How to Describe Yourself in Your Dating Profile

A big question for new online daters is, how to describe yourself in your dating profile? Obviously it is critical to get it right. Get it wrong and your profile is not going to do what it should – get noticed and attract a plentiful pool of admirers.

Before we get down to the nitty-gritty of how to describe yourself in your profile, it’s important to think about the type of people you want to attract. A plentiful pool of admirers is nice but what’s more important is that they are attracted to the real you.

With this is mind, the way you describe yourself in your dating profile must be accurate and honest – a portrayal of the person you really are, not a product of your imagination. Otherwise you are wasting their time, and yours.

That said, here are some specific tips and ideas to help you describe yourself and create a profile that is unique, interesting and memorable.

Get the basics in place

The first step in describing yourself in your profile is to provide as much basic information as you can. Most dating service profiles make this part easy – simply fill-in-the blanks. It’s not the most exciting aspect of writing a profile – you may be eager to get on to describing how you scaled Everest last summer – but make the effort. Fill in all the blanks.

Details that seem mundane or unimportant to you may be important to others. If lacking, potential dates are not going to trouble themselves to ask. They are going to suspect you are lazy, have something to hide or are not seriously interested in online dating, and move on to someone else.

To describe yourself effectively it can be helpful to think of your profile as a tourist map of a country called “You.” Your basic details provide a general view of the landscape. Now it is time to add in key attractions, features of interest, historical highlights, leisure and entertainment options, and so on.

This is where you get some fun. However, there will be aspects of yourself that you take for granted, are too modest to mention, have forgotten or would rather not think about! There are two things you can do.

Enlist the help of friends or family.

They will help you see yourself from a visitor’s point of view, as it were, and describe yourself in your profile more fully and accurately that you might manage to do yourself. They can have fun with this and you might be surprised by what they have to say.

For instance, ask them to list your top five strengths, your top five weaknesses, your most interesting characteristic, your most likeable characteristic, your most annoying characteristic, your skills, the thing they most admire, etc.

Sit down with a notepad and put yourself through a question and answer session.

Make your questions interesting so that the answers will add depth, colour and personality to your profile. Here are some examples of the types of questions that will help you describe yourself:

What is your defining characteristic? Optimism, courage, patience…?
What is the most difficult/interesting/unusual thing you have ever done?
What is your favorite type of food/color/movie/book?
What are your greatest passions/pet peeves?
Your biggest dream?
What do you most like/dislike about yourself?
What personality traits do you like/dislike most in others?
What qualities do you value most in a partner? Which quality counts most?
What do you think make a successful relationship? Trust, friendship, shared interests…?
What do your friends and family say about you?
What kind of environments do you like best? Outdoors, cities, the beach…?
Are you a loner, party animal, bit of both?
What is the first thing people notice about you?
What is your favorite self-indulgence?
What would you do if you had a million dollars?
What kind of date do you enjoy?

It is a good idea to do both these things – question friends, question yourself – before you write your profile. Many online daters don’t describe themselves well because they’re not prepared.

Don’t be limited by the Dating Profile

Dating profiles forms vary from dating service to service – some will ask for the kind of information you’ve gathered but others won’t. If they do, you have the details ready. If they don’t, be sure to include them anyway. Remember, dating profile forms are just a guide – a starting point – for describing yourself. This is why most dating profiles have “in your own words” sections. By going above and beyond what’s expected, the way you describe yourself in your profile will really stand out.

Here are some final tips on how to describe yourself in your dating profile:

Ask yourself: How many people have said the same thing in the same way?
Be specific: Don’t say you like reading, say why/what/when/where you like reading.
Be positive: Don’t be shy to flatter yourself, and don’t take yourself too seriously when describing less flattering aspects of yourself!
If your sense of humor is very dry, be careful: Not everyone will “get it.” Play safe and use exclamation marks.

For a good guide to how to describe yourself in your dating profile (or how not to!) browse around dating sites and see how other people describe themselves.

You can also check out Dating Profile Ideas which has over 1,250 pre-written fully-customizable “snippets” for a fast and easy way to describe yourself and your ideal match too, as well as actual dating profile examples, ideas for great usernames, headlines and more.

More dating profile tips: Choosing a Good Dating Profile Name and Qualities of a Good Dating Profile.

Write Your Dating Profile Like a Pro in 3 Minutes! With a huge collection of more than 1,250 fully-customizable snippets for describing yourself and your ideal match PLUS ideas for attractive user names, stand-out profile "headlines", dating profile examples ... and more!