Besides gauging your own interest in another meeting, you of course want to know whether the other person is receptive. The best way to know is to ask for the next date and see if the response is positive, but signs on your first encounter can give you an idea of how much your date enjoyed being with you and whether she or he would like another...

Blatant sexual advances too early in the game -- especially if they are unwanted -- are real turn-offs to most men as well as women. You must be really sensitive about reading a person's openness to being intimate at all when it comes to dating: Even a kiss can be a major step. Before you get to the kiss, you must establish whether the person...

In this day and age, decisions about who pays for what have become more complicated than in previous dating ages, when the rules were clearer. Up until '70s, the man usually paid for everything. As more women went to work and the women's liberation movement demended equality, it became more common for couples to "go Dutch," where the man...

A picture is worth a thousand words. So, besides just talking, think of taking along things to show your date, to illustrate what you're up to, or something interesting that you're into. For example: a newspaper article about you or whatever you're interested in, an award you won, a gift you got from your mother, a photo of your latest vacation. ....

Be natural as you can in saying what you want to say. Second-guessing what the other person wants to hear, and being self-conscious about what you say only makes you come across stilted and unnatural. but a few topics are best to avoid on your first date: * Obviously, noticing other attractive people and pointing them out. This only makes the....

Avoid falling into the "I don't know" syndrome. This is one of my big rules about dating. Not only does it sound boring to say you don't know, but it is never true. Whenever someone is telling me about a date and answers a question of mine with "I don't know," I refuse to accept that as an answer and encourage them to come up wi...

You might be good at small talk, but still face certain pitfalls. To refine your technique and really be good at capturing -- and keeping -- someone's attention, keep in mind the following. Rambling Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and you feel like you can put down the phone, or even walk a way, and they would still be...

The art of conversation involves having the confidence to speak freely about whatever comes to your mind (without self-consciousness or second-guessing yourself), but also in a manner that engages the other person to be interested in what you are saying and feel like you are interested in them as well. Your conversation can cover many types of.....