5-minute date: How to make the most of speed dating?

“If something does go well, you'll have the opportunity to speak further in the future. If it doesn't — pretty quick escape,” Rachel Wolfe says of speed dating. Photo by Shutterstock.

Speed dating is regaining popularity with younger generations fed up with swiping to find love. Even some dating apps are hosting in-person speed dating events. 

How exactly does speed dating work today? Seven to 15 women are usually seated in a room, and each man rotates around them. They have three to five minutes to engage in a conversation. There’s a paper or app for people to indicate whether they want to see the other person again, and if it’s a match, then they get each others’ contact information. That’s according to Rachel Wolfe, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

“You'd be surprised how quickly people are willing to divulge their trauma. So people are ready to share, and people are just really trying to put their best foot forward. … The thinking is that it's the best of both. If something does go well, you'll have the opportunity to speak further in the future. If it doesn't — pretty quick escape.”

She points out that among heterosexual people, women are more open and willing to put themselves out there compared to men. 

Meanwhile, many organizers are expanding these events to the LGBTQ community too.  

What are tips for an effective five-minute encounter? Keep the conversation topics relatively light (don’t front-load your traumas too much), ask good questions, and keep it fun, Wolfe advises. 

Even if you don’t meet your next romantic partner here, many people walk away with new friends, she adds.