Wine and Sports: A Confidence Boost

Wine and Sports: Two sub­jects busi­ness pro­fes­sion­als should be able to talk about.

Last week, we noted the value and impor­tance of mak­ing a con­ver­sa­tion plan before attend­ing a busi­ness meet­ing or func­tion, espe­cially if wine was being served.   Think­ing through those details give you a leg up on the com­pe­ti­tion and give you one more way to show your com­pe­tence and confidence.

My own con­fi­dence boost came last week­end in Pitts­burgh.  I trav­eled with the Sea­hawks for the game against the Steel­ers.  It’s a tra­di­tion for the broad­cast crew to have din­ner together on the road, and each of us enjoy wine.  Fri­day night we enjoyed a cou­ple glasses with din­ner.  The first was a Borolo from Italy.  It was tan­nin heavy, smooth and dry.

I was asked to choose the sec­ond bot­tle of wine for the table.  I glanced over the exten­sive wine list, asked if the guys minded going with a Cab and started run­ning down my choices.  I rec­og­nized very few vint­ners because most were from Cal­i­for­nia.  I set­tled on a Cab-Shiraz blend in an accept­able price range and hoped for the best.

The choice went over well at the table.  Every­one enjoyed the wine, which turned out to be a big, juicy cab with an earthy nose and a pleas­ant wine to drink with our dessert.  I might have sweated the selec­tion just a bit, but hear­ing the guys com­pli­ment my choice gave me a good boost of con­fi­dence.   And it showed my col­leagues I wasn’t afraid to make a deci­sion.   It’s another sit­u­a­tion for me to show my con­fi­dence and competence.

It might seem like a small thing, and choos­ing a wine has noth­ing to do with my abil­ity to give effec­tive reports from the side­line, but the truth of the mat­ter is that all of us are judged in all dif­fer­ent sit­u­a­tions.  When you are vying for someone’s busi­ness or work­ing to gain someone’s trust, all of the “lit­tle things” matter.

So don’t shy away from mak­ing a wine selec­tion for the table, or prepar­ing a con­ver­sa­tion topic.  Stand out and be noticed and earn a con­fi­dence boost for yourself.

Jen Mueller, America’s Expert Talker, is the Founder and CEO of Talk Sporty to Me.  Jen is com­mit­ted to help­ing you boost your inter­per­sonal skills, engage in more effec­tive com­mu­ni­ca­tion and reap the rewards of pro­duc­tive con­ver­sa­tions.  She’s avail­able to speak for keynotes, pre­sen­ta­tions and work­shops.  Con­tact jen@talksportytome.com for more infor­ma­tion and read more at http://talksportytome.com