Our Blog Posts will help you reach your full potential in becoming a confident conversationalist. New topics each week.
Several companies have announced return-to-office timelines, which has caused mixed emotions among employees.
I can’t take away those challenges or frustrations, but I can point out the benefits of in-person conversations. Talking to people in person helps improve creativity, speeds up innovation (as in, coming up with new ideas and new ways to do things) and cultivates stronger relationships at work. All those things can happen whether you’re talking about work or not.
Organic, casual conversations go a long way in improving our communication with colleagues. It’s why you should spend a little time strategizing your approach to small talk. I recommend using sports and these topics making news this week.
Sports brings communities together in ways other interests can't. That's the real value of sports conversations and sports small talk.
Sports allows you to connect with people from all different backgrounds, young and old, male and female... but only if you include everyone in your conversations.
It's easy to make assumptions about what you think sports fans look like. Men, for example. I bet you're more likely to assume men are sports fans. Which also means you're more likely to exclude women from sports conversations. As a woman who has worked in sports broadcasting for more than 20 years I know that's not that's not the case. I also know that when I'm excluded from a sports conversation based on my gender I get irritated and I'm not interested in connecting or building relationships. Not a big deal if we just meet in passing, but much bigger deal if you want to work with me, or if you're a server at a restaurant and would like a tip.
I shouldn't have to tell you I...
Your accomplishments, resume and skillset aren’t the keys to your success. Your ability to communicate is.
Now you might be thinking, “Hold up, what are we talking about here? I was looking for sports topics to talk about this week.”
Keep reading for your weekly dose of sports conversation starters and remember that small talk is the building block for relationships and a great place to practice communication skills you need in business. That’s the real benefit of talking about any of these sports topics in the news.
People follow people, not plans.
Your credentials are important for getting the job, but when it comes to leading, inspiring and motivating your team forget about the resume. Heck, forget about the 5-step plan you created, and the new process everyone is going to follow. I'm sure you have great ideas and writing down organized thoughts is important, but that's not what creates buy-in.
The people around you need to relate to you. The only way to see that everyone is all in this together is to show them who you are. As Sooz Jarosch says, there has to be that, "Yeah, me too" realization.
It is a lovely feeling to know you can walk into a room, or log into a virtual one, and say something that will allow you to connect instantly. Football can do that today. Anyone who loves football will also love a conversation starter about the big game. There won’t be a shortage of opinions, and they might not stick to sports, but it’s an easy way to connect with people who love football, food, entertainment.
And if you have colleagues who don’t love football quite as much, there are a number of other sports topics that would make lovely conversation starters this week.
It’s Super Bowl week and the game will dominate a lot of sports, news and entertainment headlines. It’s one of the biggest events - sporting or otherwise - of the year.
Because it’s an event, there’s no limit as to how many sports-adjacent topics you can introduce that relate to the game but don’t have anything to do with the actual matchup between the LA Rams and Cincinnati Bengals at Sofi Stadium in LA. Just take a look at this post from Instagram.
To a hard-core sports fan it might be an odd take, but if you're someone who's more interested in music and entertainment that's one way to frame the half time show.
The Super Bowl is a great opportunity to leverage the sports fandom of others. Football fans will already be talking about the game. It's top of mind. Every football...
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.
— Sportico (@Sportico) January 7, 2022
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
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:
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!
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