How to Make Your Next Zoom Date Your Last One
Getting Zoom fatigue? It feels like every meeting is blurring together these days… is this a work meeting, parent-teacher interview, virtual happy hour, or a date? If In your dating life, however, it doesn’t have to be this way. Below are some great tips on how to have a Zoom date so successful you can call it your last.
Look your best
Just because a date is virtual, doesn’t mean you have to show up in pyjamas. There are a ton of ways to ensure you still look your best to make a great impression on your date.
- Find some good lighting. If you are meeting during the day, sit in front of a window. If you are meeting in the evening, place a light behind your camera for a front-lit look, and try to avoid having lights on behind you so that you aren’t backlit.
- The camera on your computer should be at eye level or just above. Do a test run and play around the screen angle and lighting prior to the date. Don’t sit to close the camera. Ideally, the other person should be able to see you from about the waist up if possible! Use books or a box to prop up your laptop if needed.
- Dress up in something that makes you feel confident and shows your date that you are excited to be there. I always say dress like you would if you were meeting in a restaurant or wine bar for a drink.
- Tidy up your home and remove any clutter behind you.
- If you wear makeup, you can try out some more dramatic looks as everything looks more muted on camera.
- Feel free to sit down with a drink that makes you feel calm and relaxed. Coffee, tea, or a glass of wine works too!
- Check out these blog posts for more tips on how to look great on Zoom:
Make a plan in advance
Before COVID, we had to plan our dates based on location and occasion. Don’t let the excitement of choosing a restaurant or activity get lost just because your date is virtual. You have the opportunity to do this virtually as well! Choose a meal you will both order, or even better, cook. Pick an online game or movie to play or watch together. Pick a card game or series of questions to run through together. Just because a date is virtual, doesn’t mean it can’t be themed or focused on a specific occasion. What makes dates great is the opportunity to try new things with a new person – don’t let this get lost. You two can still have tons of fun and try something new for the first time.
Check out this (totally non-exhaustive) list of ideas for ways to make your virtual date a real date with an event and a plan – and even some locations.
https://www.glamour.com/story/virtual-dates-you-can-go-on-in-quarantine
Write some notes
What is so amazing about Zoom is that you are free to bring notes with you, and nobody can tell! Are you the type of person to run out of things to say on a usual date? Perhaps your mind runs blank around the second course… and the waiter is taking WAY too long to bring dessert out. What do you do? This no longer needs to be a concern with Zoom dates, and can actually end up being a benefit. Before your date, brainstorm and write out a variety of questions or conversation starters to use when there is that (inevitable) lull in the conversation. A quick glance down and your date will never know the difference.
Running out of ideas? Here are 59 questions to get you started: https://metro.co.uk/2020/06/17/questions-ask-virtual-date-12866544/
Focus on the positives
COVID will and come and and the effects of the pandemic. But make sure to focus on the positives as much as or more than the negatives. We have all suffered through feelings of isolation and perhaps even loss, but that does not mean that we can’t use this conversation topic to highlight our positive attributes and prove that we are resilient human beings. I suggest asking questions or talking about these types of topics:
- Have you learned something new about yourself?
- Have you picked up a new hobby?
- Have you volunteered, donated time or money, or helped out a neighbour?
- Have you had a chance to connect with someone new virtually?
- Have you read more? If so, what books?
These questions are a great way to gauge what kind of person your date is while honing in on specific interests and passion topics for the both of you.