5 Common Phrases that Sabotage Effective Communication
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Our Blog Posts will help you reach your full potential in becoming a confident conversationalist. New topics each week.

Self Advocacy and Thinking Outside the Box Scores

Who do you have this weekend, Eagles or Chiefs?

When the best teams in the NFL duke it out Sunday in the Super Bowl there will be plenty of conversation around Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs quest to become the first team in NFL history to win three straight Super Bowls. As for the Eagles it’s a chance to avenge a Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs just two years ago.

You know who we won’t be talking about this weekend?

The best quarterbacks in the league based on the numbers. Or the best wide receivers, or the defensive players with the most tackles, sacks or interceptions this year. Because they’re not playing on Sunday. Their teams didn’t make it to the Super Bowl.

Eagles running back Saquon Barkley is the exception. We will be talking about the best running back in the league this year because he finished with the most rushing yards and the highest yards per game average.

You know what this tells me? The numbers don’t speak for themselves. If the...

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3 Ways to Advocate for Yourself in Everyday Conversations

business communication Feb 05, 2025

On occasion I joke about getting “talks too much” on every single report card. On occasion I see other people, usually women, saying the same thing on social media and sharing how those conversation skills led to a successful career. I often add to the conversation and say I was just practicing for my career in broadcasting and as a keynote speaker. What I don’t share is the deep insecurity that comes along with hearing that critique for so many years, and it hasn’t always come from other people. Too often it’s my own inner dialogue that becomes the roadblock.

The fear that I “talked too much” and maybe even was “too much” in general made it easy to follow the advice I got early in my career: it’s best if you don’t say anything and just let your work speak for itself. It’s easily the worst advice, doled out by male colleagues who didn’t know what to do with a woman in the locker room. To be fair, they...

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Small ways to Build Relationships

business communication Dec 15, 2024

Networking is something most of us think takes hours and minutes. As in, you attend a networking event that takes a couple hours in the evening, or you schedule an hour lunch or a 30-minute coffee meeting. 

It's true that networking takes place in those moments, but it's equally true that networking can take place in seconds. I know, because it's how I build relationships and network with athletes inside professional locker rooms. 

Here's what we miss most often about networking:

  1. It's not the time spent, it's the connection made. 
  2. It's more important to show up consistently over time than wait or hope for a big conversation or opportunity.

As I explained during the "What Do you Know to Be True?" podcast, I measure conversations in seconds, not minutes and I make the most of the few seconds I get talking to athletes during the week. 

Here are 5 Small Ways to Build Relationships 

1. Make a plan for what you want to get out of an interaction. Maybe it's an...

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Home Field Advantage

business communication Jun 23, 2024

Home field advantage could be about the comforts of home, not having to travel or the familiarity of a particular setup.

Home field advantage is also measurable in sports.

Through the first half of the 2024 season the Seattle Mariners have one of the best home field advantages in baseball. They’ve won about 69% of their games at T-Mobile Park, which is ranks in the Top 5 home winning percentages in Major League Baseball.

But what gives them the edge? Is it ball park dimensions, fans or the weather/environment?

Here’s what I find interesting about all three of those factors – the players aren’t in control of any of them. You can’t change how a ballpark was built, you can’t tell fans how to react and you can’t control the weather and yet those external factors all play a part in the outcome of a game.

With that in mind, let’s think about this in the context of your team at work.

  • What factors give you an advantage?
  • How can you create an...
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Sometimes Waiting is Work

business communication May 19, 2024

I could teach a Masterclass in waiting. Not being patient, just waiting.

It’s a large part of my job, and that can be frustrating for someone who likes to be on-the-go, not to mention efficient in attacking a to-do list.

After more than two decades in sports broadcasting and countless hours spent waiting for people to be ready to talk to me, I’ve accepted it’s part of my job. I’ve also come to these two realizations.

Waiting is work. You are doing something. In “real life” we thinking waiting is a waste of time, but for me it’s a large part of success. It’s far better for me to wait until a player is ready to talk to me than to force my agenda and timeline on them. That never leads to the type of interaction I’m looking for and doesn’t do much to further the relationship.

Smiling counts. I won’t try to tell you to be patient while waiting. I’m usually not. I’ve actually found it’s not about being...

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Supporting Superstars and thinking outside the box scores

Caitlin Clark is the most prolific scorer in college basketball history. The records she set at Iowa led to storylines sports fans around the country followed. 

The increased popularity and viewership of women's basketball can be directly traced to Clark. 

Her career and accomplishments have spark countless sports conversations, but here's what I keep thinking about - if it was my job to coach Caitlin Clark, what skills would I need to support a superstar talent? 

 

Thinking outside the box scores leads us to a different type of conversation altogether, one that could benefit every leader because it's ultimately about the high performers on your team. 

There's no question Clark is highly motivated on her own, but she can't win by herself. No one can. Her individual efforts get a lot of attention, but her team is the reason she won. So think about that in terms of the rising star in your organization and the high performers you manage. How do you create an...

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Practicing Change and thinking outside the box scores

Athletes train for change because it’s part of the job. They’re going to take the field, court or pitch and be forced to change direction.

It’s rare an athlete gets to run straight ahead unimpeded while doing their job, (the exception being track athletes, of course.)

They expect change, so they prepare for it.

In fact, if you were to watch practices you would discover that most of practice is about making adjustments and changing direction. They anticipate the scenarios they’ll encounter in a game or match and create drills that help them respond effectively.  

Anyone who’s ever played sports would tell you that’s what practice is for.

So how are you practicing for change in your career?

This is another example of using sports to think outside the box scores and have a bigger conversation about preparing for change.

  • How are you training yourself to be resilient and respond effectively when change happens?
  • Do you spend time encouraging your...
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Thinking Outside the Box Scores - NFL Combine Conversations

business communication Mar 01, 2024

The 40-yard dash produces some of the best highlights of the NFL Combine. 

It's the most-talked about drill but it's not necessarily a good representation of an athlete's value or skillset. When you see the highlights or hear someone talking about the Combine consider how you can spin the conversation toward business topics. For example:

  • Are you evaluating talent based on the entertainment factor or the value factor?
  • What's the drill that best showcases your skillset? 
  • What skillset is missing from your team?
  • What does your next best employee look like?

Here are a few other things to consider when Thinking Outside the Box Scores:

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Talk Sporty to Me Founder, Jen Mueller

business communication Feb 25, 2024

Conversations come easy to me. They always have. (Just ask every teacher who commented on my report cards.) 

Sports talk has always been a natural conversation starter for me and it comes with the territory as a sports broadcaster. I often tell people sports fits my personality and sports broadcasting fits my skillet.

I am ultra competitive. I am also passionate about effective communication and winning in small moments - both of which are part of my day-to-day job in locker rooms and how I got into sports broadcasting in the first place.

People were not exactly jumping to give women jobs in sports when I graduated college. I learned quickly I had just a few seconds to make a great impression and land my message. It's why I started using Success Statements and why I've been talking about them ever since. 

Success Statements have helped me get a foot in the door, given me a way to advocate for myself and allowed me to effortless stay on the radar of key decision makers. I...

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Super Bowl Conversations for Business People

business communication Feb 12, 2024

Super Bowl conversations dominate small talk for a couple weeks following the big game. They game itself will get plenty of mentions during the upcoming NFL Combine, as the Draft gets underway, when mini camps start and when Training Camps open in July.

The long and the short of it is, the Super Bowl generates a lot of conversation. Sports fans and sports media focus on the outcome, matchups, coaching decisions and stats, but you can use a number of talking points to join conversations. You can even spin off new ideas that spark business conversations.

Here are 5 Super Bowl takeaways to help you think Outside the Box Scores with sports talk: 

  1. If you’re talking about the success of the Kansas City Chiefs more than your own success, we’ve got problems. The final outcome of the game is a huge talking point and their recent success is impressive. However, if you spend more time this week talking about what the Chiefs did than what you’re doing, you’re...
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