Avoiding Awkward Conversations On A First Date
Published on January 14, 2010
One of the most important things to be concerned with on any first date is ensuring things start off the right way. Several studies have suggested that the first moments of interacting with someone are the most important. Most people who have been dating online for a substantial amount of time don’t need a study to tell us this: plenty of us have known within the first few minutes that a first date was going to be the last.
Making sure the date starts off right concerns many things but one of the most important is small-talk. Those first few minutes of conversation are often going to be the most important. An article at Guyism covers a lot of what you should not do in 7 Ways to Make Small Talk Awkward.
The article wasn’t written for dating but it’s pretty obvious that many of the rules still apply. I would hope most of these things to avoid are common sense. However, as I am always saying, it’s not wise to follow advice blindly. In this case, one that I would disagree with is discussing current events. Maybe if it had been titled “Discussing Depressing Current Events” I could agree with it…but I simply can’t agree that discussing what’s going on in the world is a bad thing. Now hopefully on a first date you are discussing each other and your lives but if the small-talk ventures into the news I don’t think it’s a date-killer. Of course, if you’ve both identified being news junkies in your dating profile then discussing current events might actually be a great way to get the conversation going.
As I discuss in my dating guide, I think you need to go in with a plan but be willing to abandon it to allow the conversations take on a life of their own. Don’t leave those first moments of the date up to chance. One great thing about online dating is you have their profile to review to help you prepare. Unlike meeting someone randomly, you’ll already know some likes and dislikes and you should absolutely use that to your advantage.
Author: Brad
Brad initially struggled with online dating but over time became quite successful using it. He met his wife using online dating and has been giving advice and helping people improve their results since 2007. He has written a Free Online Dating Guide to help others find success with online dating. You can learn more about his personal experience using online dating and running this website here.
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