Online Dating | First Date Tips

Your efforts at online dating have at last succeeded in landing your first date with a real person. Congratulations! It is quite understandable and normal if you are feeling a little nervous. You are about to leave the comfort of your living room or wherever your computer is located and venture into the great outdoors. At this point, online dating takes on a more traditional role as with real world dating.

First Date Tips

Now you need to decide what you will wear, how you will style your hair, where you will go and which one of you will pick up the tab. The upside is that by now, you and your date will have likely spent a good deal of time corresponding with one another and you may have even talked on the telephone a few times. You like what you have heard so far so now is not the time to tense up.

Where to meet

Many of the issues mentioned above will solve themselves simply by deciding where the two of you will meet on your first date. Dinner and a movie are two traditional locations for first dates and they are considered as safe choices. However, there are many more places you can go on a first date that are just as safe.

One way to help you decide on a location is to think about the things you both enjoy. There is a good chance that you have already talked about the ways you each like to spend your free time so use that as a starting point. If it is art, check the newspaper for upcoming museum events and spend an afternoon there. If it is sports, make a date to cheer on the local team. If you both love salsa, nothing could be more exhilarating than dancing the night away.

Anywhere that will be mutually enjoyable and where you will be part of a crowd can be a perfect place for a first date. That means it is probably a good idea to avoid going to his/her house for a quiet dinner or hiking that trail you can only get to by foot. Just because you know each other reasonably well, you still do not really know the other person, their personality, their quirks or most importantly, their ultimate intentions with you.

Break the silence

You are all dressed up and you have arrived on time at the mutually agreed upon date destination. Now what' - Well unless you want this date to drag on into eternity, you had better start communicating and communication is the key word here because it means both talking AND listening.

Ask each other questions, but do what reporters do and phrase your questions so that you will get more than a yes/no response. For instance, instead of saying, 'Do you like Italian food" ask, 'Which type of food is your favorite". An you see the difference. If you do not do this, you will find that you will both be struggling to make a decent conversation.

The key to a successful first date is to relax and be yourself. Remember, you are just on a date and not walking down the aisle - at least, not yet!