Yesterday I attended a conference of Nationwide agents outside of Austin, Texas.

It was a great opportunity to get out of the office and actually meet the agents who use our leads (and the weather was sunny and 75).

The only problem was this: Outside of talking about insurance-related stuff, I couldn’t quite keep pace with the conversation. Why? It centered mostly around professional and college sports, about which I know very little.

It’s not that I’m not inclined to watch and discuss sports: I just don’t make it a priority in my daily routine to read the sports section or watch ESPN. It was immediately clear yesterday that I’m in the minority.

The next time I attend a conference of insurance agents you can be sure I’ll pour over the box scores and catch the highlight reels before I go, because talking about sports is a great way to connect with people.

What’s more, it’s safe territory; you can have a passionate stance on something sports related and not arouse antagonism (at least not as much antagonism as is generated in political conversations).

There’s a more general point in this post, and it’s this: the more fodder you have with which to relate to people, the better off you’ll be. It’s not just sports—it’s music, it’s movies, it’s celebrity gossip.

You may find some of that stuff a bit trivial, but remember that forging a relationship—even one predicated on as small as, say, a shared love of the Denver Nuggets—is one of the best ways to build rapport and, down the road, trust and loyalty.