The Anatomy of Body Language: Top 10 Body Language Flirting Signals to Make It a Great First Date Tips

When you first meet your date you want to make a great first impression and ignite that all important yes or no criteria for a second date: in person chemistry. The best  way to insure you get to a second great date is to maximize your first date flirt! Ladies and gentlemen, this article is for you! There are some basics and a few special body language flirting tidbits here to give you an advantage. On the First Date, you want to be sure to ignite some sizzle and romantic interest.

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The whole point of a First Date is to establish In Person Chemistry. You must maximize your Flirting or you risk on blowing the First Date.- April Braswell

When you’ve met via Online Dating or the Singles Apps, making sure to leverage all the first date flirt techniques you can insures your in-person meet and greet delivers on all the hopes and romantic expectation feeling you fostered through all of that messaging you two engaged in.

If you just leave it to chance and “just act natural” without emphasizing the flirting, you’ve wasted all your time. A first date flirt is essential to enjoy yourselves and create those feelings of “We have a connection.”

Sure, be yourself. Just find that inner manly or girly flirt within you and express it. When you do, you both with have a great First Date and establish the connection worthy to warrant taking things to a second date and then knows what!

First Date Flirt Tip #1 – Body Language Flirting: Greet with Warmth

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Strong assertive body language tips typically recommend to people to shake hands with a firm grip when you first meet and greet someone.  If you are at church or in a business situation, that would absolutely be the best choice to make.  However, this is a first date.  You want to be sure to add an element of warmth, romantic warmth when you first greet your date. Share your essence with each other via a First Date flirt.

First Date Flirt Tip: Use Your Body Language for Romance

The very way and manner of your very first greeting sets the whole mood for your First Date. Be sure to set the mood for a little romance and foster sparks and chemistry in person with your first date flirt skills.

First Date Flirt Tip #2 – Body Language Flirting: Use the Half Hug to Establish Romantic Mood

What can you do to establish the tone for romance with your date in the context of a first date?  What do I recommend as a certain First Date flirt gesture?

I recommend a body language flirting gesture which is actually a combination move.

You do want to leverage the old standby body language gesture of shaking their hand, and yes firmly even on a first date.

However, don’t stop there.  This is after all a date we are talking about!

To establish a warm connect and foster romance for your First Date, I want you to continue the gesture to where you give your date a half hug.

I say a half hug because it is a half-body contact.  You do not give your date a full bore full on contact full body embrace.  That would be too familiar and possibly send the wrong flirting signal of promising way more at the end of this first date than what you want to deliver on today.

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And guys, as my brother used to say, “A gentleman doesn’t expect sex on the first date. He’s hopeful… but he doesn’t expect it.” Because for both of you, if you move too fast, that’s all this is going to be. Just a first date. Rushing to physical intimacy too soon and too fast dousing all possibility for romance and a relationship.

Avoid wasting all of you efforts to get here. Instead, do the half hug. Hugging like that is a flirting maneuver and gives you a body language flirting tactic to use which communicates romance and interest appropriate for a first date.  No promises.  Just… interest!

First Date Flirt Tip #3 – Body Language Flirting: Optional Cheek Kiss

Now some singles will feel that the half hug fits them perfectly for a first date when first meeting.  A half hug may perfectly suit you and your body language flirting style.  If that is the case, great.  Just stop there.

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However some singles feel like even a half hug is still a little too formal for the romantic situation of a first date.  Some singles may feel like they want to say or so more to set a romantic tone for the evening, signaling more interest than is possible with a half hug.

Those singles want to set a tone of romance without over promising on what will be done later that first date evening.  What is the best way to do this?

With a kiss?  Yes!

But not a kiss on the lips.  At least not at this point.

If you two met via an online dating site, you are literally just meeting a perfect stranger.  Kissing them immediately upon meeting for a first date on the lips is just too much too soon.

What works better instead?  A kiss on the cheek!  You shake their hand, move into the half body embrace, and plant a light kiss one their cheek!  All in one smooth, polished, and poised flirtation body maneuver.  One fluid motion.

First Date Flirt Tip #4 – Body Language Flirting Gesture: Smile

Certainly, nothing communicates to the unconscious mind, “I like you!  I am interested in you!  I find you attractive!” better than the simplest of body flirting gestures than a smile!

Do smile when you first encounter your date. Then stand. Or if you are already standing when you two meet, smile, and move in to deliver the handshake, half-hug, cheek kiss smooth motion gesture.

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Smile as you take your lips from their cheek. You enjoyed it. Your date enjoyed it. It is a compliment! You just confirmed that you find them attractive and you are interested.

The rest of the evening of your first date is to discover what else might develop and cultivate further interest for you two to consider and arrange for a second date!

First Date Body Language Flirting Tip # 5: Laugh

Over the course of the evening of your first date, do be sure to let your smile emerge into laughter.  Laugh at your date’s stories.  Laugh at your date’s joke.

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Just smile and lightly laugh at light to create a fun and engaging atmosphere and speak of your joyous approach to life.  Whatever little foibles or faux pas occur naturally over the course of the evening just respond to them with a touch of your light laughter.

Nothing on a first date should be so dreadful that you cannot react to it with the air of light laughter.  This works well for both single guys and single women.  Both men and women enjoy a partner with a sense of humor and an air of joy about them.  You do not need to guffaw with your date.  Light laughter is the tone to embrace for a first date and to communicate light fun flirtation.

“Humor is an evoked response to storytelling and shifting expectations. Laughter is a social signal among humans. It’s like a punctuation mark,” Carl Marci, MD, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the director of social neuroscience in the Psychotherapy Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital describes in the Spring 2010 Harvard Mahoney Neuroscience Institute report.

First Date Body Language Flirting Tip # 6: Engage in Conversation

You might not think at first blush that conversation is part of body language or of flirtation.

However there is the conversation of words and there is also the conversation of body language.  Tap into both over the course of the evening.

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Since this is a first date, you want to create and establish rapport with your flirting and body posture.  And your body posture and the level of rapport it speaks of should increase over a period of time across the 1 hour of your first date.

To the casual observer across from you, they should be able to see that you two like each other and are enjoying conversing together both from your words and banter and from your body language conversation.

First Date Body Language Flirting Tip # 7: Vary Your Vocal Intonation

A very fun part of flirting is to whisper a fun engaging secret with your date.  Both the body language gesture of lightly leaning in and of switching your voice to soft whisper communicates attraction and romantic interest.  The words you speak can even be almost innocuous.

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However, your gesture and vocal intonation communicate – Flirtation!  Do vary your voice from a conversational tone and volume to that of a soft whisper and then back again, leaning back out now and slightly away from your date resuming a pleasant conversational tone.  Doing so is highly flirtatious!  It is fun, playful, and lightly teasing which is what flirtation is all about!  You foster interest and fascination with you from your date when you do so!

First Date Body Language Flirting Tip # 8: Vary body posture throughout conversation

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Just as I was saying, your body posture should be communicating an additional level of conversation with your date.  You want to maintain a confident and erect body posture in general throughout the course of your date.

Additionally, turn towards each other and let your inward turn towards each other increase slightly over the course of your date as both a lead for rapport and an indicator of rapport between you two.

Periodically lean in towards your date.  Listen to them with rapt attention.  At the end of one of their or your sentences, you can lean back more, pull back from them somewhat.  You communicate interest this way without your body language speaking for you, “I am 100% sold on you!”

Because of course, you two have only just met and you are not 100% sold on each other yet.  By pulling back out periodically, you also allow the space for absorption of what they said and contemplation of their thoughts and words.  These are marvelous listening attributes.

First Date Body Language Flirting Tip # 9: Do Use Touch

A powerful body language flirting tactic is TOUCH.  Do use touch to communicate rapport and romantic interest with your date.  You already broke the ice of first touch on your first date when you two first met, shook hands, and did the half body hug, and hopefully the cheek kiss.

Now throughout the course of your date and the flow of conversation between you two, you can emphasize a point or a your amusement at their words with a flirtatious touch gesture.

Body Language Flirting Signals: Where Is It Safe to Touch on a First Date

Be appropriate for the date context. Yes, the two of you are flirting. But you’re both classy. She’s a lady. He’s a gentleman. So, you flirt and banter. The physical touch contact you have is not sleazy. Sadly, some of the PUA Pick Up Artist tactics misapplied by men attempting just to replicate can blow the first date and ruin your chances with the classy sexy women you’re interested in a relationship with.

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Safe areas to touch on first date is the arm, shoulder, and upper back area.  You can let your legs or feet touch each other for greater flirtation impact when you are seated perpendicular to each other.   But do stay away from touching their legs with your hand.  That would be too much too fast too soon too intimate.

Watch the video, filmed at a Women’s Conference in San Francisco before an audience of single women and a few wise men, for a particular way to ensure the two of you flirt and share just a tad of fun physical contact in the lightest flirtatious manner possible.

First Date Body Language Flirting Tip # 10: How to Say Good Night

At the end of the evening on a first date, it is terribly important that your body posture and gestures continue to speak of romantic interest and flirtation.  Yes, you need to close the evening out with one more First Date flirt signal.

When you two had a wonderful time, marvelous conversation, and shared fabulous flirtation over the course of the evening, and you want to see each other again, do be sure to let your body posture communicate that as well as your words.

How can you two do that?  Move into stand close to each other within the 12 inches apart intimacy range.  Within You two want to 14-20 inches is the personal space range for Body Language decoding, gestures and signals. It can vary a little by culture and ethnicity, so keep it a little conservative for the First Date flirt signal. Be confident enough to exude interest without needing to do too much too soon.

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Aim to be close enough that you could kiss on the lips should you two want to do so now.  However, in that marvelous flirtation tone of close enough but not too close.  Your closeness communicates flirting and interest and the possibility of the kiss.  Let your words speak as well as your body language flirting signals!  And then if feels right, do close with a kiss!

Happy Dating and Relationships,

April Braswell

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April Braswell

April Braswell is internationally recognized as America's Midlife Dating and Relationship Mentor and the award winning expert columnist at DatingAdvice.com. Bringing over 40 years of Sales and Marketing expertise, April is a the trusted Small Business Consultant and Coach to Leading Executives and Emerging Leaders. Author of best seller, Get Swipe Right. April coaches marriage-minded men and women to find and attract love, your best life partner. Life Love Love relationship. Love after 40 and 50. Photos appear by licenses with iStock. All rights reserved.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. These is very interesting article, April. Great dating tips. I have learned something useful for singles for first dates. Thanks for posting.

  2. A half hug is great – not too close but close enough. Laughing and smiling will show how good of time you are having.
    Yours In Health!

    Dr. Wendy M. Schauer, D.C., R.K.C.

  3. Sounds like some great tips, although I’m surprised that the half-hug/cheek kiss would be acceptable these days.

    Rae & Mark

  4. Great advice, as usual! Although all are right on, I have to say the two that would do it for me the most are the engaged conversation and smile.

    Dennis

  5. Great tips and very important I think that you spend time and different posts on the first day dating. It’s probably “the” most important one so you really have to be preprared for it!

  6. April,
    Entertaining and valuable post, as always! I think that smiling and laughing register with me the most. That means we are both having a good time.

    Karen Van Ness

  7. Sending flirting to each other on a first date sure makes it sound like it will be fun at least. A lot more fun than most first dates.

  8. What really valuable information, April. I like the idea very much of flirting. So attractive in men when they flirt with us.

  9. I really like these ideas for a first date, April. I hope you’ll write more about first dates and internet dating.

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