulled off without much difficulty, provided the sauce is well-seasoned and flavorful. Likewise, cooking the perfect steak doesn't always require weeks-long dry aging.

Pair both with a complementary wine, and you've got an impressive meal to serve up.

Self-defense is one of those skills you hope to never use, but it's handy nonetheless.

More than one Quora user has professed the value in getting basic blocks, punches, and takedown maneuvers under your belt.

Like cooking, protection is a primitive skill that can go a long way toward earning people's respect.

Impressive skills aren't always practical.

Memory experts remember long strings of words or numbers by "chunking" different batches together. To learn the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter — an irrational number that stretches on forever — spend each day memorizing six or seven numbers after the decimal.

As the days go by, add each new batch to the overall string.

People who speak multiple languages are called polyglots. Matthew Youlden and his brother Michael can speak over a dozen, making them "hyperpolyglots." Recently, they learned to speak conversational Turkish in a week.

The Youldens credit a language learning app called Babbel, lots of flash cards, and Turkish pop culture as the keys to getting familiar with the new tongue.

Tough as the fruit may be, there's a trick to splitting an apple with no knives or stomping required.

First, remove the stem. Then place your fingertips underneath the apple with the fleshy part of both palms on the top of the apple. Pull up with your fingers and roll your hands out. With a few tries, the apple should split clean in half — no super-strength required.

Even if you seriously doubt your hand-eye coordination, juggling is probably within reach.

The easiest way to get the hang of it within a week is to start with two balls. Practice tossing just two up in the air, first with your right hand and then with your left. Work your way up to tossing a third when the first is at its peak.

Soon you'll be able to put separate tosses into one fluid juggling motion.