There’s nothing wrong with focusing on the outcome of a game. It’s what most fans talk about which make scores, or at least noting a win/loss, helpful in small talk.

But there are other takeaways from games including communication and leadership lessons. I’ve outlined at least five ways you can level up your leadership skillswhile watching sports and coming up Wednesday you can join the conversation with former MLS player Roger Levesque at 10am PST. Use this link to register for free.

And of course you can use this list of sports conversation starters all week long.  

The pressure new sports fans put on themselves is immense. From thinking they need an answer to every question or believing they should know more facts or data, new and novice sports fans expect more of themselves than most fans do. 

It comes down to confidence.

Here’s what I mean, if you’re a long-time Seahawks fan who’s been busy at work the last couple days and haven’t had time to read about the latest roster move or read comments from Pete Carroll you don’t stop yourself from joining a football conversation and you don’t think you’re less of a fan. You think, and know, you’re a busy fan with more than your hobby vying for your attention.

New and novice fans, often lack the confidence to enter the conversation with that recognition and mindset. They more harshly judge their lack of knowledge or time spent on sports than anyone. And they don’t realize that all they need to do is define their area of expertise. 

This...

Fans in stadiums have led to the highest NFL ratings in six years. That’s based on numbers through the first four weeks of the regular season. Games have drawn an average of 17.4 million viewers. Not every one of them is a hard-core fan. Not every one has been a life long fan. There are varying levels of fans but their interest in football gives you a great starting point in small talk.

There are a couple NFL headlines listed in this week’s list of sports conversation starters and if football isn’t your thing there are other sports making news too.

Leadership is process of discovery. Discovering how to be more effective, authentic, vulnerable. How to be more of your whole self and find your voice. 

Great leaders have confidence in their ability to communicate, and do it well. Access the full Learn from a Leader library and the upcoming conversation on October 20 at 10am PT with former professional soccer player Roger Levesque using this link. 

Sports headlines are great for building your sports knowledge base and starting conversation, but what happens when you get asked to dive deeper or get asked to weigh in on a topic, game or player you’re not familiar with? Then what do you do?

I get this question all the time. I know it causes a lot of anxiety, but there is a pretty simple way to solve this problem. 

First, don’t panic. Resist the urge to just walk away from the conversation.

Second, recognize it’s not your job to have answers to every sports question. (Sports is my job, but it’s your hobby.)

Third, redirect a conversation that starts with “Did you see…” using the words, “No, but…”

As in:

“Did you see the game last night?” “No, but what happened?”

“Did you see what the Seahawks are doing?” “No, but do you have any insight?”

You don’t have to have the answers, you just need a way to keep the...

There’s a thought among some long-time fans that bandwagon fans aren’t “real” fans. Wrong. They’re just showing a different level and interest in sports. 

If you are jumping on board and getting excited about something like the baseball playoffs don’t feel pressure to contribute to a sports conversation that’s over your head. 

We all have to start somewhere. You aren’t a fraud or a faker because you know the final score of a game, but you don’t know advanced statistics and sabermetrics. You might be a novice fan but you’re still a fan and you still belong in the conversations. Take on the role of being an active listener instead of driving the interaction. 

Use these conversation starters to get people around you talking.

Everything changes, including your decisions. The “right“ decision might change based on new circumstances. That’s why it’s far more important to focus on the process you used to make decisions, as opposed to the decision itself. 

Case in point, this interview was taped at the beginning of the pandemic with very little was known about anything. We are still talking about making decisions in the face of uncertainty.

Thanks to Steve Singh of at Madrona Venture group for sharing these insights during a Learn from a Leader session. You can register for the next live session with former professional soccer player Roger Levesque at 10am on October 20^th.

Not all conversation starters are useful or even appropriate for small talk. 

I follow a few news outlets and newsletters that offer conversation starters that are definitely topics you should know about, but not practical for quick conversations at work. They’re also potential hot button issues. Just because you should know about a topic doesn’t mean you should be talking about it in casual conversations with colleagues and coworkers.

When choosing your conversation starters make sure you consider how much time you have for the conversation, who you’re talking to and where the conversation is taking place (i.e., in an elevator vs. over lunch.) 

Sports small talk fits the bill every time. It’s why I continue to offer a list of weekly sports conversation starters like these.

There are a lot of things you could talk about when you become a sports fan, and that’s part of the problem - there are too many things to talk about.

Here’s the best way to approach it: start small and start with the headlines.

Instead of watching all the football you can handle on a weekend and hoping to remember one or two things, pick one team to follow. You can narrow your focus even more and choose a favorite player on the team. When you see out information about your favorite player you’ll ended up learning about the team, league, opponents and trends along the way.

I know that still sounds like a lot and here’s where the headlines come in. Sports headlines are your secret weapon to building your sports knowledge base in a way that you can actually remember what you read and jump into sports conversations right way.

Now, when I say headlines, I literally mean just the headlines. I prefer the ones in an actual printed newspaper, but you can glance at...

Fandom isn’t accidental. There’s always a story behind a favorite team or player. If you don’t want to talk about the outcome of a game with a colleague or friend, try asking about the origin of their fandom.

These sports headlines can help jumpstart small talk this week.