If you like him, go and get him! These days, it’s becoming a norm for women to ask men out, and maybe you should join in the fun. Here’s what you can do to get your crush to go out with you.

The Preliminaries

1. Establish a friendship. If you want to ask him out for a date that you intend to be more than just one date, it’s important that you start off as friends first. Make sure you see him as often as you can, and in those instances, ensure that you always have a conversation. This helps him feel at ease with your company while also helping to move along his attraction to you. Try to act as naturally as possible, and don’t try to impress him with lies. Instead, allow him to recognize and see the real you so that when he becomes attracted, he’s attracted to who you really are and not the image you’re trying to convey.

2. Gauge whether or not he’s spoken for. Naturally, you wouldn’t want to ask a guy out if he has a girlfriend (don’t be that girl!). How can you know? The internet is your friend in this case. Add him on Social Media and give his profile a run-through. Check for any lovey-dovey posts on his wall or selfies with a particular girl. If he’s one of those guys who doesn’t post much on social media, you can ask through Common Friends. If you don’t have any common friends, then your best bet would be to pay close attention to your conversations in the hope that he’d mention his status.

3. Be as cute as you can be. Before you ask him out, you’ll want to be as attractive to him as possible, so that you can up the odds of him saying yes. We’re not telling you to do your hair and Makeup as if you were entering a pageant. Instead, just enhance your natural beauty by carefully choosing your makeup and clothes on the day you’ll ask him out. For your clothes, pick out soft and feminine colors like pinks, oranges, and reds to really catch his eye. And as for your makeup, go for your usual makeup routine but add in a little something extra like a touch of eyeliner or a bit of mascara to enhance your eyes.

4. Amp up your confidence. Don’t plan out exactly what you’re going to say, otherwise you’ll sound like you’re reciting off a cue card. Instead, try to practice some lines you’re going to say and say them in front of the mirror. Take note of your body language and ensure that they’re open – facing him with no crossed arms or legs. Lastly, boost your confidence by imagining that he would say yes to you asking him out. Nothing wears us down and makes us feel less confident than focusing on being rejected.

5. Speak to him in private. Lastly, when you are sure that you’re ready to ask him out, make sure you do it in private. Putting him on the spot by asking him out in front of friends can turn out to be embarrassing for both you and him. You don’t need to drag him to the next room before you ask him out. You can just pull him aside, and do the following things…

Asking Him Out

6. Start off a conversation. Don’t just go up to a guy and blurt out, “Hey, will you go out with me?” That’s going to catch him off guard and could lead to an instant rejection with an awkward laugh. Instead, start off a conversation and gently steer it towards you asking him out. You can talk about a movie you like and then transition to asking him to watch it with you. You can also mention an upcoming event that you think he would like.

7. Use a terribly yet ironically funny pickup line. Do this only if you’re feeling gutsy (and maybe a tad bit tipsy). This method works best if you happen to have the same sense of humor because he’s sure to get a laugh out of the terrible pickup line that you’ve chosen. Once you blurt it out, he might be so amused that he’d agree to go out with you. If he says no, you can just chalk it up to your awful pickup line and laugh about it afterwards.

8. Mention an event you would like to go to. As mentioned above, it’s nice to already have a date idea in mind when you ask him out. Mentioning an event frees him of the burden of thinking where you’ll go. Also, having a venue already in mind can make your proposal feel a little more casual. If you want to be ambiguous about your attraction to him (especially if he’s bad at reading signs), you can make it seem like you just want to go to an event and wouldn’t mind some company. Naturally, it will get him wondering if you’re into him.

9. Buy him a drink. Asking a guy out the first time you meet him isn’t as big a deal as it used to be in the olden days. If you fancy a guy you just met at the bar, walk up to him, ask him what he’s drinking, and ask him if you can buy him a drink. This super confident approach might just earn you his admiration, and thus make him want to go out with a go-getter like you.

10. Be spontaneous. A spontaneous date is always fun, especially when it happens to come by on a day when you have absolutely nothing better to do. If it’s not too late in the day, send him a message asking him what he’s up to. And if he says he’s not doing anything, just go ahead and ask him if he wants to hang out. It’s a super casual way of asking a guy out and it can help you further gauge whether or not you really want to go out with him.

Keep it cool and casual, and who knows, you might find yourself on a date with the guy of your dreams!