If you've never been, speed dating can sound like a TV gimmick. It's much calmer than that. Here's an honest walk-through of an evening, start to finish.
Before you arrive
You book a seat for an evening in your age bracket. Each side of the room has twelve seats. You get an email with the venue, the start time and who your host is.
Arriving
You arrive fifteen minutes early, get a drink at the bar, and the host gives you a name card and a match card. The host introduces people to each other while everyone arrives, so nobody stands alone in a corner.
The rounds
Women stay seated and men move one table along at each bell. Each conversation lasts six minutes, with a minute to change seats and jot down a note. There's a short interval halfway through.
Six minutes sounds short. It isn't. You'll know whether you'd like to keep talking well before the bell.
Matching
At the end you tick the seats you'd like to see again and hand in your card. If someone you ticked also ticked you, you both get an email the next morning with each other's first name and email address. If it isn't mutual, nothing is shared.
Is it awkward?
For about the first two minutes. Then everyone realises they're all in the same position, the room warms up, and the second half usually feels easy. A good host makes a huge difference.
Is it worth it?
Twelve real conversations in two hours is more than most people get from weeks of messaging. Even with no matches, you've had a night out and practised talking to strangers, which makes the next date easier.