The Flirting and Walking Tours of London, Charing Cross, London

This is just what Londoners need.

Some interesting information first: London has the highest number of singletons in the country - a fact that comes as no surprise given that it is also, by far, the most populated city in the country. Now tell someone it also has the highest percentage of single people than anywhere else in the country and you may raise some eyebrows.

If you have lived here, as I have all my life, you wouldn't be surprised to see why this is the case. Londoners abide by certain invisible rules, amongst them are the following: "Thou shalt not speak to strangers" and "Thou shalt not make eye contact with those you do not know." With these rules in mind you can see why so many people have trouble connecting with others and why it does not have the same sense of bonding and community spirit you would find in small towns and villages. The English reservedness also proves to be highly problematic in approaching people and asking members of the opposite sex out on dates - this is where Jean Smith comes in. She teaches us to approach, talk and flirt with people everywhere we go - whether it be the supermarket, art galleries, bars and even the street where you may meet your dream partner. If you do not try, you will only miss out.

On the walking tour we went to several places - an art gallery, the local supermarket in Covent Garden, a pub to name a few and she encouraged us to strike up a conversation with members of the opposite sex.

In the world of dating, the most common fear people have is rejection. Now this isn't what worried me - thankfully pretty much nearly everyone I meet respond positively if I start a conversation, ask for contact details and even ask them out. What I do have difficulties with though is flirting. I don't know how to flirt and quickly feel awkward if someone flirts with me even though I don't mean to feel that way. Reading signals is another problem area - particularly when women are quite subtle. To give you an idea - my last two ex-girlfriends claim they made it blatantly clear they were flirting and were interested in me before we entered a relationship. I also often find myself wondering, "Was she flirting with me or being friendly?", telling my female friends about those situations and find they tell me those women I encountered were indeed flirting. I tend to be much too cautious!

Jean told us what to do, where and how to do them. She also told us about body language and the signals to watch out for - something I found to be of super help! Just before the end of the tour, we retired to a pub and had a good discussion together. There was flirting going in amongst members of the group - every single person had a laugh and a good time! We were all encouraged to ask questions and discuss them together. Jean answered them all in a very helpful, detailed manner.

One more thing I am also pleased to add is that she was not in any way patronising or condescending. She comes across very friendly, down to Earth, approachable and extremely charming through her smiles and super confident personality.

All in all I think I met about 15 women - all of them total strangers and they all reacted positively. Had a great time, including a comical time when during the supermarket task I had pretended to be completely clueless about wine, simply to strike up a conversation with a woman, and it turned out she had no idea about wine either. She had a boyfriend (oops) a few metres behind who then came up to me but don't worry, he was quite friendly. I then had to spend a few minutes playing dumb, saying "Really?", "Ahhhh, I see", "I didn't know that", "Aha!" etc. a lot as he proceeded to spend a few minutes telling me all about wine. :)

The evening ended on a high, and I certainly felt more confident thanks to Jean!

Like most Qypers who went to this tour, I expected a fun new experience! Oh my, did I get what I wanted… hahaha. It’s true what people say: “Be careful of what you wish for…”

Not only did I get a great time, but also a man’s number! Yes, Qypers, I swapped numbers and we are already in touch for a few times now.

So, for all of you out there who want to know how to talk to people, get a girl’s or boy’s number, or just to have fun basically, you really need to consider going to this tour with Jean.

Jean is just wonderful and lovely. She will make you feel so at ease, answer all your questions definitely, encourage you to practice her useful tips and if you’re good at it or just lucky like me, you might even go home with at least a number.

By the end of the tour, you would not even want to go home… Of course you have to go home because you will need your beauty sleep before going out again and practice all the tips!

Overall, my Thursday evening was great! I met Jean and all of the wonderful Qypers and got a guy’s number. What more do I want? Hm, maybe plenty, like a brand new Porsche, a handsome husband etc etc etc… Hahaha, just kidding, people!

Anyway, the bottom line is: You should all try this! Soon!

I decided to go on this tour or a laugh and just see what Jean had to say on the topic of flirting. About two hours before the tour was to start, I re-read Jean's website and realised that this was meant to be an interactive tour. Needless to say, I was more than a little terrified by the time I turned up.

I needn't have been.

Jean does a great job of easing people into the tasks so that while they still require you breaking out of your comfort zone in order to perform them, at the very least, they're not so mindbogglingly difficult that you'd run screaming from the tour the instant you're told about them!

I think one of the great things about this tour is that everyone who comes on this is as open-minded as you are. Consequently, it makes it easy to bond with one another, and, it most definitely helps when you know there are other people out there trying to do the same tasks which you're doing. You'd think having people you know around when you're attempting to flirt would make things a little more nerve-wracking and pressurising, but it doesn't. Instead, it helps you feel more relaxed because you've got all these people there for moral support.

It's definitely a fun way to spend an evening. It's a good way to open your eyes as to the different places where you can meet people, and the ways in which you can approach them. I also liked that Jean had a mini Q&A at the pub at the end of the tour so that you could ask more questions about meeting people, cultural differences and taking things further... basically anything at all to do with flirting!

Highly recommended!

I know what you're thinking. Anything that could possibly so transparently aimed at improving your love life must be for desperadoes or wallflowers. All I shall say is prepare to be surprised. It's more of a gig for straights (I went along for the curiosity factor, wondering whether I'd be goaded into grabbing people's butts for a laugh, but alas no) and it was a very fun, light hearted and playful experience. On that Thursday night, I was encouraged to see hunting grounds in entirely new places... chatting randoms up on the street using the tried and tested ruse of asking for directions to places nearby so yoour target gets to feel that they are being helpful, making conversations about buying choices ina supermarket... I thought the 'supermarket sweep' was hilarious - walking around, giving knowing glances to my fellow flirt-walkers, as I siezed upon some poor waif to ask her about flowers. There was more of us in the shop an one point than there were genuine customers. The shopkeeper must have been wondering what we were up to! There were even successes (in terms of numbers swapped) on the night. You can't go wrong.

Fascinating experience. Was sceptical at first but it made me realize so much about myself and the way I perceive reality (what is and what's not socially acceptable etc). I participated in the tour only yesterday evening and already managed to ask one guy I really like whether he had "time for a cuppa" this weekend. And it felt OK to do so! What a revolution:D Would never even consider asking a guy out before. Highly recommended to all the open-minded out there who are looking to get our of their comfort zones and liberate their minds.

A compelling mix of anthropological research, fun tips for relaxed flirting and hilarious anecdotes from the effervescent Jean Smith, the Flirting & Walking tour is the ultimate icebreaker. Last night I learned how to start a conversation with a stranger and how to get out of a bad conversation gracefully - surely two of the most useful skills ever!

And what fun - I don't think I've ever seen a group of 12 people bond so quickly, chat so frankly or root for one another so warmly in such a short space of time. Highly recommended and highly successful - one girl got a very cute musician's phone number and another found a new friend to go off clubbing with!

The tour is such fun and an eye opener as to all the opportunities that day to day life gives you to meet others.

Jean a great coach/guide. She explained to us different methods and when it came time to put them in action with the assignments she was very encouraging.

Not only was it a fun night but the information was relative and useful. I look forward to practicing lots!

An all-new concept in dating, "The Flirting & Walking Tour of London" takes participants on a 90 minute tour of the hitherto unrecognised flirting highlights of Central London's art galleries, bookstores and supermarkets, with practical tuition and theoretical guidance from Cultural Anthropologist and Flirting Expert, Jean Smith.

The tour ends in a lovely Covent Garden pub where you can review your flirting progress and possibly practice your techniques on unsuspecting clientele. The tour has three main purposes.

To demonstrate that it is possible to meet people at places besides pubs and clubs
To give people the opportunity to practice flirting ... practice makes perfect
To reveal the Allure "3 methods of attack" - three different ways in which to approach people

I went on the flirting and walking tours a few weeks ago, and have to admit I was completely petrified at first. (In fact, I also have to admit to sculling a glass of wine first) I shouldn't have worried. It was such a fun night. The whole group had fun spying on each other during the various 'tasks' set out by Jean. One guy actually went off with a woman he met at one of the locations, half-way through the tour!

I recommend this tour for anyone. It's a great way to remember that there are many more places to meet someone besides a pub.