Dating expert Carolyn McKline trawls through the oodles of speed dating tips available and compiles practical advice for real people considering speed dating for the first time.
Speed Dating can be a great and easy way of meeting available people in your area, but the nature of this beast requires a little extra attention to detail. From the goodness of my heart (plus a paltry commission) I've compiled some guidelines to help you get the most from your evening .I even put it in a nice easy to read list so these no excuses!
Do:Dating expert Carolyn McKline trawls through the oodles of speed dating tips available and compiles practical advice for real people considering speed dating for the first time.
Speed Dating can be a great and easy way of meeting available people in your area, but the nature of this beast requires a little extra attention to detail. From the goodness of my heart (plus a paltry commission) I've compiled some guidelines to help you get the most from your evening .I even put it in a nice easy to read list so these no excuses!
Do:
- Use your flirting techniques - if you're interested let them know! Eye contact, the occasional friendly touch and using your date's name often are useful tools. Unless you really want them probably best to stay clear of licking your lips suggestively!
- Have a number of stock questions ready. Five minutes may not seem a lot but there is nothing worse than drying up.
- Dress well (and this applies to men too!) speed dating tends to attract the fashionable and well groomed.
- Observe basic safety guidelines when meeting matches. Meet in a public place, tell a friend where you are going, don't give out your contact details too easily. In other words, USE YOUR COMMON SENSE!
- Use the break and "after dating" time to chat with everyone you met. If you fluffed your lines during your scheduled date, don't be scared to make an approach later for a second chance.
- Be careful what you eat, particularly if food is served during the dating. Is your date likely to enjoy the sight of you gorging on noodles? Probably not. Stick to simple, non-spicy food you can share.
- Relax. Research has proven that obvious anxiety in potential partners is one of the 3rd biggest turn off for women and the 5th for men.
Do not:
- Tell lies! Might seem like a good idea at the time, but how long could you pretend to be a brain surgeon/dolphin trainer/ballerina for if you met again?
- Have unrealistic expectations. Speed dating can be a great way of meeting available people in a short space of time but it may be unrealistic to expect a string of dates on the back of the evening.
- Forget to fill out the speed dating cards after each rotation. There is nothing worse than getting to the end of the night and pondering that special person with the wonderful eyes and thinking: "Now what was their name?"
- Use excessive swearing. This is often a big turn off for both sexes.
- Talk overtly on controversial topics. Of course you don't want to be completely bland, but think about it - would you really like to listen to your rant on Israel's conduct in Palestine?
- Be tempted to give your personal contact details on the evening. Might seem like the most natural thing in the world at the time but email contact is safer, and more fun, to start with.
- Get blind drunk. You can imagine it - the music pumping, the lights down low, meeting a string of attractive, unattached strangers…and you flat out on the floor telling the nearest person: "I love you, I've always loved you…" Watch those matches fly in. Not.
Enjoy.
Why not take a look at our forthcoming events list to find a speed dating event near you?