{"id":7384,"date":"2015-02-12T08:57:50","date_gmt":"2015-02-12T16:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/about.zoosk.com\/en\/?p=7384"},"modified":"2021-06-01T00:01:33","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T07:01:33","slug":"how-to-avoid-awkward-silence-on-a-date","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/dating-advice\/how-to-avoid-awkward-silence-on-a-date\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Avoid Awkward Silence on a Date"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>True story: Awkward silences are just a part of life. Unless you\u2019re hanging out with your siblings or a friend that&nbsp;you\u2019ve known since you were five years old, awkward silences are inevitable. But&nbsp;awkward silences on a date can feel unbearable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Everything is rolling, conversation is awesome, then\u2026 you hit a lull. Please relax; it happens to everyone. But, to make things flow just a little bit easier on your date, we&#8217;ve compiled 6 conversation strategies to show you how to avoid awkward silence on a date:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong> Be genuinely interested in the topic.<\/strong> Sure, it can be difficult to be wholeheartedly interested in <em>everything<\/em> your date has to say, but you have to remember that even the dullest topics can have a silver lining of interest. If anything, take this as an opportunity to educate yourself on the topic so the next time it comes up, you won\u2019t feel so lost and wishing your date would move&nbsp;the conversation elsewhere.<\/li><li><strong> Ask questions.<\/strong> For every question asked, an answer follows. In creating a dialogue with ample amounts of questions, you\u2019ll find that it\u2019s easy to keep a rhythm going. Then, when it\u2019s your turn to share your stories, hopefully, your date will follow your lead and ask you lots of questions, too.<\/li><li><strong> Avoid generic responses.<\/strong> From \u201creally,\u201d to \u201cthat\u2019s cool,\u201d to \u201cyeah,\u201d we&#8217;ve all been&nbsp;guilty of answering in generic ways that interrupt the flow of conversation. Do your date a favor and avoid the run-of-the-mill response.<\/li><li><strong>Make sure you occasionally nod.<\/strong> If someone thinks you\u2019re not listening, he or she is&nbsp;going to cut the&nbsp;story short. While throwing out an \u201cmhm,\u201d can be distracting, giving nods while your date has the floor will show that you\u2019re paying attention.<\/li><li><strong>Keep it light and positive<\/strong>. The best way to kill a conversation and up the awkward factor to bring up a sad story that, although sad stories&nbsp;will have a place in your relationship at some point, they are&nbsp;best saved for later on down the road. People have a hard time responding to sob stories, because of outside of \u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d what else is there to say?<\/li><li><strong>Don\u2019t fear the silence; enjoy it.<\/strong> If you spend your entire night trying to avoid silence, then it will befall you. It\u2019s called Murphy\u2019s Law. So don\u2019t stress about it happening, and if it does, for the briefest of minutes, be happy that it will give you a chance to finally take a bite of your dinner.<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Six quick tips to avoid that horrible awkward silence on your next date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":12448,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[884],"tags":[154,766,217,756,755],"class_list":["post-7384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dating-advice","tag-date","tag-dos-and-donts","tag-first-date","tag-universal-orientation","tag-universal-sex"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Avoid Awkward Silence on a Date<\/title>\n<meta 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