Sex and Relationships

10 conversation topics to avoid

Unhappy couple Many of us have experienced that uncomfortable feeling of rambling on to a woman, only to realise she's bored to death.

So how can you avoid it? Simple - just talk about things that will not send her to sleep.

Or in other words, anything beyond the 10 topics below:

1. Your bad health

Your health isn't going to be of interest, not even to get you sympathy. Ok, you might gain some points if you're carrying an injury from an act of bravery or a macho sport. But discussing your rash isn't good conversation in a restaurant.

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2. Technical jargon

Being immersed in computer programming eight hours every day might inhibit your ability to recognise that it is extremely dull to the outside world. Remember women hate jargon. If you are talking in some technical lingo, she may get the impression that you are either tied to your boring job, or worse, trying to make her feel stupid.

3. Ex-girlfriends

Avoid for many reasons, not least that you may end up talking a lot about a past relationship and reveal your own flaws. What you need is a clean slate to forge a relationship upon. You want her to think that you have severed all emotional ties with the past and moved on.

4. Sport

It would be patronising to say that women simply don't like sport, but it's fair to say that it's more popular with men. Soccer statistics will not make her think you are intelligent. Your knowledge of the transfer market does not make you look like a business brain. Find another topic you both might enjoy.

5. Bad travel anecdotes

Travel sickness, missing a bus, train or plane or being arrested for drunken behaviour in Ibiza will not make you look good. And to make matters worse, she'll probably come back with an equally dull travel story to kill the conversation completely.

6. Daily stuff

Chances are that you did very little of interest during the day - at least not to someone else. Your trip around the supermarket, your ride on the bus or what you had for lunch are not good anecdotes unless something wildly out of the ordinary happened.

7. People she doesn't know

There are many ways you can harm the progress of your date if you bring up people she has never met. If it's someone you admire, she will either start to judge you based on her opinion of the person you are struggling to describe or she will wonder if she stacks up beside that person. If it's someone you hate, there's a good chance that you will seem bitter and anxious - which is not a good impression to give.

8. Cars

As kids, boys like toy cars and girls liked dolls. As we get older, tastes change, but men do tend to get more excited by engines.

Then again, if you drive an Aston Martin, it might be as well to mention it.

9. Your pet

Dog breeds sometimes make for a nice, light conversation between dog owners. Though many people love their pets, it often indicates that their human relationships are somehow lacking. This is not the impression you want to give off.

10. Sex

Don't get ahead of yourself. Forget what you've read in adult magazines - discussing sex 10 minutes into the date will just give the impression you are either childish or perverted. That said, if you get several strong, unmistakable, sexually suggestive hints from your date, then by all means go with the innuendo.