sports there was the Olympics Olympics
were a male-dominated sport there was
blood there was brute and there was a
little bit of nudity women were not
invited to participate in modern-day
sports they’re still dominated by men
have you ever seen a men’s restroom line
longer than a woman’s not very often but
you do at a sporting event at these
sporting events there’s still blood
there’s brute and yes there’s still some
nudity so have you ever been in the
conversation and the topic of sport
topic with sports comes up and you kind
of slowly exit stage left I have so why
am i standing up here with you today
talking to you about making sports your
secret weapon well because it works and
how do I know that because in my day job
I help those who don’t know a lot about
sports join the conversation but let’s
be honest I wasn’t always so to sports
Abby I grew up in a household with a
little brother who played every single
sport imaginable I had no choice but to
be supportive and learn about rugby and
roller hockey and basketball and soccer
and baseball and football and it goes on
and on I on the other hand was a dancer
I don’t have an athletic bone in my body
my one season of soccer consisted of
being kicked in the face and a lot of
tears but don’t worry all that sports
knowledge wasn’t learned in vain it came
in handy when I began my career in
professional sports now I don’t know a
lot about every sport but I know a
little about a lot and that gets me
through the day so let me tell you a
little story one of our readers she
works in an office with a bunch of guys
who talk more about sports so they do
about work I’m pretty sure you guys have
all been in one of those places before
well she felt left out and she wanted to
join in on the conversation so she
started paying attention to the
trending topics in sports so one day
they’re sitting around and she says the
guys hey did you guys see that big game
last night and they looked at her like
she had eight heads they had no idea she
knew anything about sports and she
shrugged it off like hey I’ve had this
sports knowledge the whole time so tell
me why we expect women to know nothing
about sports well it’s probably the same
reason how people always ask me about
how having a child will affect my career
but no one asked my husband the same
question stereotyping now I’m not here
to pretend that there aren’t women out
there who know a lot about sports
because I know there are a lot of men
who don’t but for the sake of today
ladies going to talk to you now I’m not
here to encourage you to conform to a
man’s world but we can’t pretend that
gender bias don’t exist in her book lean
in Sheryl Sandberg talks about how we
need to make the best of the current
situation instead of trying to change
its fundamentals so there’s a reason you
see women out with their male colleagues
at a bar drinking whiskey and smoking
cigars well because whether we like it
or not you have to be at the table to
play we’re surrounded by sports in fact
in 2016 more people filled out an NCAA
March Madness bracket then voted for one
single candidate in US election history
now think about that for a second don’t
worry this isn’t where I go on my
political tirade about the election but
just think about that more people can
agree on basketball than they can on a
president so why not capitalize on that
conversation I mean we even pay our
athletes more than we pay some of the
most important people in our country and
think about it sports are everywhere in
our world we have Tom and Gisele Justin
Timberlake owns part of an NBA
basketball team Meryl Streep and Ruth
Bader Ginsburg who is a Supreme Court
justice well they were cheerleaders and
a superstar LeBron James well he was in
the movie trainwreck we pay our athletes
very well in fact sometimes more than
what we pay those who are really
important in our country NFL rookies
make fifty thousand dollars a year more
than the designated salary for the US
president New England Patriots
quarterback Tom Brady well he makes 202
times the average Massachusetts teacher
salary now it’s really great for him
because he’s playing in the Super Bowl
next weekend but think about it we’re
standing here in an educational
institution so i’m pretty sure that we
can all agree that teachers are kind of
important so talking about sports isn’t
that hard i promise you you don’t have
to know everything just knowing a little
bit will help you understand and drive
into the conversation I have three tips
for you to help drain the conversation
at the office in the classroom or even
on a date and don’t worry we’re not
going to cover statistics on passing
yards or wins or losses I’m not teaching
a math class here we’ve all been in that
conversation where someone goes on a
tirade about the 1972 Super Bowl team or
their favorite team the Boston Red Sox
and your eyes glaze over and you start
to think about what am I going to do
tonight what do i need to pick up from
the grocery store it’s painful those
people are really just showing off their
sports knowledge and the trick is to
know when to chime in did they talk
about a team you know or a team that’s
in a city that you love to visit you
don’t have to know about statistics
about passing yards or wins or losses to
be able to chime in simply saying hey
who are you rooting for or how’s that
team doing this year will go a really
long way following sports doesn’t have
to be intimidating get a fun
non-intimidating perspective on sports
while following a sports network like
ESPN or the bleacher report or a sports
team or their cheerleaders or their
mascots on social media you might learn
a thing or two and besides who doesn’t
love an insight to a million-dollar
billion dollar in
mystery as sports follow your boss or
your co-workers favorite team on
Instagram you’re going to receive
brownie points for knowing whether to
congratulate them or console them the
next day after a big game and it may not
seem like it but talking about sports is
in fact a team sport have you ever been
in a sports bar where someone’s team
wins everybody’s celebrating high fives
are everywhere it doesn’t matter who you
are if you have a hand you get a high
five well talking about sports is the
same way those who know a lot about
sports are really happy to answer your
questions without judgement I wouldn’t
know what I know today if it wasn’t for
my little brother I still call him all
the time with questions about what’s
happening in the wide world of sports
those who know a lot about sports are
really happy to share and if all else
fails and things get really awkward and
you get in a bind go ahead and break out
your touchdown dance in our careers
where office parties and business
lunches are ever-present it’s really
important to know a wide variety of
topics well I understand that you may
have no desire and may not like sports
just remember knowing that is a little
extra trick up your sleeve expanding
your horizons to the world of sports can
really help you fill those awkward
I’ve had people tell me how just knowing
a little bit out sports has helped them
join that conversation when they’re
waiting for a meeting to start or when
they’re at a networking event it gives
them something else to talk to someone
about but better yet it gives them
something to talk about at home they now
have something to talk about the to
their roommates their spouse or their
children now let me tell you how sports
has helped me a couple of years ago I
pitched a client on some marketing work
and he wanted to talk about it over
lunch well I was really nervous because
I didn’t know what we had in common what
were we going to talk about for an
entire lunch this could be really
painful so during our small talk he
mentioned that he plays golf and i’ll be
honest i don’t know the first thing
about golf I’m a terrible golf player
but the one thing I do know is how to
yell for when you’re going to hit
somebody the head with a golf ball and
so also luckily that morning we had
written about the masters golf
tournament so I said to him in
conversation hey did you know that uh
they pipe bird music into the broadcast
of the golf tournament so it seems like
a more natural environment for the
viewers but there actually aren’t any
birds at the golf course and that was a
great jumping off point for us in our
conversation I understand that going
into a new topic a new topic like sports
can be really challenging and it could
be nerve-wracking but try it try it
today during the break or try it tonight
at o cons take risks challenge yourself
join the conversation it’s a choice you
won’t regret and you’ll hit a home run
every time thank you [Applause]