Small talk this time of year feels like it's the same questions on repeat: How’s your summer? Do you have any fun vacations planned?

There’s nothing wrong with those questions or the conversations that follow, but if you’re looking to switch it up sports gives you great options this week with the start of NFL Training Camps and the Olympic games in Paris.

If you want a changeup, these sports topics can spark fresh conversations.

Small talk is a conversation tool. It’s one of the ways you can build rapport and strengthen relationships. It’s also a skillset that requires practice. Simply starting a conversation is one thing. Getting the most out of a quick conversation is another. The difference is being strategic and intentional while trusting your own communication skills.

Having a place to start the conversation certainly helps, which is what these sports conversation starters are for:

Trying new things can come in many different forms. From trying a new cuisine to picking up a new hobby or maybe just broaching a topic outside your norm in small talk.

If you default to the same topics every week (Think: How are you? Or How was your weekend?) this could be your chance to try something you and use one of the sports conversation topics below to spark conversation this week.

Go ahead and give it a try!

This is the one week every year I encourage people to talk about hot dogs, and secretly it’s one of my favorite weeks of sports conversation starters all year. The topics making headlines are incredibly wide ranging, which makes it easier to connect with folks who might not consider themselves sports fans.

The reality is everyone is a fan of something. You don’t have to follow the Big 4 (football, basketball, baseball, hockey) to be a sports fan. Tennis, cycling and hot dog eating contests all count as sports so use these headlines to engage across the board, and at your July 4^th celebrations, this week.

You don't have to stick to sports when talking sports. 

Sports is a great jumping off point for a number of different conversation topics including travel and food. Half of every sports season is spent on the road. Each city hosting games has their own speciality and local cuisine. As a foodie and cooking show host, I'm always up for a conversation about food so when I found out Chef Boyardee was invented in Cleveland I turned it into a conversation starter with some of the Mariners players. 

We were all in town for baseball, but food opened the door to additional stories and relationship building opportunities. 

It's just one of the ways you can think outside the box scores and use sports to spark bigger conversations outside of the stats, scores and outcomes. 

There’s a little give and take in a good conversation.

And a little vulnerability goes a long way. That could mean admitting you didn’t watch the game everyone is talking about or that you’re having a tough day and haven’t had time to deal with anything other than a family situation.

Having all the answers isn’t the point of conversation, especially in small talk. The objective is connection and for that you need a little give and take.

These sports topics could help in that regard this week.

Home field advantage could be about the comforts of home, not having to travel or the familiarity of a particular setup.

Home field advantage is also measurable in sports.

Through the first half of the 2024 season the Seattle Mariners have one of the best home field advantages in baseball. They’ve won about 69% of their games at T-Mobile Park, which is ranks in the Top 5 home winning percentages in Major League Baseball.

But what gives them the edge? Is it ball park dimensions, fans or the weather/environment?

Here’s what I find interesting about all three of those factors – the players aren’t in control of any of them. You can’t change how a ballpark was built, you can’t tell fans how to react and you can’t control the weather and yet those external factors all play a part in the outcome of a game.

With that in mind, let’s think about this in the context of your team at work.

• What factors give you an advantage?
• How can you create an...

I can wing it with the best of ‘em but I talk to so many people over the course of a day that sometimes I can’t rely on myself to come up with something good (or interesting) to say.

Instead of trying to come up with something off the top of my head I often revert to the very topics I have right here. Sports works as a conversation starter. Sports doesn’t have to be the primary conversation. Sports is just an easy way to create mental space for something else.

With that in mind, here are a few topics you can use in small talk this week.

An article I read this week suggested chit chat as a way to avoid burnout at work. It was as much about taking a mental break from work as it was building friendships and relationships.

I think we often chalk up chit chat as a waste of time, or maybe just something to fill the time until we launch into a bigger conversation. But chit chat can actually lead to a better work environment if you’re willing to be strategic and intentional in your approach.

It’s why I think these sports topics could be handy this week.

As a foodie and cooking show host, I see food as an expression of love and a way to connect. That wasn’t always the case. When there’s $40 left in your account, a gas tank running on empty and another 5 days until payday, food becomes a source of stress. I’ve been there. I know the feeling.

I know what it’s like to eat ketchup and mustard sandwiches for lunch and only roasted potatoes for dinner. I’m the person who stretched every dollar at the grocery store so that I could make ends meet on my own.

But here’s the thing - if I would have asked for help I would have gotten it. The entire time I was stressed about food and budgeting I had a lifeline I never used. I’m fortunate to have options, but not everyone does.

That’s why I’m hosting a Birthday Bingo Bash on June 27, 2024. The goal is to raise $25,000 to support the work of Food Lifeline and to be a lifeline to people navigating food insecurity in our community. Please join me...