Spring Training Tip for Singles: Don’t Crowd the Plate When You Step Up to Bat, According to People Media DatingData Poll

Spring is in bloom, romance is in the air and baseball fever is everywhere. But if your dating game has been on hiatus since the final out of the World Series last fall, you may want to take a few practice swings before stepping up to the plate for this season’s first date.

Especially when it comes to knowing when it’s time for you to talk and when it’s time to listen to your date, according to a new DatingData poll from People Media, the No. 1 provider of targeted online dating communities. Nearly 9,000 members of BlackPeopleMeet (www.blackpeoplemeet.com) and SeniorPeopleMeet (www.seniorpeoplemeet.com) -- People Media’s top sites and the leaders in their respective communities -- responded to the April poll.

Forty-two percent of respondents report that asking questions and listening well is the most important way to avoid striking out on a first date. Twenty-two percent advise singles to play it safe and avoid going beyond "first base.” Keeping the conversation fresh by planning conversation-starters was cited by 13 percent of survey participants.

People Media, Inc. (www.peoplemedia.com) monitors the status of single Americans through its ongoing DatingData poll. Each month, the DatingData poll poses a timely question to one or more of the company’s targeted relationship sites, capturing the sentiments and opinions of a broad cross-section of the single population in America today.

This month, members were asked: "What is the best spring training tip for a first date?” They responded as follows:

• 42 percent – "When at bat: Ask questions and listen well”
• 22 percent – "Play it safe: Do not go past first base”
• 13 percent – "Warm-up: Plan conversation-starters”
• 12 percent – "Suit up: Dress for success”
• 11 percent – "Avoid curve balls: Focus on the positive”

"Professional baseball players use Spring Training to get in shape and tune up their game before they hit the field on Opening Day,” said Josh Meyers, CEO, People Media. "Similarly, many men and women enter or re-enter the dating scene during the spring and summer seasons and find that they are a little out of practice. These DatingData Poll results from experienced online daters provide some common-sense tips for those who are coming off the bench and want to ensure their first dating at-bat is a success.”

The results reveal that the most successful dates begin with stimulating, back and forth conversation – and a willingness to listen – according to Dr. Terri Orbuch, a psychologist and research professor at the University of Michigan who serves as a relationship expert for SeniorPeopleMeet.com.

"People who haven’t dated for awhile may feel they have to sell themselves to their date, so they tend to monopolize the conversation or forget to listen when it’s the other person’s turn to talk,” said Orbuch, also known as "The Love Doctor®.” "Experienced daters understand there needs to be a balance between telling your date about you and asking questions of him or her.”

It’s also a good idea to prepare some "conversation starters” for use in the middle innings, when conversation slows. "Think about what you will do and say on the first few dates, and about what you will want your date to remember about your time together,” Orbuch advised. "If you haven’t dated for awhile, it doesn’t hurt to practice what you say in front of a mirror, or by role-playing with a friend. This helps you be more prepared and less nervous.”

Stimulating conversation often leads to visions of romance, but experienced daters caution that it’s best to play it safe on the first date and avoid going past "first base.”

"The fastest way to get sent back to the minors is to rush into a physical relationship before the other person or the relationship is ready,” Orbuch said. "Trying to hit a home run too early in the game is a common error that invariably results in a brush-back pitch.”

Slightly less important factors in a successful first date include "suiting up” for success (12%) and avoiding "curve balls” by steering conversation away from touchy or negative topics (11%).

"In addition to the three tips most often cited in the poll, it’s also important to look your best and to have a positive, optimistic approach, because both of these contribute to a good, lasting first impression,” concluded Orbuch. "Ultimately – in both dating and baseball – success comes from bringing all of these factors to bear. Those individuals who are able to do that are bound to have a terrific dating season.”

Poll Reveals Dating Tips Are Universal – Almost

The aggregate results include responses from more than 8,800 BlackPeopleMeet.com and SeniorPeopleMeet.com community members. While there was general agreement among members of both communities, and between the sexes, there were a few surprises. For example:

• While the majority of members of both online dating destinations and both sexes ranked "Ask Questions & Listen Well” as their No. 1 dating tip, male respondents from SeniorPeopleMeet were the most adamant: 50% selected that response, compared with 44% of senior women, 42% of male BlackPeopleMeet respondents and 34% of black female respondents.
• Women were far more concerned than men that first-time daters should "Play It Safe: Do Not Go Past First Base:” 27% of female respondents from BlackPeopleMeet.com selected this as their greatest concern, followed by 26% of female SeniorPeopleMeet poll participants. Only 16% of senior men and 15% of black men expressed the same level of concern.
• More men than women selected "Suit Up: Dress for Success” as their No. 1 dating tip. Only 14% of black American women and 8% of senior American women said dressing to make an impression was the most important factor in a successful first date, compared with 18% of black American men and 9% of senior American men.
• "Avoid Curve Balls: Focus on the Positive” was the least frequently cited No. 1 dating tip by both BlackPeopleMeet and SeniorPeopleMeet respondents. Only 12% of black males and 10% of black females chose that response. Twelve percent of SeniorPeopleMeet men and 11% of senior women responded in kind.

Link: Linkedin

About People Media, Inc.

People Media (www.PeopleMedia.com) is the No. 1 provider of targeted online dating communities for attractive singles seeking meaningful relationships. The company operates 27 individual web properties – including www.BlackPeopleMeet.com and www.SeniorPeopleMeet.com – reaching nearly 4 million unique users per month. Its portfolio includes six of the Top 50-ranked personals websites, as reported by comScore Media Metrix – more than any other company. People Media has been a past partner with the Steve Harvey Morning Show and exclusively powers multiple AOL Personals communities. People Media is a rapidly growing innovator in the online personals space, which is expected to reach $1.2 billion in worldwide revenues by 2009 (Jupiter Research). People Media is based in Hollywood, Calif., and is a unit of Match.com, an operating business of IAC (NASDAQ:IACI).

About Match.com

Match.com pioneered online personals when it launched on the Web in 1995 and continues to lead this exciting and evolving category after more than a decade. Throughout its 15-year history, Match.com has helped redefine the way people meet and fall in love. Match.com provides a rich tapestry of ethnicities, interests, goals, ambitions, quirks, looks and personalities from which to choose. Match.com operates some of the leading subscription-based online dating sites in 25 countries, in 8 languages and spanning five continents, as well as oversees its ongoing investment in Meetic. Match.com also powers online dating on MSN across Asia, Australia, the United States and Latin America. Match.com is an operating business of IAC (NASDAQ:IACI).