You’ve got more leeway than you might think.

That was my takeaway after observing a little boy riding his bike yesterday morning. He was happily swerving along the paved path, exploring one side and then the other. After successfully dodging his maneuvers I realized I am the person who would try to ride in a straight line, but there’s a lot more leeway and more to explore than a straight line.

It’s true in our conversations too. Sometimes we get so dialed in and focused on saying the exact right thing we forget there’s a lot more leeway than we might think. We don’t have to be perfect in our conversation skills, just willing to explore.

Perhaps these sports topics can help you do just that.

Are you back in the swing of things? Are you trying to buckle down and get things done?

I totally get it and it’s why I want to remind you an exit strategy is just as important as a plan for how you’re going to initiate conversations.

For me an exit strategy includes a “task” that requires me to physically relocate. As in, “I’m going to eat my lunch and prep for my afternoon meetings at my desk.” Or “I’m going to get some fresh air and walk around the block before returning emails.”

It might not seem like much but it’s easier to extract yourself from a situation or to end a conversation if you’re clear on what comes next for you. Just something to consider after you use these sports conversation starters this week.

I promise the people you’re talking to are far more interesting when you set them up to succeed in a conversation. You can do that by offering specific conversation topics as starting points instead of hoping “How are you?” leads to something more than scripted conversational norms.

These sports topics can help with that.

A New Year typically brings new goals and resolutions... which loosely translates to change. It doesn't matter if you're focused on changing habits, hobbies or outcomes there's always going to be a moment of friction or uncertainty because those New Years resolutions are creating change. 

Here's my reminder to you - change can happen incrementally and there are ways to practice changing. It's everything from redecorating a room to choosing a new workout to trying a new recipe or even taking a different approach in small talk. 

Maybe your change agent is using sports, or using a different sport, in conversation this week. Perhaps these can help:

The holiday week means different things to different people and there's often a wide range of emotions that go along with it. 

More than encouraging sports talk or small talk this week, I want to encourage you to have a kind word for friends, family and even strangers because you just never know what someone is going through. 

And if you want to talk sports, these topics could help. Merry Christmas!

If you're feeling pressure to finish the year on a high note, you're not the only one. Every football team feels the same way. It's definitely crunch time around the NFL, and the College Football Playoffs start this week. 

Both are worth a small talk debate about which teams are in the best position to finish strong, but it's also worth considering your best bet for finishing strong.

Football teams will tell you it's not about working harder at this point in the season because it's just not possible given the injuries, fatigue and stress. They are more likely to look for small ways to make a big impact. You could be doing the same thing and finding ways to talk sporty this week. 

In theory there shouldn’t be much debate over which teams belong in the final College Football Playoff rankings. Expanding from four teams to 12 teams was supposed to eliminate some of the debate and yet I’ve been debating the rankings with my football colleagues for the last two days.

And you know what? That’s the perfect scenario to practice friendly debates and disagreeing with people. It’s just sports. The conversation might get heated. There could be strong opinions, but at the end of the day it’s just sports. And that sports conversation might help you brush up on the conversation skills you need ahead of family gatherings during Christmas.

If you’re not looking for a debate, here are a few other topics you can use in conversation this week.

Tis the season for shopping and holiday gatherings. I can't help you find the perfect gift, but I can remind you that the gift of time is just as valuable as anything you can buy.

If you're up for spending time in conversation you might find these sports topics of interest to get the ball rolling.

Food and football go hand-in-hand on Thanksgiving. You probably won’t lack for conversation starters around friends and family, but you might want to incorporate some new angles to those conversations with questions like these:

• Which board game would be most entertaining as a televised event?
• On a scale of 1-10 how you rate your ability to throw a spiral?
• What’s the sports memory you’re most grateful for? 

The answer isn’t as important as the ability to connect with the people at your table. Of course, these sports topics might come up too:

I’m not sure how we’ve made it to the middle of November but here I am planning Thanksgiving menus and banking conversation topics for holiday gatherings.

You know you’re going to need more than one or two things to talk about. And you know you’re going to get tired of telling the same stories and answering the same questions from family over and over. That’s why this is the week to bank a few conversations and get ahead in small talk.

These sports topics are relevant this week but they’re still interesting next week and could help you springboard into bigger (and different) conversations with family and friends.

So get ready for the holiday season and get ready to talk sporty this week.