My 7 Easy Strategies to Make a First Date Less Awkward

First dates can be really freaking awkward. Hey, it's so nice to meet you. I mean, I mean, I literally once saw a guy on a date shake the woman's hand when she reached over to grab some bread. So awkward. But there's good news here. Dates don't always have to be that awkward. So here's tips to avoiding an awkward first date. Keep watching. Hey there. My name is Adam Lodolce from lovestrategies.com where we help successful single women get out there and track long lasting love and do it with a proven strategy. And two or three years ago I was on this really terrible reality TV show called Kate plus date where I was helping Kate Golin get out there and attract long lasting love. And let me tell you, that was a crazy freaking experience. But it's kind of fun being on this television show because I got to kind of creep on her when she was on a date. And it's really interesting that if you can have the right perspective on a date and the right tools in your toolkit, suddenly dates can be a lot better. And we took her or Kate from being actually really nervous on these dates and unsure of what to do or with just a few of these strategies I'm about to reveal to you. We took her from feeling like kind of no confidence, not sure what to do to actually feeling pretty good before those dates. And this is exactly what I taught her. Number one is to be prepared. Before your date, just plan out a few topics of conversation that you can bring up just to avoid any type of awkward silence. When you're on a first date, there's a few kind of key things you can always talk about it. We call this the Ford approach. The Ford is an acronym. The F is about family. You have to ask him about his family, where he comes from, does he have siblings, Occupation, which is his work. This would be my least favorite of all. But the O's for occupation, talking about what he does and more importantly why it is that he does it. The R. And Ford is recreation. What's he like to do for fun? Like get out there. That's my favorite, of course. And then D is dreams. Where does he see himself in the next few years? If you use the Ford approach, Family, occupation, recreation and dream, this can fill a lot of conversation very easy. And personally, I always notice that having kind of a back pocket story when I first met up with a woman for the first time of how my day was. Because think about it, when you first go on a date, what's the first Thing someone kind of asks you usually is like, oh, how was your day? And I would always have some type of story in the back pocket that was interesting and engaging about my day. Maybe it's something that happened to me at work, maybe it's something that happened me on the walk over there. And it doesn't have to be like mind blowing, but I'm thinking through that a little bit before I get to the day because I know that anywhere from 30 seconds to two minutes, that's when people really judge whether or not they like you. That's how our human beings are wired. So by ensuring that that first impression is really positive, I got a good back pocket story to talk about. Boom. That is how we have a great first date. Number two is to remember that good conversation is less about what it is that you actually say and much more about what it is that you ask. I remember back in the day when I go out socializing, meeting people, I would put so much pressure on myself when I with having to do all of the talking and instead it took a little bit of a shift from trying to do all the talking and trying to impress people to shifting to how can I ask people interesting questions about them and get them talking. I remember I once went on a date with a woman and you know, it didn't work out for this very reason, but I, I asked her so many questions and she literally knew nothing about me by the end of our day. Like she hadn't asked me a single question, but, but I asked her so many questions that by the end of the date she's like, wow, you're a really interesting person. And I remember thinking to myself like, she doesn't know anything about me because she didn't actually ask me any questions. So it was wrong on her. But from my perspective, I create a connection with her because I was just asking her questions. So the more that you can ask people questions, the more that they feel connected to you. And don't be afraid to dig deep. I mean the who, what, where, why and how and get into the depth of the person that you already talking to. And also don't be afraid to ask this open ended question that require a little bit of thought and that can't be answered with just like kind of a short yes or no answer or just like a quick factual response. I mean, this type of strategy can really encourage your date to just open up and just share more about themselves. And don't forget when you ask someone a question on a date, just prepare yourself that they're probably going to ask you the same question in return. Number three is to just be authentic. I mean, look, I want you to put your best self forward, but don't try to be someone that you think this guy will like in order to impress him. This is automatically going to cause awkwardness because it's just not natural. And as humans, we do just get a little bit awkward when we try to change ourselves to get that person to like us a little bit. So on a first date, be your real authentic self, but still be your best self. I mean, I once went on a date, and pretty early on on the date, this woman was talking about her ex and how her ex was just super into, like, motorcycles and all this, like, adrenaline junkie stuff. And she's like, I am just not into that kind of weird, extreme stuff. Now, a key hidden insight about me that most of you probably know about this woman certainly didn't is that I'm really into motorcycles. I'm into kite surfing. I'm into pretty much anything that gets my adrenaline flowing. I'm a total junkie, and I will literally do anything that gets my juices flowing. It's at that very moment that I could have just downplayed it and be like, yeah, you know, I ride motorcycles, but, like, I'm not really that into it or whatever and try to change myself. But instead, I was like, you know what? I'm gonna own it, and I'm gonna be who I am. I'm gonna be authentic. And I looked her in the eye and I go, you know what? This date is over. We are broken up. This is never gonna work out because I'm a total adrenaline junkie. And of course, it was kind of a joke, but it was kind of serious at the same time. And we had kind of a fun moment when that happened. But needless to say, we didn't go out again. And, I don't know, she was pretty lame. Number four is to just be present. There's a tendency when we go on a date to dwell on the past, previous dates we've been on and think about how other dates have worked out for us. Or. Or to worry about the future and start thinking about the future. Oh, my God, I really like this guy. Maybe he'll be my boyfriend, Maybe he'll be my husband. Maybe we'll have kids together. Maybe we'll grow old and die together, whatever. Like, it can be really easy to think about the past and the future, but when you're on a date, it's really helpful to Just stay in the moment with him. By being present, you're going to be much more relaxed and just engaged in the conversation. This is a lot of what we teach in little love. Step number four. And if you want to learn all of our little love steps to get out there and attract long lasting love, just head on over love strategies.com we got a free training that's going to walk you through this exact process to get you out there dating and doing it with the right type of strategy. Number five is that if something awkward happens on the date, it's going to happen likely, then just own it. I mean you're two strangers getting together, potentially meeting face to face for the first time, sharing drink or food together, God help us, don't. Or a clam chowder. And it's just natural for it to be just a little bit awkward at times. And if something happens, like for example, you spill all the wine all over the table because you snorted when you laugh, if that happens, then just own it. Have, have a little bit of fun and just realize that these things happen. Self deprecating humor is usually the way I like to go when I'm a little bit clumsy on a first date. It just kind of breaks the ice and breaks the tension a little bit. Number six is to remember that he's probably nervous on this first date as well. A 2019 survey found that 47% of respondents describe themselves as shy. So 50% of the time you go out with a guy, he is going to be nervous and consider himself to be kind of a shy guy. And just remember that first dates, they can be nerve wracking, not only just for you, but also more so even for guys. Because I think guys feel like they have this pressure to perform when they're on a date that maybe women don't have as much of. So rather than getting frustrated, if the guy's being a little bit quiet, try to just be a little bit more understanding. Try to put him at ease and just be nice about it. And if you're unsure about him, give him that second chance. I guarantee he will be less shy on that second date and maybe you'll find something out about him that was actually interesting that you really liked. And finally, number seven is just have fun. Like it can be really easy to fall into the trap of like making dating serious when you're really serious about finding love. All of our clients are serious about finding love in our programs because obviously they've invested a lot of time and energy into making it happen. They've invested in our coaching to make it happen, but we don't want to bring that serious energy to our dates. Like when we go on the date, just enjoy yourself, have fun, laugh a little bit, goof around, enjoy yourself. If you're not having fun, then you are, my beautiful lady, doing it wrong. So I want to hear from you in the comments below. What is the most awkward thing that's ever happened to you on a first date? Let me know in the comments. And don't forget to like and subscribe this video if you enjoyed it. I'll speak to you, my beautiful lady, next week. Bye Bye.