Making the Right First Impression
When meeting a date for the first time it’s important to make the right impression. The saying that there’s only one chance to make a first impression applies with double the pressure when it comes to dating because it could be that if you don’t make the right impression, your date won’t even stick around long enough to see past the bright pink spiked hair or the streaky fake tan. When it comes to making a favorable first impression the name of the game is planning. Whilst you may well be an impulsive person by nature, by planning all of the aspects of the date that you can control, you’ll put yourself in a much better position of making a good first impression.
First of all familiarize yourself with where you’re going on the date. You need to know where it is, what you do there and what kind of clothes are worn there. If you’ve got time, try to stop by the venue around the time you’ll be there for your date and see what’s happening and what others are wearing. It doesn’t have to mean designer brands, but it may mean dressing up more than you normally would. On the other hand, it may be that where you’d intended to wear a business suit softened with a feminine top, the dress code seems to be more on the casual side. Even if you decide to wear what you feel suits you best, at least knowing in advance that you’re choosing to be different isn’t going to wrong foot you from the start of the date.
Find out as much as possible about the things that your date is interested in.  This will give you a background for the kind of things they might talk about. If conversation falters, as sometimes happens on a first date, then you can ask some questions about their interests based on what you’ve learned. It shows you’re interested in them enough to have done some research. Also have a back-up list of things you could talk about such as current events, local activities, celebrity gossip etc that you can also use to keep the conversation going until your partner relaxes and starts to talk to you.
Be on time for the date. It may very well be acceptable to be fashionably late for a function, but this is a first impression date and you don’t want your date to get the impression that you couldn’t be bothered to get there on time. Make sure you know where the date venue is, how to get there and how long it takes to get there (where public transport/car parking facilities are for example) before the day of the date.  Make sure that before leaving home that morning your clothes, make-up, accessories are all ready for you to jump into last minute if you’re suddenly held up at work. If for whatever reason you are going to be late, at least make sure you make every effort to warn your date in advance so that they aren’t standing around wondering if you’ve changed your mind.
On the date itself, pay attention to what your date says and does. Don’t hang on their every word, but really appear to be listening rather than planning what you’re going to say next. Your attentiveness will give a good impression and hopefully if you’ve done everything else right, you’ll be organizing your second date before this one ends!