The 2 Day Rule

If you plan on a second date, make sure you call in two days. This amount of time is perfect. Calling the day after will make you seem to eager, and waiting for three days may show your date that you aren’t interested. Two days seems to be the perfect number.

Don’t Text

Texts and emails are a part of our daily life, as they make communication simple. However, it’s not perfect. First, you have no way of knowing if the recipient received the message if you don’t get a response, and secondly, your voice can’t portray emotions with electronic communication. Stick with a phone call.

Have A Plan

Using information you got from the first date, be specific about what you are thinking for the second date. If your date mentioned how much they enjoy Jazz, be clear when asking for the second date that you were thinking about going to a jazz club. This will make you seem confident, and will eliminate any awkwardness if your date thinks you are just going to drive around aimlessly. The second date is not a good time to try to surprise them.

Rejection Happens

If you don’t get a call back regarding the second date, don’t call over and over again. You can wait a few days and call again, but beyond that just let it go. Also don’t take it personally. Assess the first date to find areas you can improve on with the next person.

Be Prepared

It is a good idea for you to have a list of questions that are your priority. Speed dating goes fast, hence the name. You will need to make sure that you are able to be prepared and know what questions you want to ask each of the people that come your way. It may seem tedious after a while but it will help you to get a good idea of who is worth seeing again.

Don’t Be Too Picky

The thing about speed dating is that it is just a taste of the person that you are talking to. This means that you should not always judge them too harshly. While you should move on if you know that they are not right for you, say yes to a person that you are not completely sure about. Go on a full date with them before you decide.

Have Fun

Don’t treat speed dating like a bunch of mini job interviews. You will need to have fun and actually try to enjoy it. The people that you are on these mini dates with will end up being able to get a better idea of who you are if you relax a bit.

Ask About Favorites

A great way to get to know someone is to find out what some of their favorite things are. Don’t ask typical favorite questions though, be specific. Ask what a favorite midnight snack is. This question is unexpected and fun, and can give you ideas for future dates. Instead of asking about favorite movies, ask what their favorite guilty pleasure movie is. These are always fun to ask and answer, and lead to further conversation.

Personal Questions

At some point in the conversation you may want to know more about your dates family, job, or sex life. It’s probably not a good idea to delve in to these on a first date, but you can get a taste by asking questions that lead to further conversation. Ask about their favorite holiday memory to open the door about family. Find out about their childhood by asking what they would say to their 10 year old self now if they had the opportunity. Ask who they would want to be reincarnated as to open the door to a religious discussion. Ask what song best fits them to get a better idea of what kind of personality they have. The really deep questions can wait until a later date.

Spam

While this isn’t necessarily a scam, it can lead to scams. Before you sign up for a dating site or service, check their privacy policy to ensure your email address won’t be sold to third party vendors. To add an extra layer of protection use a throw away email address. This is an email address from a free provider that you use only for the dating sites. This way, if you are inundated with spam you can just delete the email account without losing important contact information.

Sending Money

This scam is all to common with online dating services. This isn’t necessarily perpetrated by the site itself, rather by members who set up fake profiles. It works by another member chatting with you and getting close to you. After you’ve exchanged a few emails they will give you some sob story. They have a relative in the hospital, have funeral expenses to cover, are stranded out of town. The story is designed to tug at your heart strings. Then they ask you to borrow a sum of money, with the promise to pay it right back. The problem is, you will probably never see that money again. Also never agree to cash a check or money order they send. This is another popular scam that gets many people. You will be asked to cash a check, then wire a portion of the money back to them. By the time the bank processes the check, it’s no good and you have to pay your bank back, but the scammer has already received the money.

Favorite Food

They say a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. This could not be more true. You will find that making him his favorite meal is a great way for you to show him that you love him. If you are not a cook, then get a take away from his favorite restaurant and have it ready for him when he finishes work. He’ll love it just the same as he would if you had slaved in the kitchen all day.

His Interests

Chances are you and him have some different interests. If you are able to put this aside for a night and watch wrestling with him or football, it will mean the world to him. Try to learn a few of the player’s names to show him that you are paying attention. He’ll appreciate it more than you know.

Take Him Out

A romantic night out can be something as simple as you taking charge. Pick the restaurant that you go to (just make sure that it’s one he likes) and you pay for it. Treating your man to a meal every so often will make him feel special.

Picnics

Both men and women will enjoy the idea of an outdoor picnic. You don’t have to settle for just plain sandwiches and soda either. Grab a portable cooler and bring some of your favorite foods with you. You can find coolers that will keep food cold for hours, so you don’t have to worry about it spoiling. Grab a bottle of wine or champagne, a plush blanket, and hike to a remote area or scout a spot near a lake or waterfall.

Sports

Did your date mention they love mountain biking? Maybe they have a passion of football. Regardless of the activity you can plan a great outdoor date with this information. Rent mountain bikes from a rental shop for an outdoor adventure. Find a local equestrian center and schedule some horseback riding lessons. Go white water rafting. Or plan a game of flag football at your local community center. All of these ideas are inexpensive and will get you outdoors to enjoy the fresh air.

Dogging
Its cheap, its outdoors and its definitely fun, in the UK its very popular, dogging is a fun pastime enjoyed by many people, if you wish you can also join in with others.

Take A Photo Safari

So you probably can’t book a flight to Africa for this, but you can have a blast on a local mini safari. To add an extra element of fun, come up with a list of all the things that you must each photograph. The only cost for this date will be the camera, and most people have pretty good cameras on their cell phones.

Fake Profiles

While legitimate sites don’t typically use this tactic, many of the fly by night sites will. You are offered a free trial (which is industry standard) and shown hundreds of profiles in your area. When you decide to pay for a membership, suddenly there are only a handful of profiles. You can avoid this by doing some basic research on the site first. Look for user reviews, and trust the sites with lots of satisfied customers.

Cost

Most good dating and swinging sites will charge for a membership. This deters a lot of people, but it’s a good way to weed out the people who aren’t serious. If you look at the free sites you will find lots of people who are just playing games and have no real interest in meeting. Those who pay for a membership though tend to be more serious since they had to spend money. The cost for memberships are normally cheaper if you pay for a longer subscription, but most sites will offer a monthly membership for those who still aren’t sure.

Timewasters

Another common problem with dating sites is weeding through the time wasters. You’ll find people who claim to want to meet, but never follow through. You may find married men looking for online chat who won’t come clean about it. There are ways you can weed these people out though and still find great matches.

What Not To Do

It is important that you start off your conversation tips with what not to do. You will find that this can help you to know what to rule out right away. The number one thing that you should not do when trying to talk to a woman is give her a cheesy pick up line. Women do not like this. Also, do not dominate a conversation. Let her do some of the talking as well.

Conversation Starters

If you see a beautiful woman and you are too nervous to know what to say, then there is a way around this. Approach her with a compliment. If you start off with a sincere compliment you will find that this will more than likely make her smile and want to talk to you.

Keep It Going

Once you have got her in a conversation with you, you are not going to want to let it die out. If you find that the conversation is nearing a lull, then ask her a question about herself. What she does for a living, where she went to school, what her hobbies are. There are a lot of different questions that you can ask in a pinch that will keep the conversation going.

Bars And Clubs

While you may not meet a lot of women that are interested in relationships you will be able to meet single women at bars and clubs. There will be women that you can find that are interested in relationships at these places. You just may find more women that are looking for a hook up.

Gym

A lot of women that are single can be found at the gym. This is a great place for single people to come together and meet. You will find that you will need to find the right time to approach a woman while at the gym. You don’t want to interrupt her while she is in the middle of an exercise or anything.

Online

Online dating is something that is really catching on. A lot of couples have met online and a lot of these relationships have turned serious. If you want to try to find a woman to date, then do not rule out dating online. Many people think that the people that date online are lonely or recluses. You will actually find that a lot of people just like you are searching for love on the internet.

Career

You should know if this person has a job. This is of course important information. Ask them what they do for a living. Try not to harp too much on it; you do not have a lot of time after all. If you are both interested, then you can learn more about their job later.

Hobbies

Knowing what a person does in their spare time can really tell you a lot about them. Ask the person what they enjoy doing. Whether it be what interests them, like movies or something that they do, like running, get a condensed version of what they are. If they respond with nothing, then you may end up sitting across from a very lazy or a very secretive person. Beware either way.

Living Situation

This is something that you should try to fit in. You don’t want to later find out that this person still lives at home or has a dozen roommates. Make sure that you know who they live with or what they come home to. They may have a slew of pets while you are allergic. This is also a time where you can find out if they have any children or not.