Dating compatible singles who meet your basic criteria is an important part of the process of meeting someone special.  Meeting high quality singles is also a fun way to meet new people and 'fine tune' your own match criteria.  In fact, the Professional Matchmakers at Executive Search Dating have found that 'positive dating' to be the BEST way to find your perfect match. With this in mind, here are 5 ways to get BETTER results from your first dates:

1. Be on time: arriving late for your first date with someone new often sends the message that you aren't interested in them, or that your time is more valuable than theirs.  Neither message will lead you to a second date.
2. Be interested and interesting: try and find an equal balance between talking and listening on your date.  Talking about yourself the entire time, or passively listening the entire date are both to be avoided.
3. Be POSITIVE: talk about fun things, travel stories, summer activities, things that interest and/or excite you; avoid talking about job stress, bad relationships or family issues on a first date.
4. Be focused: turn your cell phone off and avoid checking out other people in the restaurant; focusing on your date, in addition to being common courtesy, is also the only way to really get to know them and discover things in common.
5. Be honest: if you are interested in seeing them again, say so before the first date is done and exchange contact details.  If you don't feel there is any spark, then a polite call or email to let them know is a good way to avoid leading someone on.