{"id":7684,"date":"2015-11-02T07:07:59","date_gmt":"2015-11-02T15:07:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/about.zoosk.com\/en\/?p=7684"},"modified":"2021-05-31T23:43:51","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T06:43:51","slug":"how-to-avoid-the-5-most-common-first-date-mistakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/dating-advice\/first-date-tips\/how-to-avoid-the-5-most-common-first-date-mistakes\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Avoid the 5 Most Common First Date Mistakes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>If you want to get to date #2, it&#8217;s much more important to avoid the first date mistakes&nbsp;than to blow your date away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We talked to author, motivational speaker, and Huffington Post contributor, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.carolefleetspeaker.com\/#!bio\/ccjb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Carole Brody Fleet<\/a>, about the most common first date mistakes&nbsp;and how you can avoid them. Here, she recaps the biggest obstacles that stand in the way of date #2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1. Choosing someplace romantic.<\/strong> Although you definitely want to set the mood to make sure your date knows you\u2019re officially on a date and not just \u201changing out,\u201d you don\u2019t want to overdo it. If you break out the candles and violins on date number one, it can be more than a little overwhelming. As Fleet explains that type of evening is great for the 10<sup>th<\/sup> date in, but for the first one, keeping it \u201clight\u201d with coffee or a casual lunch or dinner will go over much better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2.<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>Keeping your phone on the table.<\/strong> Yes, we live in this wonderful world of technological advances, but give your phone a break. All business emails, and personal calls and texts can wait until after your date. Even having your phone on the table is basically saying, <em>\u201cI\u2019m not really interested in what you\u2019re saying, because I\u2019m waiting for my phone to notify me of a text.\u201d<\/em> That\u2019s not OK, and actually really hurtful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>3.<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>Being rude to the waiter.<\/strong> When nerves hit, it can be easy to be a bit cranky or rude, especially if you\u2019re under pressure. However, keep that in check, especially when talking with your server. It\u2019s important to think about what sort of message you want to send to the person you\u2019re on the date with, says Fleet, and you definitely don\u2019t want that message to be that you\u2019re a jerk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>4. Not respecting personal space.<\/strong> Some of us are huggers, some of us prefer pecks on the cheek, while others prefer to say hello and goodbye with a handshake. But no matter what you prefer, you need to take into consideration what your date prefers. Nothing says awkward like leaning in for a goodnight kiss as your date puts out their hand. It\u2019s important to be cognizant of your date\u2019s comfort level and give them the personal space they need and want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>5. Getting drunk.<\/strong> Of course there\u2019s the obvious fact that drinking-and-driving is a major concern, but even if you don\u2019t have to worry about driving home, getting drunk on a first date is pretty much the worst thing you can do to someone you\u2019ve just met. \u201cToo much alcohol lowers inhibitions and pretty much eliminates common sense,\u201d says Fleet, \u201cYou don&#8217;t want to say \u2013 or do \u2013 something that you will regret the following day.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Let an expert tell you what the most common first date mistakes are and learn to avoid them. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":12021,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[892,887],"tags":[764,794,760,589],"class_list":["post-7684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-first-date-tips","category-gay-dating-advice","tag-expert","tag-firstdate","tag-men","tag-women"],"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 the 5 Most Common First Date Mistakes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"First date mistakes can happen to anyone but they don&#039;t have to happen to you! Learn from an expert how to avoid common first date mistakes.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/dating-advice\/first-date-tips\/how-to-avoid-the-5-most-common-first-date-mistakes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Avoid the 5 Most Common First Date Mistakes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"First date mistakes can happen to anyone but they don&#039;t have to happen to you! Learn from an expert how to avoid common first date mistakes.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.zoosk.com\/date-mix\/dating-advice\/first-date-tips\/how-to-avoid-the-5-most-common-first-date-mistakes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Date Mix\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Zoosk\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lachatel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-02T15:07:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-06-01T06:43:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dq1eylutsoz4u.cloudfront.net\/2015\/04\/18112526\/5-most-common-first-date-mistakes.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Amanda Chatel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Zoosk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Zoosk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Amanda Chatel\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Avoid the 5 Most Common First Date Mistakes","description":"First date mistakes can happen to anyone but they don't have to happen to you! 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