Looking for a few virtual date tips to help with your upcoming Zoom date?

While the pandemic is slowly coming to a close, some of the behaviors that it triggered are sticking around.

Home fitness, working from home, and bread baking are all trends that are here to stay.

But the pandemic hasn’t just changed our platonic lives but our romantic ones too.

One of these lingering romantic trends is virtual dating.

That’s right, before heading out to that fancy French restaurant and splurging on food you can’t pronounce people are opting to first meet virtually.

And why not?

As you can see, a lot of people are fed up with online dating. 

Annoyed and single individuals will take any chance they can get to improve their dating lives.

Virtual dating addresses the desire to confirm that people are who they in fact say they are.

It also helps test the waters before investing time and money in seeing someone in person.

Hate it or love it, Zoom dates are en vogue and will stay that way for the foreseeable future (or until the next plague wipes us all out).

Yet with all these new changes, not everyone feels comfortable adapting to the new normal.

To ease your transition towards virtual dating, here are some virtual date tips for guys supplied by emlovz’s dating coaches.

Virtual Date Tips

Test Your Lighting And Video Setup

As you’ll see, many of the following tips are ones that you’d most likely follow before a virtual interview.

The first of which involves testing your lighting and video setup.

If she’s asking to see you online before IRL, it’s because she isn’t yet sold on the idea of meeting you in the real world. With that said, it’s paramount that you make a good first impression.

If she can’t see your face or hear you and your CPU is positioned at a lower angle that makes you look like an aspiring serial killer, chances are she’ll keep swiping.

Jackie is a Senior Dating Coach and Matchmaker at emlovz. 

When it comes to first dates online she recommends:

Here’s a link to the clip-on light she was referring to.

Dress Like You Are Going On A Date

Now that you’ve got the lighting covered, it’s time to talk about that shirt.

It doesn’t matter if you’re on your living room sofa and you’re the only person in the apartment.

A date is a date.

That being said, it’s important that you actually dress like you’re going on a date, because while you’re not going anywhere, you most certainly are on a date and are trying to impress the woman (virtually) sitting opposite you.

Jackie recommends “a henley shirt that fits your body well and maybe a man necklace, if that’s your thing. Make sure your hair & skin looks good. Work on those teeth of yours by brushing with baking soda.”

And yes, even though you don’t normally wear pants during your Zoom meetings, you might want to reconsider doing so on a date.

Why?

Because dressing to impress gets you in the mood. Putting a nice shirt and pants on will get you in the zone.

Not to mention that not wearing pants could result in a viral mishap (see countless viral YouTube videos).

Make Your Favorite Drink

Just because virtually dating is the new normal doesn’t mean it’s still not weird.

To make this inherently awkward process less so, make sure you’re as comfortable as possible.

That means taking the call in comfy clothes, sitting in your favorite chair, and mitigating your inhibition with your favorite drink. The more natural and comfy you are the better the date will be.

Make Sure Your House Is Clean

Anything can happen on a virtual first date… except a kiss of course.

Just because you’re stationary to begin the date doesn’t mean that’s how it’ll end.

Naturally, the conversation will bounce from topic to topic, from your house plants to your newfound obsession with biking.

Perhaps when discussing your new hobby you’ll have the desire to show off your new piano or bike. If that’s the case you’ll have to move your phone or computer, thus giving your date an unintended tour of your home.

What will she see when you drag her around your home?

Are there empty bottles on your kitchen table, abandoned socks in the living room, or insects flying around your garbage?

Be ready for any and every audible.

Being ready means residing in a clean house, one you could imagine taking a woman back to in person. This might be one of the most important virtual date tips on this list, so hire a housecleaner if you have to.

No Trios

No trios, four-sies, or orgies.

These are pretty standard first date rules that also apply to virtual dates.

She doesn’t want to go on a date with your roommate, friend, or 5 cats (well maybe the cats).

Make sure your friends and roommates know not to bother you for a certain period of time. Ideally, you take the call when they’re out of the house. If that’s not possible simply ask them not to make too much noise from 8-9 or whenever the date takes place.

Have A Conversation Topic Up Your Sleeve

Humans weren’t designed to connect with pixelated versions of humans no bigger than a few inches.

We’re designed to have complex interactions in person, ones that take into account both verbal and non-verbal cues.

While this is the ideal form of interaction, it’s not the kind you’ve got penciled in on your calendar.

And while there are plenty of cons associated with online dating there are also a few pros, you just need to know what they are.

One is that it allows you to memorize or create a cheat sheet of topics, questions, or games that you can broach should the conversation go south.

Make sure these cheat codes are written down on your CPU and pulled up during the call for quick and easy access.

Here are a few examples of what you might prepare:

— “What shows have you been binge-watching?”

— “What new skills have you learned during the pandemic?” Then ask her to show them off to you

— “What are your love languages?”

— “How are you staying fit at home?”

— “I just finished my book, what are you reading?” Pick up the book you just finished and show her

— Show off new hobbies you’ve been getting into during pandemic (show her the song you learned, food you made, puzzle you finished, etc.)

— “What’s a food you can’t live without?”

— Ask to see her view

Have Fun With It!

Whatever that means to you.

Perhaps fun means playing a drinking game with her or showing off your extensive collection of N64 video games. Whatever fun means, do it.

If the new normal isn’t fun it quickly becomes the new boring.

To have a thriving love life you’re going to have to find ways to make online dating enjoyable for you and your date.

Set A Time Limit

If you’re following MegaDating rules you’ll know that first dates should last no longer than an hour.

However, things change when you’re dating online.

Virtual dating isn’t the best medium to build a connection with a woman.

Really the purpose of a virtual first date is to confirm that the person is who they say they are and to get a feel of whether they’d be worth meeting in person.

That’s it.

You don’t need or want a virtual date to last 2+ hours.

This would kill sexual tension and interest.

Instead, aim for 30 minutes.

By giving you and your date a 30-minute time limit you’re deflating any nerves associated with the date.

Tell your date prior that you can only talk for about 30 minutes. If the date is going well extend that timeline by 10 minutes or so.

Play Games

I remember when my teachers would give me a writing assignment in middle school and they’d tell us that we could write about anything.

Whenever that happened I freaked out.

The endless possibilities overwhelmed me to the point that I couldn’t think of anything.

Do you get this way on dates?

Where the conversation could go in any direction yet you remain stagnant, refusing to broach any topic at all?

If this is you I have a solution, well I have a few.

Instead of drumming up a conversation from nothing, let the conversation revolve around the game you two are playing.

Giving yourself an activity introduces a natural talking point.

Here are some games you should try out:

— Deeper Talk Deck

— Scattergories

— Heads Up!

— Quiplash

There are literally dozens of games you can play. You just need to decide which one’s right for you.

Ask her before the date if she’d like to play (just make sure the date works for just two people).

Cheat/Become A Master Romantic

I give my coaching clients a ton of conversation starters with their emlovz workbook and we train in detail on dating conversation so they know what topics to avoid, how to pivot away from red flag topics, and what to talk about to pull at her heartstrings (because love isn’t logical, it’s emotional).

If you’re looking for advanced help on this subject, book a new client session with a member of my team to learn more. 

If you’re a matchmaking client, your matchmaker will also be doing pre and post-date coaching with you (15 min mini-sessions) for any specific questions you may have and to give you some last-minute pointers. If you thrive with mentors or support teams, then you’ll crush your dating goals with emlovz.

Close With A TDL

One of the most important virtual date tips, and really a super important first date tip….is closing the date with a TDL.

TDL stands for time, date, location of the next date.

I teach all of my clients both its importance and how to use it.

Towards the end of the date you’ll want to use a TDL to ask her on a second date (one that takes place in person).

Ideally, you have a cool TDL or two already thought out before the date begins.

If not, no worries, simply craft a TDL that is based on activities you know she enjoys.

For example:

TDLs are crucial for a few reasons. 

For one it’s a formal date request with precise information that she can either reject or accept.

Secondly, a TDL specifies a kick-ass activity one that’s too good to pass up. When you plan ahead and think of an awesome TDL it’s difficult for her to say no. Make sure your TDL sounds like once-in-a-lifetime opportunities or at the very least something she wouldn’t want to miss.

Time To Schedule A Virtual Date

Remember to treat virtual dates as dates, to make them fun via conversation or games, and to finish strong by using a TDL to transition into a relationship that isn’t confined by a screen.