By / 27th May, 2010 / Funny t shirt, T-Shirts / 2 Comments

A Guide to Nerd Guys Meeting and Dating Women: How to start talking to them Part 4

Ok.  You’ve started a conversation with an attractive, hopefully single, straight (I have run into that problem frequently, to tell the truth) woman and now you are at one of the points wherein you normally screw up: keeping the conversation going without coming across as a total nerd loser or getting shut down by the girl.

This is one of the toughest things you need to learn to do.  Most nerd guys, when talking to a woman, feel compelled to show her how smart they are (Sanford had it right.  Shirt image courtesy of the funny t shirt section) by running at the mouth.  They also feel that they need to impress them somehow (more on this later) and do so by telling them a lot of stuff.  The fact is, the way to impress a girl is to get them to talk about themselves, not you.  And the way to do that is open ended questions.

Here’s how open ended questions work.  Never ask a girl a question that can be answered with a conversation ending no.  Every question you ask her should lead to other questions.  For example, a bad question is “Do you like comic book movies?”  That is her opportunity to say “No.  Oh, there is my friend across the room.  Bye.”  Instead, ask her something like “Are you having fun at this (insert social event here)?”  Even if she says no, you can ask her why, or what types of events she likes, or what have you.  Here are some open ended questions with decent follow ups.

“What do you do for a living?” leads to “Do you enjoy it?” leads to “Why or why not?”

“Are you having fun at this party/club/bar/monster truck rally?” leads to “Why or why not?” leads to “Do you come to these or other events often?:

Girl reading a book or doing some kind of work at a coffee house “What are you reading/working on?” leads to “Do you like that author/work?”  leads to “Have you read anything else by that author/done any other work of a similar nature?” leads to “What other authors/work do you like?”  This thread can go forever, and lead into a really cool conversation on books or work or whatever.

Girl sitting next to you on a plane or train or possibly at an airport or transit center “Where are you headed?” leads to “Why are you going there?” or “Why were you in the city we are leaving?” leads to “Do you travel a lot?”  This is a particularly good question as there is very little women like talking about more than travel.

You kind of get the idea.  Don’t sound like you are reading from a script.  Let it flow.  But when she is talking instead of thinking about your next opportunity to show how smart and cool you are think about your next question for her.  To be honest you should be curious about her and women love talking about themselves.

This should go without saying, but with most nerds I can’t count on knowledge of any social skills, so I will go ahead and say it.  If for whatever reason you find yourself talking to a girl in a doctor’s waiting room or other medical situation never ask her what brings her there.  Women hate discussion their bodies with strangers (they wait until you are in a relationship with them, at which time they will tell you everything in excruciating detail) or any discussion that implies some kind of physical abnormality.  Unless it is something both obvious and accidental, like a cast.  Then you can get her talking about whatever accident brought her there.

As long as we are discussing this, let me also say that if you are at a bar or club do not make the mistake of hanging out near the ladies room in the assumption that every girl in the place will walk by eventually.  Also never try to talk to a girl as she leaves the ladies room.  That is creepy x10.

Next post: how to shut the hell up.

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2 Comments

  • Shrran June 4, 2010 at 4:23 am

    Here’s some more tips that many guys don’t get and I don’t see addressed.
    First, Pay attention to context. It is not a good idea to talk to a girl who is doing something that is clearly a sign she wants to be left alone. Interrupting her reading, for example, is not cool. Guys don’t mind being interrupted by girls, typically, but girls, especially attractive ones, have guys clamoring for their attention constantly, and interruptions are just annoying. If you try to talk to her while she’s reading on the bus, or doing any other entertaining activity, you will more likely than not be seen as a nuisance, which is a great way to shoot yourself in the foot.

    Second, and related to this, if a girl is sending you clear “leave me alone signals,” you’re wasting your time by talking to her. Things to look for are an apparent willingness to go back to her previous activity, nervous shuffling, tilting her body away, awkward responses to your questions, and not making eye contact. These are NOT signs that say the girl is nervous and shy, these are the signs that the girl is uncomfortable or annoyed and doesn’t know how to tell you to get lost. Many, many, many girls, especially the somewhat immature ones, will do this, and later on just laugh and think the guy is a total weirdo for trying to talk to her.

  • Dave June 7, 2010 at 1:44 pm

    Great points, Shrran. I kind of hit on this poing in my most recent post with the “Two Minute Rule”, although to be honest I usually make my assessment within a few comments. I think a key element is not being a nuisance.

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