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!

It sounds like a good idea, but telling your team to over-communicate with you or each other isn't helping.   

Asking your team to over-communicate might lead to more emails, conversations, Slack messages or group texts, but none of that matters if they're not communicating the right things. If you're not on the same page it's a waste of time. People who spend time trying to "over-communicate" the wrong message aren't being productive. Of course, they don't realize that until the message doesn't get a response (or the response they were hoping for) at which point they wonder why they wasted their time, and get frustrated and upset. 

Your team needs clear instructions on how to best communicate with you as their manager or leader. 

That means you need to spend time thinking about:

The information you really need. Do you want specific sales numbers or confirmation sales are you? The important information might be obvious to you, but your team doesn't see...

Sports fits my personality. Sports broadcasting fits my skillset. Helping you communicate more confidently is my passion.

Hey there, I’m Jen!

None of my family members or teachers are surprised I choose a career that involved talking, but some days I'm surprised I ended up as a sports broadcaster. There weren't many opportunities for women to work in sports when I was in college, and it certainly wasn't something that was encouraged. 

But I love to compete. That's one of the reasons sports is a natural fit for me. 

Finding Ways to Win. 

As a lifelong sports fan, my interest in sports comes naturally. I played multiple sports through high school and when I got college at Southern Methodist University I became an intramural flag football official, which led to a 10-year career officiating high school football and helped lay the foundation for becoming an NFL sideline reporter. I intentionally built a solid sports resume in every job and internship I pursued...

Sports is always my go-to conversation starter. Even if I don’t know if I’m talking to a sports fan. I know that uncertainty can make some fans uncomfortable, but sports is truly one of the most efficient ways to spark small talk because the answer doesn’t matter nearly as much as the clarity it provides. 

If I lead with “Did you see the game last night?” I know I’m going to get one of two answers, and quite honestly I don’t care which one it is. If the answer is “Yes” I know I can follow up with another sports question or a question about the game. If the answer is “No” I can ask something like, “What did you have going on last night?” And now I’m into a conversation without playing 20 questions or asking a handful of questions while trying to find something meaningful. Using sports as a starting point made it easier to make a connection and have a productive exchange.

Here’s something...

I’m a firm believer in preparing for little conversations like small talk because a.) I want my interactions to be productive b.) I don’t want them to be awkward, especially if I’m trying to build a relationship.

Preparation can range from doing a little research on people I’ll encounter, identifying success statements I can use in response to “How are you?” and having a few general questions in my back pocket to start a sports conversation. Here are some examples:

• Who’s playing tonight?
• Are you going to watch the game tonight?
• Where did you watch the game?
• Did you see the game last night?
• Is that the game you expected?

They’re canned questions that can get a timely response. I think of these as really generic questions and while I typically advocate for asking specific questions that get you closer to your conversation goal, these questions work just fine at starting a conversation.

BUT… your goal probably isn’t just to...

When it comes to thanks and praise would you rather give or receive?

It’s a bit of a trick question because you should be equally adept at both. This time of year gives you a chance to practice showing gratitude and receiving compliments.

Graciously receiving a compliment is a skill and it’s important to the narrative you create at work.

If someone says, “Great work! I’m really impressed by how that turned out” and your first reaction to say something like, “It was nothing” you aren’t being humble, you’re lying. It was something. In fact, your efforts made someone stop and notice enough to pay you a compliment. That’s an opportunity to own your accomplishment. Don’t downplay your skills, efforts or success. Don’t shrink back. And don’t give all the credit to your team.

You might be used to saying something like, “My team deserves all the credit” without realizing what you’re actually...

A sporting event is just that – an event. There’s always more going on than the game itself and that introduces additional conversation topics outside of the stats, scores and outcome.

Sports conversations don’t have to focus on the game itself. You can choose to talk about the experience of watching a game.

The Super Bowl is a great example. You could talk about the teams and players or you could talk about the food, commercials, halftime entertainment, location, parties you’ll attend and who you’ll be watching it with.

There are few events as big as the Super Bowl during the year, but these potential conversation topics exist in every game. You could choose to talk about what you ate a game, or restaurants near the stadium you like to visit. Talking about the vibe in the building or the friends who went to the game with you is an option too. If you watched a game on TV, the location of the game could lead to conversations about travel or personal...

Talented teams and athletes make winning look effortless. It’s not just their physical strength and abilities that lead to results, it’s the habits they lean on daily that produce great outcomes. 

There’s always more going on behind the scenes than what you see on game day. The same is true in your office and with your team. Your habits determine your success even more than your talent and hard work.

Here are three high-performance habits you can borrow from sports to help you win at work. 

1. Practice like you play. Coaches preach it, athletes say it. It sounds cliché until you watch professional athletes in practice. Of course, Russell Wilson is practicing touchdown throws to Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf. Of course, the Mariners are trying to launch it out of the ballpark during at least one round of batting practice. But do you know what they do at least 90% of the time? They practice fundamentals at very basic levels. Hand placement, wrist...

If you’ve jumped on the Ted Lasso bandwagon you know it is possible to be kind and competitive at the same time.

It’s a scripted show with a Hollywood storyline but I’ve actually worked with coaches who are that kind. I’ve seen fans be the ultimate encouragers. I’ve experienced entire communities rally around sports.

And after 20 years in sports broadcasting, I’ve seen the opposite.

I’ve heard fans yelling profanities at teenagers and try to explain their bad behavior by saying sports is their escape. Claiming you’re a different person at a game than you are at work is a convenient cop out, but it’s not true. You are the same person on game day as you are every other day of the week. The environment is different, but you are an extension of the same person. That’s why it’s important to be as intentional with your fandom as you are in your business relationships. This is all part of your brand.

As someone who attends...

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.