6. Dress casual.

Be approachable, don't be intimidating.

7. Have a time-limited date.

Knowing it's just for an hour or two hours makes it more manageable. Meeting for lunch on a work day is one idea. You'll both have to get back to work, so you can keep it short and sweet.

8. Watch self-disclosure.

Use your EQ. Share a little about yourself, but not everything on first date. It's TMI. Besides a little mystery's always a good thing.

9. Be prepared.

Meeting someone new can be stressful. Make a list of interesting conversation topics for when your mind gets a little foggy. Hobbies, good movies, favorite books, and travel are always safe conversation topics. We all like to talk about ourselves, so be a good listener!

10. Enjoy yourself.

Someone who's having a good time is irresistible.

Getting started

Most people find it difficult being on their own in a crowd of people who all appear to be happily socialising. It makes sense that if you simply walk across to a person standing on their own, introduce yourself and start talking, they will be thankful and will want to talk to you. But how do you actually start? What do you say? What you say is less important than actually just saying something to break ice. It is extremely important to make sure of two things. Say it with confidence and make sure that your opening statement is positive. A complaint about boring music or lack of food at a party isn’t going to win you new friends. A positive statement about anything will normally get you a smile and a positive comment back.

Your opening line could either be a statement or a question. The important thing is to involve other person immediately and to quickly find something in common. The safest thing to talk about is generally current situation. If you’re at an exhibition, choose closest or most interesting painting. At a party, ask “How do you know John (the host)”. Be prepared to have same question asked back, but this will quickly allow you to find common ground and start asking open-ended questions.

Now for hard part - go and chat to a stranger and have fun!