You met someone, clicked, and exchanged numbers and promised to be in touch. However, you soon realize that texting them isn’t easy as you thought it would be and you’re now feeling stuck, wondering what to say. While you don’t want to overthink things and make this unnecessarily complicated, you do want to keep the initial chemistry going. Here’s how to text someone you just met without being awkward.
- Remind them of your first encounter. If you met at a party or a business meeting, you must have gotten some information about them. Instead of beating yourself about what to text them, bring up something notable about the day you met. It could be something general about the party or about the person who introduced you. You might say something simple like, “I really enjoyed the party last night. How did you like it?” This is a great way to strike up a conversation without feeling awkward.
- Throw them a genuine compliment. Everyone loves having their ego stroked. Identify the things that really attracted you to the other person and compliment them. It could be something that they did that you admired or it could have something to do with their physical appearance. Just make sure that you don’t sound too sexual as this could be a turn-off when sending a text to someone you just met. You could tell them, “I haven’t stopped smiling since yesterday. You must have infected me with your killer smile.” Or, you could say how good they’re at dancing, singing, listening, or any other skill that you noticed about them.
- Tell a good joke. There’s no better way to text someone you just met than giving them a good laugh. If you believe in your comedic skills, this is the best time to make use of them. Tell them a joke but make sure it’s respectful. Avoid jokes that are likely to offend the person or ones that make you look like an insensitive clown, but don’t afraid to be silly. You want them to see the goofy side of you too, right?
- Give them time to respond. When texting someone you just met, avoid double texting or flooding their inbox with dozens of messages. Once you text them, wait for them to respond before you can send another message. Even if they go a few hours or even a day without responding, be patient. No matter how badly you want to text and follow up to know if they’re okay, fight the urge and give them the space and time to get back to you.
- Don’t be entitled. Don’t say things like “I want to talk to you now” or start making crazy demands while you hardly know the person. If they take time to respond to your messages, don’t follow up with more messages complaining that they’re ignoring you. Remember, this is someone you just met and you don’t want to sound like you’re controlling them. They might be busy or just not interested in talking at the moment for whatever reason. That’s their prerogative.
- Don’t be boring. Be creative when sending your messages and avoid boring and dry messages. Keep off from sending one-worded messages as they don’t encourage a conversation. Instead of just saying “hi,” go on and ask the person what they’re up to. Keep the conversation going and match the person’s energy. If they’re vibrant, make sure you don’t put them off by sending dull messages.
- Go slow on the emojis. Now, you’ve just met this person and you don’t know how they love texting. Too many emojis aren’t everyone’s cup of tea so chill out when using them. To keep the conversation interesting, you can use them when necessary but there’s no need to use five laughing emojis while one is enough. As you continue texting, you’ll learn their texting habits, what they like, and what they can’t stand.
- Check your grammar. Some people don’t mind bad grammar but others are put off by it. Just in case, ensure you check your messages for mistakes before sending them. Sending poorly written messages to someone you just met might make you look like a careless person or one who can’t just follow simple rules. If you intend to have a relationship with this person, then you don’t want simple mistakes to disqualify you from a worthwhile relationship while you can easily proofread your messages.
- Avoid texting during odd hours. Until you get to know each other really well, avoid texting the person late in the night. Not just because they might be dead asleep but it also doesn’t send a good impression of you. They’ll be wondering why you only chose to text them very late in the night when you had an entire day. Show them that you respect their personal time and don’t be the person to disrupt their sleep.
- Identify common interests. It’s really hard to keep a conversation going when you have no common interest with someone. While texting someone you just met, first identify the things you have in common. A simple question like, “Which show are you currently watching?” will give you insight into the kind of stuff they’re into. If shows aren’t their thing, then you’ll get a chance to know what they love doing. Once you find your common interests, you’ll never run out of topics to talk about.
