Every week when you glance at these sports conversation starters the nuts and bolts of the game or the story probably stand out. That’s on purpose. I want you to have enough information to join a conversation and build your knowledge base.

You could also look for the business connections and ways to springboard into larger conversations. This week I would point to the Heisman voting and Heisman award winner as a way to talk about the criteria you use to judge success or maybe the note about the MLS Champions as a way to start a conversation about the talent you need to get to the next level.

Sports is more than stats and scores – if you want it to be. And you can use these sports conversation starters however you want this week.

MVP discussions in sports often turn into debates because there are different schools of thought on how those awards should be determined. The outcome depends on which criteria you use and which school of thought you follow. Which is also true when it comes to performance reviews and goal setting for 2024.

Make sure your team is on the same page and knows the criteria you're using. If you haven't been specific or need to have that conversation again this sports conversation can help you start the discussion. It's just one way to use sports to think outside the box score and improve business communication. 

It’s so awkward but I’ve got to do it.

That was part of a text from a friend contemplating her next round of networking emails. I totally understand both the anxiety and the awkwardness. My suggestion was to shift the focus of the conversation and use an alternate conversation starter to initiate the interaction.

Here’s why I offered that approach: Preparing ahead of time for the objective you want to achieve helps make the conversation more productive and less uncomfortable. 

To that end, these sports conversation starters might come in handy this week.

You can encounter any number of tough conversations throughout the day in your professional and personal life. We all approach those interactions differently and often bring our own baggage into the exchange. It’s not intentional it just comes with the territory when you encounter real emotions from a real human being.

Or as I often think about it -when you see the real humanness in someone.

It’s something I think about every single time I walk into a locker room after a loss. I’m an NFL sideline reporter and I’ve worked in professional locker rooms for more than 20 years. It’s my job to get interviews after every single game win or lose which means some weeks I have up to six tough conversations in a 30-minute time frame immediately after a loss. 

There is a lot of emotion surrounding 53 pissed off, frustrated, disappointed and exhausted men.

None of them really want to see me walking toward them with a microphone. All of them understand...

When it comes to small talk if you yourself don’t want to answer the question (or can’t answer the question) you’re asking, you should probably change your approach.

If you don’t want to talk about your Thanksgiving weekend you might not want to ask someone else about theirs, because there’s a pretty good chance they’re going to flip the conversation back to you thereby forcing you to have a conversation you didn’t want to have in the first place.

If it’s difficult for you to answer a question about your favorite Thanksgiving or holiday tradition it’s best to rethink the question you would ask.

If you’re looking for a broader conversation topic this week, start with sports. Even a yes/no question like “Did you watch any games this weekend?” can lead you to a number of different conversations.

Here are a few sports headlines making news this week that you can use to spark small talk.

Conversations on Thanksgiving usually take care of themselves, but just in case you need a few additional topics these sports notes are just the trick.

When you’ve had your fill of football and turkey consider a cooking show binge-fest of I Cook, You Measure presented by Safeway. I’ll drop a new episode Friday!

It's back and better than ever because these season you'll meet champions! 

Season 3 of I Cook, You Measure presented by Safeway and sponsored by Ascend Hospitality Group is our Championship Season. Every guest measurer has won a title. Here's who you'll see on the show:

If you would like the ingredients lists and wine pairings from each...

The interactions that stood out most to me last week weren’t long and some weren’t even in person, but they all included an element of unexpected kindness. It was a short text from a friend I hadn’t talked to in a while, a stranger saying "Hi" at the grocery store. Someone going above and beyond to say something kind.

The most impactful interactions don’t have to be lengthy conversations. You can make an impact through your sports conversations by reaching out to a fan whose team won a big game and text “That was a great game this week.” It’s a simple way recognize someone and their interests. If you want something more specific here are a few topics making headlines – and conversations – this week.

No one tells you how to build relationships inside a locker room. Come to think of it nobody tells you how to build relationships in general.

Sometimes it’s easy and comes naturally. Other times it feels more daunting - often because we’re overthinking and overlooking the actual building blocks for a relationship.

Here are the two things you need: consistency and trust.

Here’s what you don’t need: long conversations and coffee meetings.

Over the years I have established business relationships through traditional networking means. I’ve attended events, sent follow up emails, met for coffees, scheduled happy hours and connected on LinkedIn.

But I don’t do any of those things with the athletes I work with every day because that’s not how you build relationships inside a locker room.

I build relationships 30 seconds at a time and often one word at a time.

If someone would have laid out this plan 20+ years ago when I first started working in...

Well my game Sunday did not go according to plan. All week we talked about the potential defensive battle between the Seahawks and the Ravens, only to see the Hawks badly beaten and not much defense to speak of for Seattle. It’s definitely not what I expected.

I’m already preparing for a lot of conversations about what needs to be fixed this week. I’m also preparing for small talk – and a chance to talk about something other than the Seahawks game – by using these sports topics this week.