The concept of a blind date is one of the most exciting one in the world of love and relationships. The sound itself incites a whole lot of anticipation and the good kind of uncertainty. However, your friend or your online dating portal may not always be able to set you up with the most good looking and perfect single person in the city, but a blind date in itself is a great opportunity to meet people and explore potential partners you may actually end up falling in love with! However, you have to keep in mind that the person who is coming to meet you has the same hopes and expectations, and it is your responsibility as well to make the blind date successful, for which you need some practical blind date tips.
There are several basic blind dating tips which you have to keep in mind before you go and meet your secret date, because a blind date is nothing like a normal, usual date with someone you have been going out with or someone you just met. That is the whole point of the blind date – you have no idea who you’ll be meeting, which makes the situation slightly tricky and difficult to gauge, and it is only normal that you’ll have a ton of questions about dress, behavior, etc.
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Here are some useful blind date tips that are bound to help you make it through your date without breaking a sweat.
1. Try to find out as much as possible about your date before meeting them
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One of the most pressing questions that can plague you before you meet your date is, “What do we talk about?” This is only natural, since you haven’t met them and you know nothing about them. Try to find out, in some way or the other, from the person that set you up, about some of the things they like or something like their relationship history, their personality, etc., This will give you some material to actually understand your date and modify your behavior and conversation accordingly, otherwise you may come across as an insensitive brat.
2. Meet at an exciting public place
This piece of blind date advice has a two-pronged purpose. First, when you meet your date in a public place, you will have ample material to talk about. You can go people watching, which is one of the most underrated ways of breaking the ice. Places like clubs, pop-up restaurants, gaming parlors, and other such places are great because it is fun and not too personal. This brings me to the second purpose, which is, meeting at an exciting public place will not freak your date out. If the first thing you do is invite them over to your place for Netflix and chill, they will get all the wrong signals and think you’re a pervert or a nympho. Why risk it?
3. Do not hold any expectations regarding the way they look
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One of the first proverbs we learnt as a child was that, “do not judge a book by its cover.” This holds true especially for situations like these. You have never met the person before in your life. You haven’t spoken to them, you don’t know their likes and dislikes, so human nature might compel us to immediately form an opinion about them based on what they look like. Your date might look super-hot, but they might be horrible people. Similarly, they may not look very beautiful in the first glance, but they may actually turn out to be the love of your life. You just have to give them a chance.
4. Plan ahead so that you don’t make a fool of yourself
Chances are, they too will have something planned out for your blind date. However, you cannot go to your blind date taking for granted that they will take the reins and waltz you through a fun-filled, exciting evening. You have to have some plans of your own, things like where you will be going, what you plan on doing, some activities that you might use as a last resort if things don’t go as planned, etc.,
5. Think of conversation topics
Blind dates are nothing like normal dates. You don’t know what the person looks like, don’t know anything about their beliefs, what they like talking about, how intelligent they are, nothing. Here, it is not likely that your natural conversational charms are going to work, even if you are really good at it, because both of you will be pretty nervous. For this, it is best to think of certain conversation starters, and even conversation salvagers before you go out on a blind date.
6. Be prepared to meet someone who is completely your opposite
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Just because your friend set you up thinking you two were “exactly the same,” or some online dating site said that your profiles were an 88% match, does not mean that you will look at a mirror image of you walking in through the doors of the restaurant that you picked. You might meet someone who is exactly your opposite, not only in the way they think, but even in their backgrounds and beliefs. In order to have a successful blind date, you have to ensure that you are not prejudiced immediately as you realize that they are not as similar to you as you thought.
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7. Let go of all your insecurities
You should know that this person knows almost nothing about you. Even if they do, they know just the bare minimum. You have the chance to create a whole new personality of your own, devoid of any of the insecurities, which are usually created because of interactions with other obnoxious human beings who made you feel like you were not good enough. Be the confident person that you are under all those insecurities to impress your date, and boost your own self-confidence as well. You are bound to have a great time!
8. Make an effort to dress well
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Just because you have never met the person before, does not mean that you will not make an effort to dress well for them. After all, just as you are likely to form a first impression about them based on what they look like, similarly, they too are likely to judge you based on your appearance, and no matter how uncertain you are about your blind date, you don’t want to create a false impression on the first go itself. Besides, don’t pass up the opportunity to dress up and look amazing, no matter what the occasion. You’ll feel great.
9. Work on that sense of humor
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One of the things that people dig, irrespective of who they are talking to, is a great sense of humor. The ability to make people laugh is one of the most underrated abilities, especially when it comes to making a great first impression. Having a good sense of humor does not mean that you have to be a world class standup comedian. Even if you are able to make light of a serious and tension-filled situation, or you have a wry, dark sense of humor, it will take you miles when it comes to having a great blind date.
10. Be cordial and polite
I cannot emphasize the importance of being polite, courteous, and cordial, not only to your date, but also to the people around you when you are on your date. It is especially important to be nice to those serving you, such as your cab driver, or the person waiting your table. This should be your behavior in general and not only because you are trying to have a great blind date with a stranger, who has no idea about who you are. I know I slipped in a moral lesson among my tips, but introducing this habit is going to make you a more eligible person to date in general.
11. Do not get overtly sexual on a blind date
Yes, I know that you have never seen or gone out with your blind date before, and you are not too worried about what they might think about you. However, that does not give you the license to go out and behave like a sex-starved maniac and start rubbing their foot under the table. Before you start treating your blind date like an easy hook-up, you have to treat the event as if you were going out with a friend and nothing more, unless you want them leaving because they thought you were a perverted creep.
12. Go easy on the alcohol
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Some people are unable to have fun without a little booze, especially in uncommon social situations. In fact, going to places like a bar or a club is a great ice breaker when you are out on a blind date, as I have mentioned in my previous points. It is natural that you will get served alcohol there, but that does not mean that you will keep chugging without keeping yourself in check in the presence of your date. A drink or two is fine, but you should not get piss drunk when you are out on your blind date, especially if they are not drinking.
13. Be on your best behavior
This goes without saying. One of the quintessential blind date tips is to behave well, no matter who you are with, and no matter what the circumstances. As I have mentioned before, this person does not know you, and you have the chance to create a really great impression of yourself on your date, without them knowing anything about your life or your shortcomings. It is absolutely essential that you bring out the most well-behaved version of yourself when you are on such a date.
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14. End your date on a good note, no matter how it goes
Just because you are going out on a blind date, does not mean that you will find the love of your life or your soul mate. A blind date not working out is as much a possibility as you finding someone you might genuinely like. If you don’t want to leave yourself or your date with a bitter aftertaste, make sure that you part ways amiably, whether it works out or not, and especially if it doesn’t. Just because they aren’t the right person for you, doesn’t mean that you will get up and leave.
A good blind date does not mean that you will find love by the end of it. You might even find a real friend in your date, even if it doesn’t blossom into love. In fact, even if you never see your date again, the primary goal of a blind date is to have a great time, and that is what these tips are going to help you achieve.
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