Friendly reminder, this is not the week to ignore sports. Even the most casual sports fan can find a way to engage about the Super Bowl and/or the Olympics. 

The numbers are staggering.

Sports dominates TV ratings. Just take a look at the numbers. Football accounting for 75 of the top 100 most-watched broadcasts in 2021. If you add up all the sports on the list of most-watched broadcasts you would discover sports accounted for 94 of the 100 listed.

With an average draw of 18.2 million linear TV viewers per game, @SNFonNBC effectively sucked all the air out of primetime.

All told, live sports accounted for 94 of the year’s 100 largest TV audiences

Full list: https://t.co/9odVatZaLv pic.twitter.com/M6pSvd9Iq6

— Sportico (@Sportico) January 7, 2022

You know what those sports fans did before, during and after watching those games? They talked about them. Heck, they are still talking about some of those games.

Which should demonstrate how futile it is to try and ban sports talk from business settings. Sports dominates TV viewership and headlines. It’s a ridiculous waste of time to try and police sports-related conversations...

There are two sports stories making headlines and getting airtime on major news networks this week – Tom Brady and the Olympics. Even the Weather Channel paused their coverage of the blizzard in Massachusetts to talk about Tom Brady. Every time I see non-sports outlets talking sports, I’m reminded just how far sports can reach. Here’s what that means for you:

1. People who wouldn’t usually tune in to a sports broadcast are getting sports headlines this week by virtue of watching their regular news programs and channels.
2. They’re likely talking about sports from a business or news perspective, not necessarily outcomes, scores, names, etc…

This means you have even more people primed and ready to talk sporty with you this week. Take advantage. Engage in conversation. Get a different point of view and use sports to build relationships.

Here are a few other topics you can try.

Communication is the foundation for relationships.

Effective communication starts with small talk. The chit-chat you might overlook is actually the building block you need to build rapport.

Be strategic and intentional with it. Make a plan for how you’ll approach small talk and make it work for you. I suggest you start with sports. These topics make great conversation starters.

And if you’re communicating with a team of people you might be interested in the Conversation Game Plan training session coming up February 25. Click here for details and to register for the training plus a bonus accountability session. It’s a twofer!

It sounds like a good idea, but telling your team to over-communicate with you or each other isn't helping.   

Asking your team to over-communicate might lead to more emails, conversations, Slack messages or group texts, but none of that matters if they're not communicating the right things. If you're not on the same page it's a waste of time. People who spend time trying to "over-communicate" the wrong message aren't being productive. Of course, they don't realize that until the message doesn't get a response (or the response they were hoping for) at which point they wonder why they wasted their time, and get frustrated and upset. 

Your team needs clear instructions on how to best communicate with you as their manager or leader. 

That means you need to spend time thinking about:

The information you really need. Do you want specific sales numbers or confirmation sales are you? The important information might be obvious to you, but your team doesn't see...

It’s been a while since I offered specific instructions on how to use this weekly email. In a nutshell, you scan the list, pick a topic and start a conversation.

If you’re not sure how to get the ball rolling, trying picking one topic and asking a yes/no question. For example:

• “I noticed the Australian Open starts today. Do you follow tennis?”
• “How about that playoff win for Cincinnati! did you see the game?”

Don’t be afraid of yes/no questions, they’ll help you get to a compatible conversation topic faster. Plus, when you engage with a sports fan they’ll fill in a lot of the blanks in the conversation.

Which one of these will you use this week?

I love the idea of a fresh start at the beginning of the... and then the “what if’s” set in. Am I the only one? 

The Seahawks closed out their season yesterday… and then depression set in. 

I quote that line from Stripes somewhat jokingly at the end of football season every year. I get grumpy when the season ends. I miss practices, game day, game prep, my guys and my colleagues.

All I want to do is be grouchy for a couple days before I regroup and start looking ahead.

What I don’t want are fans trying to make me feel better by saying “at least baseball season is just around the corner.” I’m not looking for a silver lining. I’m not interested in talking about baseball in January and I don’t care that you’re excited about baseball season.

That might sound harsh, but this is a bigger conversation skill that sports can help you practice – empathy. Letting someone feel their feelings without jumping in with your own. Allowing someone to feel frustrated, disappointed, upset or sad without offering a reason they shouldn’t be. It...

Sports fits my personality. Sports broadcasting fits my skillset. Helping you communicate more confidently is my passion.

Hey there, I’m Jen!

None of my family members or teachers are surprised I choose a career that involved talking, but some days I'm surprised I ended up as a sports broadcaster. There weren't many opportunities for women to work in sports when I was in college, and it certainly wasn't something that was encouraged. 

But I love to compete. That's one of the reasons sports is a natural fit for me. 

Finding Ways to Win. 

As a lifelong sports fan, my interest in sports comes naturally. I played multiple sports through high school and when I got college at Southern Methodist University I became an intramural flag football official, which led to a 10-year career officiating high school football and helped lay the foundation for becoming an NFL sideline reporter. I intentionally built a solid sports resume in every job and internship I pursued...

Establish relationships before you need them.

Practice your conversation skills before they’re necessary.

It’s easy to focus on productivity and the need to get things done heading into a new year and coming off the holiday break. Being productive doesn’t just mean powering through tasks. Don’t overlook the impact other people have on your ability to get things done. The relationships you build (or don’t) affect your productivity. Its why small talk is important and something to prioritize.

Be intentional about striking up conversations with colleagues, clients and employees. If you’re looking for things to talk about these sports headlines can help.