My sister, daughter, and I were talking the other day about how to tell a personal story, or more simply, how to answer the question of “tell me about yourself.”

My sister said, “you know how your dad loves nerding out on crypto?” that’s always a good place to start.

I’ve been thinking about that term “nerding out” and it’s really resonating with me, not only because I do nerd out on crypto, but because I think it’s probably a good way to get another person to “light up.”

You know how when you’re in an initial conversation with someone and you’re doing the conversational dance?

Maybe you’re looking for common threads of interest, common bonds, or mutual connections (I’ve noticed folks use LinkedIn for this a fair amount).

But what I think we’re really looking for is connection. And connection comes from people sharing their interests and passions.

I always joke that my dad is “a mile wide and an inch deep” (he’s a lot deeper than that), but his secret sauce is that he’s read a lot about a wide variety of topics, which means when he meets an anthropologist from Namibia or a botanist from Ecuador, he knows enough to be dangerous.

He can demonstrate that he’s got a baseline familiarity with their profession to the point where the person feels comfortable sharing their knowledge.

It’s a key to unlocking the “nerding out” of most people (unless you meet people who hate their careers and just do it for the money). But there are a lot of people who love what they do and, if it’s not what they do professionally, you can figure out what their “nerding out” hobby is and unlock a wealth of information.

My point here, I think, is that we all have things that we go incredibly deep on, simply because we find it fascinating. Whether it’s baseball, crypto, or anthropology, there’s a nerd buried deep within each of us.

The phrase “nerding out” has helped me think about a target for connection.

So…what do you “nerd out” on?