Sports Conversation Starters for Your Workweek

The NFL Draft dominated headlines during the weekend. Most of what you heard was stats driven. “Experts” using athletes’ career numbers to project how they’ll fit in and impact their new teams.

As someone who spent part of the weekend covering the draft from Seahawks headquarters, it’s always the communication skills that stand out to me. Here’s what happens in the media room after a selection is made: we all look at the pre-draft write ups and career stats, then the player calls in and we get 10-15 minutes to ask questions.

It’s amazing how that first impression can lead to loving a selection or having doubts as to if they’ll be successful in Seattle.   

In theory their college careers should be enough to convince the scouts, front office, media and everyone else they’ll be successful. But that’s not the way it works. The way they show up in a conversation is critical to the impression they make and how people react to them.

I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this. The conversations you have are just as important as the results you get at work. It’s one of the reasons you shouldn’t overlook or skip small talk. Use those conversations to make a good impression and use these sports topics to get the ball rolling.