I don’t know exactly where I learned my skills of talking to people, but I definitely remember where it first became very useful for me: In college.

Though I was an athlete and in good shape, I knew that alone wouldn’t make me stand out in the eyes of the females. The other football & basketball athletes walking around campus were tall, muscular and athletic too. Furthermore, many of us would notice and want to be noticed by the same girls.

There, I learned that my ability to build rapport, and hold an intelligent conversation that stretched beyond playing my sport or how I was doing in classes, made me memorable.

And it still works.