11:15 am Tuesday, 25th June, 2013
If you’re feeling the nerves before your next first date then why not get prepared with the following tips and advice. Being prepared with some ‘ice-breakers’ and topics of conversation can be a life saver by helping to reduce your nerves, pre-date.
Do your research
The best part of online dating is that a persons profile will have further information about them. Find out about things that they enjoy; social activities, holidays, career and so fourth. In doing this you can discover topics of interest that you identify with, and use this as a topic of conversation. In addition, you can also prepare some questions geared toward their hobbies and interests. This tactic can help you keep the conversation going should it run dry at any point.
Be open
Have a think about some of the things that you are interested in and enjoy doing. Clearly, lay off your most boring interests but think about things that your date might be interested in. Note the word ‘lighthearted’ though: past boyfriends/girlfriends, life lessons and past sexual disasters, whilst poignant and pretty hilarious, may well give off the wrong impression.
Listen
When nerves have hit it’s always easy to talk, talk, talk and forget to listen, and besides, you might run out of things to say, so don’t forget this one. Ensuring that you’re listening properly also helps avoid that fatal, ‘asking the same question twice’ moment.
Overall, keeping your first date conversation going is about listening, being open, and being interested in the other person. This is easily said than done when you get gripped by nerves however with a little preparation as to what you will discuss, and what you have to talk about, your nerves will be reduced and those awkward moments of silence, kept to a minimum.
