The Dating Game: A Fun Activity for the Nerve Wracking First Date!

First dates are hard enough as it is, but if you are with someone who isn't a natural talker, the silence can be deafening. When I was in my dating days, I never had a boring first date. I always felt like life was too short to be bored (or boring), so I developed a little game to keep the conversation flowing. This worked well, especially with the quiet guys with whom I didn't think I had a lot in common. And it worked really well with people I hit it off with because we just naturally wanted to get to know each other better.

You can either mention that it's a game, or not. It's totally up to you. Or you can just have these questions in the back of your mind for when the silence creeps in, and there's that awkward moment when no one has anything to say. If you think you two don't have a lot in common, you can stick to the easy questions. If you like the other person and want to get to know them a bit better, go for the harder ones. Here are a group of questions that should get the conversation flowing.

• What's your favorite color?
• What's your favorite season?
• What's your favorite beverage?
• What's your favorite food?
• What's your favorite type of music?
• What's your favorite song?
• What's your favorite type of date? (dinner and a movie, going to a sports game, going to the beach? hiking?)
• What's your favorite children's book?
• What's your favorite teen/adult book?
• What is/was your favorite subject in school?
• What's your all-time favorite movie?
• Who's your favorite actor/actress?
• What's your favorite childhood memory?
• What's your favorite holiday?
• What's your favorite memory from that holiday?
• If you could live anywhere in the United States where would it be?
• If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
• Who's your best friend, and why?
• What was/is your favorite subject in school, and why?
• Who's your hero?
• What is your dream job and are you doing it?
• What's the one thing you most hope to accomplish in your lifetime?
• Who's your favorite...depending on where you think their interests lie, it could be a writer, athlete, artist, etc.
• If you were stranded on a desert island, what 3 things would you want to have with you?
• Who would you want to have dinner with that is either dead or alive?
• Who was your favorite teacher and why?
• What's the craziest thing you have ever done?
• Have you ever traveled outside this country?
• What's the best thing your parents taught you?
• What's the best vacation you have ever had?
• Where would you most like to go on vacation?
• If you could have lunch with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?
• If you were stranded on a desert island and could only have three things with you, what would they be?
• If a magic genie gave you three wishes, what would they be?
• Who in the world would you most like to trade places with for one day?
• What's your favorite way to communicate: Talking on the phone, writing, texting, email?
• Where would you most like to go on our second date (this is only if things are going well!)

You may not have time to talk about all of these subjects on your first date if the date goes well and you both dug deep to answer these questions. But that's okay. If things are going that well, you can save the rest for the second date!

Good luck to you on all of your future first dates!