speed dating tips
Here are some great tips to help you become a speed dating pro. Remember, you only have 7 minutes with each date, so keep things brief. Think about your elevator speech (your short, spicy overview of who you are that can be delivered in the time span of a 30 second elevator ride).
Make Yourself Stand Out At speeddating nights, people will often come with a number of pre-prepared conversation pieces. There’s nothing wrong in having a few of these, as keeping the conversation flowing is a sure-fire way to see your date again. But there are only so many times you can be asked about your favourite film before it all starts to sound routine. So how do you avoid being seen as ‘one of the crowd’? These simple ideas will get the conversation flowing and you will find out what the other person is interested in. Listen carefully to what the other person says so that you can ask follow-up questions while learning new things: • Rather than talking about people’s current job - ask them about their dream job • Don’t ask about the last holiday they went on - get them to imagine where they would travel to if they could go anywhere • Instead of asking them about their best travel experience to date, ask them about their worst! Bad holiday stories tend to be remembered as funny incidents. • Don’t ask about their favourite film - ask them about their favourite character. • Move beyond their favourite food - find out what they would make if they were given three ingredients of your choice. The more you make them think about the answer, the more they will think about you when they run it over again in their head later. The key is getting the other person to talk about themselves. Try not to make it sound like you’re interviewing them - the two most important things to remember are to relax and to listen.
Some other great questions to keep the conversation going: • What do you consider as your favourite trait about yourself? – offers a greater insight into their personality, their confidence levels and what they think makes them special. • What are the most important things you look for in a person? - this allows you to see if you’ve got what they’re after and whether their values match yours. • What do you do for fun? – this question will show you if you have any matching interests. • What are you most proud of in your life? - this reveals the basic values of the person and tells you what they consider valuable. • Who would you consider your hero in your life? – a very personal question that gets your date to open up. • What is your most sacred possession and why? – shows what a person is sentimental about and reveals a great deal about their personality. Is it something they got from their grandparents or their brand new X Box? • How do you spend your spare time? - this is important, as it will help if you both love to do the same things in your spare time. • What are your thoughts on … (eg. a local issue – avoid politics, race, religion or sex) • What makes you laugh and what makes you cry? – this can be a biggie as it throws light on their personality. • If you could go on one reality show, which one would it be? - this is a good question to see where they are in their life and if they are reserved or more of an adventure seeker.
Remember to: • Come with an open mind and don’t take it too seriously • Be yourself and have fun • Have a couple of questions up your sleeve in case you run out of things to say • Smile • Look into their eyes • Listen • Laugh • Be honest, friendly and interested • Ask open-ended questions that encourage your date to continue or to tell you more. eg. "In what way..." or "Why do you say..." and "When you said... did you mean...". • Use their name regularly (but not too regularly)! It shows that you're listening to them and that you value their company and opinion. • Ask plenty of questions about your date to show you are interested in them and to get them talking. FAQs on Quick Connections' singles dining events | 
