By Jess Novak

Sending “hey” as your first message to a Bumble match is easy and quick, but it’s not likely to help you stand out. Instead, you may have more engaging conversations if you kick off your interaction with a great opening line—and writing one doesn’t have to take long or be difficult. 

Here are some tips for coming up with a great opening line in under a minute. This way, you won’t stress about what to send and accidentally forget to send something at all, letting the match expire. (Psst: if you want more time to think of an opening line, you can use our Extend feature for an extra 24 hours to start the conversation.) Next time you make a match on Bumble, give one of these quick approaches a shot. 

Ask about their photos 

After reviewing your match’s profile, hone in on one photo that piques your interest. Then ask a question about that photo using one of these three “w words”: what, when, and where. For instance, you could ask, “What kind of dog is that?”, “When did you officiate that wedding?”, or “Where was that sailing photo taken?” This way, your match will know that you took the time to look at their profile, and you’ll be starting a conversation about something that they probably want to talk about.

Connect over a shared interest

Try quickly scanning your match’s profile for anything you have in common. This can be in their photos, in the Profiles Prompts, in their bio, or even in their Interest Badges. Then take that information and ask them, “What’s your favorite…,” using the genre of the interest that you both have in common. For instance, maybe they mentioned that they’re a board game lover, so you can ask, “What’s your favorite game?” You can also add what your favorite thing is as well. Perhaps their Profile Prompt response mentions that they’d have tacos for their last meal. In this case, you might say, “I also love tacos! What’s your favorite kind? I’m a sucker for carne asada.” This type of message sets you up to have a conversation about something you’re both genuinely into. 

Offer a compliment 

Everyone likes a compliment, and if you swiped right on someone, there was probably something you liked about them. Don’t think too hard about it, just send a compliment on the thing that drew you to their profile in the first place. (But avoid sending a compliment about their appearance, which might be construed as inappropriate or unwelcome). You can use the formula: “I love [thing]. Tell me more!” Maybe they have an adorable pet in their photos. You can say, “I love your cat. Tell me more!” Or if they have a photo of them bravely jumping into the water from a tall cliff, you might say, “I love that cliff diving photo—tell me more!” 

Describe them in emojis

For an original opener, look through your match’s profile and choose three emojis that you think describe them (remembering to be kind and appropriate!). Maybe they’re a neuroscientist, they have a photo of themselves skateboarding, and they’re from Texas; in this case, you might choose “🧑‍🔬🛹🤠.” Once the emojis are chosen, send them and then you can say something like, “From your profile I think these emojis describe you—agree or disagree?” or, “Okay, these emojis best describe you based on your profile. Which would you choose for mine?” This is a light-hearted way to get a fun conversation going. It also opens the door to getting to know each other better based on what kind of “corrections” you have for each other’s emoji choices. 

Ask a random question

If your match’s profile is kind of blank but they’re cute enough that you really want to strike up a conversation anyway, you can always ask a totally random question. For instance: “What’s the best present you’ve ever received?” or “What’s the weirdest movie you’ve ever seen that you actually really loved?” It’s worth spending five minutes coming up with a random question or two that you can always have in your back pocket in this kind of situation. Maybe your standbys are something like, “What’s the best dinner you had this week?” or “If you could visit any place in the world tomorrow, where would you go?” 

Try these conversation starters, and who knows—you might start an electric chat that leads to a first date and a meaningful connection.