Flirting Tips: How to Initiate Flirting with Eye Contact

Eye contact is such an incredibly powerful and emotional tool that most of the time we restrict it to very short glances. The eyes can not only receive information but can also convey emotion so intensely that when two people share prolonged eye contact it is either an act of love or hostility. You may well find that the eyes are your most important flirting tool.

Eye contact is an incredibly powerful form of social communication. Photo: Emily Tan

In a public setting most people will try to avoid making eye contact, and those who do will probably only hold it for a fraction of a second. Even in normal social encounters we rarely hold eye contact for more than a second. This make it easy to initate flirting with your chosen target – you simply try to make eye contact and hold their gaze for slightly more than a second. Don’t overdo it – holding their gaze for much more than a second will seem threatening.

Your target’s response is important. If they look away briefly and then looks back to hold your gaze again then you can assume that they’re interested – and if your eye contacts raise a smile then you can approach with confidence.

If your contact looks away and does not look back they are either not interested or very shy. Watch them further: do they behave the same way towards others? If they appear nervous and avoid eye contact with all men (or women) they may be shy and could be worth approaching – but use considerable caution.

One warning: eye contact is a very powerful tool – men in particular can misread playful flirting as sexual availability – so take care!