After the long hours, days and months chasing and chatting with that single lady or guy that warms your heart, and for some of you, it wasn’t that long you mustered the courage to ask her out or you have been waiting for him to ask you out. Now you have finally done it! You have finally landed the opportunity to meet them for the first time physically. You have landed the first date. Wow. So exciting.
Right now, you are nervous and don’t know how to make this first date a successful one. You like him or her, but you don’t want your excitement to mess up that very day and you are also hoping it leads to a second date. Well, you don’t have to worry so much, you are not alone in this.
The subject of dating and hanging out with someone new for the first time is what a lot of people struggle with.
Let’s first understand what a date is all about. A date creates an opportunity for individuals to get to know themselves well. It gives people the opportunity to meet themselves physically after having series of phone calls or chats.
The truth is that while some persons are already professional in this craft so many others don’t know how to appear or impress on a first date. So, today you will be learning 10 ways to make a good first impression on a date.
Hey, we are not talking about how to be manipulative or be unreal, rather we are going to be looking at how to put yourself together to ensure that both of you come out of that date happy and hoping to go on more dates if possible.
So, let’s go.
1. DATE LOCATION
When we talk about the location for guys, we are talking about picking a location that is affordable for you, that is if you know you will be the one footing the bills for the date. It’s important you pick a location that you can feel relaxed and not worry yourself so much about the money to be spent in case the lady demands huge-priced meals.
For the ladies, pick a location that you are comfortable with in terms of security and proximity to home, this is very important for a first date. You don’t want to go where you will be stuck in case things get ugly so pick where you can easily find your way home.
Although the choice of location might differ for each gender, it is also important that both of you negotiate this and pick a location that best suits you two considering all the factors mentioned above. This is usually the starting point to ensure that you both are going to be comfortable with each other in an environment.
2. DRESS SMART
On a first date, appearance is everything. You don’t want to be looking unattractive on a first date. How you look on a first date is a bit different from how you look when you are just hanging out with an old friend you have known for years.
You need to look good and smell nice. You don’t need something very expensive if you can’t afford it. You just need something smart. Guys get a good haircut and ladies a good hairdo.
The saying dress how you want to be addressed applies a lot here because you don’t want to end the date before it starts with an offensive body odor. Wear a good perfume that will lighten up the environment too.
3. BE ON TIME
I personally have hanged out with friends and they showed up late. I might wait, forgive but it’s not nice I must admit. I myself have been late to meetups but a first date is not a day you want to be late. I know some lateness cannot be avoided for some certain reason but if you must be late let your date know ahead of time.
It’s very important to arrive early as scheduled, this gives you the opportunity to stay relaxed because there is usually this tension that comes with first dates. So, if you want the date to be a success you must make efforts to be there on time.
Another reason you need to be on time is that some persons are very principled about their time, so you don’t want to turn them off and make the rest of the evening a boring one. A date of 3 hours might end up being 1 hour because you didn’t keep to time.
4. WEAR A SMILE
If there is anything that will make a date very powerful, fun, and full of excitement is the ability to wear a warm smile. Smiling has the power to show your date that you are happy to be there. It doesn’t just help your date it also helps you stay relaxed.
If you are out on a date and you find it hard to smile, then it possible there won’t be a second or third date. Even if you are passing through a lot, for that few hours you are out, put on a smile and lighten up the environment. You can never go wrong smiling. If you don’t know how to smile, then start learning how to from today.
5. PREPARE AHEAD OF TIME
Preparation is an important part of having a good first date. Even if you met him or her a few days back, try to learn a few things they are interested in over phone calls before the date. This will help you to make few kinds of research for yourself around those areas of interest so that the conversation that very day can flow with ease.
It will be disappointing to hang out and not know what to say or how to support or give a view to the subject of discussion that interests your date. Yes, I know the first date will give you a good opportunity to get to know yourself better but if you want to make it a great experience then give yourself a head start and you will see the magic on that very day.
6. BE REAL, BE YOURSELF
This is one area many people keep failing in. Yes, we all want to impress our date, but we must learn to draw the line between impressing and pretending. You must come to that level where you don’t admit liking what you know you hate because you want to impress your date. This is you setting yourself up for failure even before anything concrete starts.
Be real at all times. The point of the date is to get to know the real you. So if you end up putting out the fake you, then in the long run things will surely get ugly and remember that anything built on lies will have to be maintained with lies and lies don’t last forever because the truth has a way of forcing its way out in due time.
Avoid pretending. Be smart, Be real.
7. FOCUS ON THE MOMENT
One mistake most people make on a first date is thinking about the second date or thinking/imagining about the rest of their lives together. This is a No-No because it makes room for pretenses to set in.
It is good to want a second date but for now, you have to just focus on the moment, focus on your date. You can talk about their future goals if that conversation comes up but avoid trying to put yourself in that future because a first date is not a guarantee that a relationship will happen.
This can make you also disappointed if they refuse a relationship. So just enjoy the moment and allow things to fall in place gradually.
8. MOVE BEYOND SMALL TALKS
You don’t want to start your date and end it just by asking How are you and How is business? You must learn to move beyond the small talks. You must be creative and open-minded to share some things about yourself and ask them about things that interest them. You can make use of the open-ended question principle of communication.
This is why you need to prepare ahead of time like our number 5 point pointed out. The success of a first date lies in the willingness of the individuals involved to share information about themselves.
You can’t allow your first date to be one-sided. You can’t allow them to ask the whole question or bring the whole topic of discussion while you just respond. You must also try as much as possible to show interest by asking questions and bring up new topics to complement them.
9. PUT AWAY YOUR DEVICES
I have been on dates where my date was pressing her phone almost every minute of the date, and this made me feel very terrible and I had that feeling that they were not interested in me. The truth is that if you desire to get to know someone you must learn to be in the present and value what’s before you.
You can’t impress on a first date if you are always on your phone. You have to either switch them off or put them on silent to avoid making the other person uncomfortable around you. You have all day after your date to answer those emails or to chat with those other friends. Just be present and give them your undivided attention and you are on your way to having a second date and this will be our next and last point.
1O. ASK FOR A SECOND DATE OR SHOW INTEREST IN HAVING A SECOND DATE
The day is almost over, I believe you must have had a good time together. Do you want to end it there or do you want to push it further? The outcome of the first date should determine your next step here.
As a guy, if you had a good time then it will be wise to ask when next you can hang out again. You can say something like “Thank you for today, you made my day, I wouldn’t mind having a second date with you soon”. Now the ball is right on her court to say yes or no.
As a lady, if you had a great day you have to indicate interest that you would be interested in a second date in case the guy forgot to ask. You can say something like, “Thank you for today I really had a good time, I hope we can do something like this again sometime soon”. At this point, you have indirectly indicated interest and the ball is now on his court to respond with a yes or a no.
I hope this was very helpful.
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Thank you.
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