I am a libertarian, and a libertine. The last thing you will see coming from me is a list of rules.
What I would like to do here is post a list of suggestions. These are suggestions that I believe are good because I have tried them and they worked very well for me… but I can’t guarantee they will work for you. Read about them, try them in your own life, and let me know how you liked it.
Clubs and bars
I don’t think going to a bar or club alone is a good idea.
I believe going to a bar or club with another guy is even worse.
If I do end up meeting with a guy friend at a bar and we don’t have any women with us by the time we go through the door, I will have him walk in before or after me, and we will “meet” inside the club, right after we started talking to some women.
The universe used to revolve around the Earth, then for some time the universe revolved around the Sun. Now it seems the universe revolves around the bar. I don’t agree with it. If the bar or nightclub is not your favorite environment to socialize I don’t think you should feel bad about it at all.
Turn your chair around so you will have your back to the bar and you will have a chance to position people around you.
Always look busy. Either you are talking to someone or you are doing something. You are never standing there with your drink in your hand, watching the action.
Conversations
I still can’t use standard openers, never tried very hard, and never will. I make up as I go and figure out some sort of opener that feels natural in the situation. A so-so opener that feels natural is better than a fabulous opener that you say and sound scripted.
I never got my head around the nagging thing. Still don’t like to use it at all and given the results I had so far I don’t think it is necessary.
If you are talking to a person and want to connect with her, position yourself to have your back towards the TV and people passing by. For me it is already difficult to concentrate, and I don’t want her to catch me glancing at the TV or sizing up another woman that walks by.
Turn your cell phone to vibrate and leave it inside your pocket, not on the table. If she interrupts the conversation to answer her phone, don’t say anything, but keep staring at the phone as if she took her dildo out of her purse. She will soon understand that you expect courteous behavior as well.
If she gets distracted with anything at all (friends, strangers, cell phone) for more than a few seconds, start a conversation with someone nearby. Anyone. Any conversation. And as soon as she brings her attention back to you, you do the same. Never sit there doing nothing, and looking at her, while she is talking to someone else.
Never offer your business card. Give it only to those that asked for it.
Body language
Don’t lean in.
If they can’t hear you, speak louder, but don’t lean in.
Walk like your favorite and most masculine movie star. Just emulate the way he walks at all times. Notice that he doesn’t lean in.
Good manners
Open the door. Not just for women. Open the door for friends, male or female. Open the door for strangers.
Give up your seat to the elderly or pregnant women. People tend to refuse so I usually look at the person in the eye as I stand up and say “Excuse me madam, please take this seat!”. I tone it to sound almost like an order, and smile when they accept it.
While walking on the sidewalk, take the outside.
Go up the stairs first, go down the stairs last.
Learn to behave at the table, how to use the silverware, napkin, etc.
If you are walking through a thick crowd, grab her hand and lead her through it.