Why You Should Try Speed Dating
Are your current dating methods proving fruitless? Are you struggling to meet like-minded people who seek long-term relationships? Are you sick to death of the Tinder grind and blatant shallowness of physical beauty being the only thing of interest to the people swiping left or right?
There are many reasons why you should try speed dating sooner rather than later. Speed dating is a unique way to mingle with other singles face-to-face locally, in a safe, managed environment, or virtually via web chat room reception areas.
There is a desperate shortfall of single females in the Australian speed dating sector, and as a single man, booking your place on the next available event can require you to book months in advance. With that fact in mind, there is no time to waste and every reason to check out what all the fuss around speed dating is about.
Why Should You Try Speed Dating
The most outstanding reason to try speed dating is because it is fun, and, honestly, you have nothing to lose. All it will cost you is a few hours of your time and the ticket price. What you will gain from the experience are social confidence and network opportunities, you might make new friendships, and connections, and if you are lucky, you might meet the person with whom you are destined to enter a healthy, happy long-term relationship.
Is Speed Dating Expensive
When you stop and think about how much money you spend on a date, the cost of a speed dating ticket has to be deemed as excellent value for money. Some ticket prices include a free drink to help relax your frayed nerves or quiet the anxiety monster stirring in your stomach.
Most events in Australia have a ticket price of between $40-$80. The ticket price will vary depending on who the host or MC for the event is. If you have a celebrity host, you can expect to pay more, but you get more in comedic entertainment to help make the night an enjoyable experience. The speed dating event host or MC can make or break an event, so check out their body of work and ensure you like their style before booking a ticket to the event they host.
Is Speed Dating A Waste Of Time
No! Speed dating is never a waste of time. All dating, whether on apps, in person, or online, has pitfalls and hazards as well as rewards without any guarantees. When you meet someone new, it is always a gamble that they will be a healthy, mentally sound individual ready to enter a long-term relationship with the right person. You can never know what a person’s motives are for dating in any medium. However, there is always tremendous value in meeting new people, making new friends, getting out of the house, and getting a better understanding of what you are not looking for in a significant other, as much as defining what you are seeking to find in the dating and mating process.
Will Speed Dating Work For My Personality Type
Whatever your personality type, speed dating will work for you because there are people who share your personality type or compliment it with an ‘opposites attract’ mentality. Of course, that also means you will encounter people who rub you the wrong way, or you would rather throw stones at them than converse with them, but that is a saloon-style door swinging both ways. You are not going to be everyone else’s cup of tea either. That is how life works. It does not matter if you put three people or thirty into a room; you will not like one of them given time, and that is a guarantee you can take to the bank!
The event hosts ensure the shy, wallflower types are put at ease, while outgoing personality types revel in the chance to meet multiple people and establish network opportunities in a relatively short span of time. Speed dating is the only form of mass dating that simultaneously allows singles to come face to face with so many other singles in the area.
Events are traditionally for heterosexual single males and females seeking long-term relationships and potentially marriage partners. Events are organised by age category, and some even cater specifically to same-gender events, so everyone is included and has the potential to find a great match.
The Speed Dating Experience
One reason speed-dating events work so well is down to their formatting. The format for speed dating means that prior to the event, you know what to expect, how many people you will be meeting, how long you will get with each person, and what is expected of you. Speed dating takes the fear of the unknown out of play, leaving you with a less stressful, safe, and easy way to meet a large number of single people in a short span of time. The upside is that you can be fairly confident they are single and looking for the same thing you are and possibly even with you!
Speed Dating Rules
Every speed dating event follows a clear set of rules. This means you can prepare interesting and unique questions to surprise your speed dates ahead of time. Unlike the real world of dating, the time limit and bell set for each date means you are never stuck talking to someone you don’t click with, or someone who creeps you out and sets off your warning bells. The event host will ensure everyone moves to the next seat and date after the bell rings.
At the end of the event, no one gets your details without your permission, and you only get matched with a potential person if you both ticked the box and liked each other. If only one person ticked the box, no match was made, and that person does not get the ability to contact you. While there is nothing to stop a deranged or obsessed stalker from following you home, that is the same for anyone on any given day in life, and your personal safety is your responsibility. As dating safety goes, speed dating offers a safe and secure process before, during and immediately after the event.
Even if you make a match and then catch up only to discover there wasn’t any substance behind the initial match, or that you changed your mind about them the next day, you are not under any obligation to have another date with your match or respond to them if they do contact you via your initially agreeing to swap details.
How To Speed Date Successfully
If the main draw of speed dating is solely the chance to meet your future perfect life partner, chances are you are going home disappointed and calling the event a total bust! The first thing you must do is manage your expectations. Instead of hoping to find the love of your life (and you might), go with the expectation of making new friends and meeting new people. If you make a new friend or two speed dating, while they are not a relationship match for you, you might know someone you believe would be perfect for them and can set up a blind date, or they might know someone they think you would be a good match for and do likewise.
Meeting new people opens doors to their friends and their friends and so on. If you follow the theory that everyone is brought into your life for a reason, even if only for five minutes, then the potential is limitless when speed dating.
There are plenty of people who claim proudly that they met the love of their life at a speed dating event. Irony can be a little mischievous, and often it is the ones who attend with the most underlying contempt and disbelief that it could work for them that karma tends to pair up. I cannot begin to explain how or why that is the case; it just seems to be Cupid’s job to work overtime on the hard cases at speed dating events.
Speed Dating With No Matches – Why You Should Try Speed Dating More Than Once
Honestly, your debut into the speed dating world can be so anxiety-provoking that you put off the wrong vibe to the opposite sex on the night. If you don’t get a match, that does not mean you have been unsuccessful at speed dating, or that no one finds you attractive or interesting. It can simply be that the vibe you put out unintentionally set off red flags in your dates. It is normal to attend a few events before you can relax enough to understand and enjoy the process. Once you are relaxed, you have a higher success rate when it comes to finding someone you are mutually compatible with and seek to further date. As with any form of dating, it can be a numbers game, so if, at first, you don’t succeed, try again and again and again!
If you haven’t found a single match after six speed dating events, you might need to take a closer look at your expectations and your appeal to the opposite sex. You might not be ready for a long-term relationship and still have some work to do on yourself and healing any past hurt, trauma, or relationship baggage before you are fit and ready to return to the dating pool.
Women tend to pick up on the energy vibe, nonverbal cues, detect lies, and over exaggerations of the truth faster and more accurately than men. If the vibe you are putting out has any room for doubt in her mind, your sincerity appears to be compromised, or your actions and words cause her alarm to trip for any reason, you won’t be getting a match. The pressure and stress of that simple dynamic between the sexes can be destructive to experiencing a good speed date for men who try to impress or compensate with material things over genuine substance.
Give Speed Dating A Chance
Now that you have been given insight and learned more about what is involved with speed dating and the benefits that go with it, why not book your seat at the next available event near you?
If you need your friends around you for support, why not arrange to go with a group of single friends and increase the chances of one or all of you meeting new potential partners on the night? I cannot stress how male-heavy this medium is; for single women, that means you get a lot of cream to scoop from the top of the milk. It puts the female in control and the driving seat, which makes a nice change from the traditional format where men are expected to put themselves out there and make all the first moves.
By removing the stigma around instant potential rejection, speed dating allows men the opportunity to let women do the hard work. All you have to do is be your genuine self, funny, easy to talk to, a good listener, and not a pervert or creep who sends our “rapey” vibes. Sorry guys, some men carry that dark, sinister sexual energy that puts women off and sends them running in the opposite direction at light speed, and for good reasons!
Speed Dating In Australia
Speed dating is rapidly gaining a popular resurgence, with people leaving online dating apps and Tinder behind them, never to return. Each state will have their own speed dating events, organised by a variety of companies, charities or organisations that specialise in speed dating as a weekly business. You may find with a quick Google search that your area has a lot of events or fewer than you would like.
There are online speed dating events conducted virtually via a hosted website. You should spend time checking them all out. If you delve a little deeper, you can even find global speed dating events that are free and deeper still; you can isolate specific speed dating events for religious denominations etc.
You may find speed dating events happening at your local pub, club, or sporting association. They can make for great charity fundraisers too. If you are a regular at a local haunt, ask the manager if they plan to host a speed dating event in the future and if not, why not? It would bring in some big money and new clientele for them. They should seriously think about it. It also means you get a night out somewhere you are familiar with and comfortable being socially.
Related Speed Dating Questions
How Do You Prepare For Speed Dating?
We recommend choosing carefully of what to wear at speed dating, the topics you’d like to discuss, the questions you will ask, and how you will answer questions you might be asked, keeping in mind the time limitations. Plan and book any taxis or Ubers you might need to get to and from the venue or check the parking situation in advance.
How Does Speed Dating Work?
You get to ‘date’ every one of the opposite sex in the room for a set period of time between 5-10 minutes. After each date, a bell is rung, the guys move along one seat until everyone has had a chance to meet and speak with all the potential date matches at the event.
After the event has finished, you give the organisers the sheet on which you recorded the name/s of the date/s you wish to make contact with in the future. They will compare your list of liked matches to the people you chose. Where there is a match, they will forward you both each other’s details, and you then make your own arrangements for a second date directly with the matched date or dates if you are lucky enough to have clicked with multiple people.