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Participants meet, mingle a bit at a reception, then take places at tables around the room. A bell sounds and each paired-off couple has six minutes to size each other up.
At the six-minute mark, the bell sounds, the men move to the next table in line and the process starts again. All speed daters have a check sheet to keep track of which people they'd like to see again, or not. The next day, they get a list from the organizers of everyone they said they'd like to meet, who also want to meet them.
The appeal of speed dating is a chance to size up a blind date without worrying about being stuck on a long, awkward date with someone you realize you don't really like.
Lisa Daily, dating expert and author of "Stop Getting Dumped," offers this advice to speed-date:
• Smile. It makes a good first impression. "I attend a lot of these events," Daily said. "And you always see people scowling down, marking things off on their scorecard like they're going to a job fair. Relax!"
• Dress for success. She advises women to wear red – a color that studies have shown to increase heart rate and promote attraction. Men, she says, should wear blue, because blue is a soothing color. Basically, nice guys wear blue, hot girls wear red. Daily admits that her advice has led to speed dating events where all the participants show up in blue and red.
• Think of one good question. Speed daters get sick of answering the same questions over and over again – where do you come from? What do you do for a living? – so you can make a big impression by not asking boring questions. Ask what they do for fun, who their heroes were when they were children, what three items they'd take to a deserted island. Their answers will tell you a lot about them, and your questions tell them just as much about you. Speed dating, Daily said, "really is the perfect setup. You only have to be entertaining for six minutes. Anybody can be entertaining for six minutes."
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