How to write a dating profile that sounds like you

Writing a dating profile that sounds like you can feel like sitting an exam. You have to sum yourself up in a few lines, and ideally make them sound fun too. The good news: you do not need to be a writer. You only need to be honest and specific, in words you would genuinely use.

In klik, a profile is meant as an invitation, not a CV. It helps someone think of a first question. Here is how to approach it.

Why your own words beat clichés

"I love travelling, good food and laughing" fits almost everyone. That is exactly why it says almost nothing. A reader gets nothing to hold on to, and you sound like everybody else.

Try this instead: write down what you actually did this week and see what stands out. A line like "I am on my third attempt at a new bread recipe and it is still flat" tells people more than ten general traits. It is specific, it is light and it invites a reply.

How do you make interests specific?

A list with words like "music" or "sport" is a start, but it is not yet a conversation. Turn each one into a detail:

• Instead of "cooking": "Sunday is soup day, and I have opinions about croutons."
• Instead of "walking": "I like following a route I have not looked up beforehand."
• Instead of "films": "I would rather watch a bad film with someone who talks over it."

For each interest, ask yourself: what is one small, real scene from this? That detail is what someone can pick up with "wait, which soup?"

Choosing up to three values: why it helps

In klik you choose a maximum of three values that matter to you. That limit is deliberate. If everything is important, nothing shows what really drives you. Three choices make you decide what weighs most.

Take a moment over it. Think of a time you felt completely yourself and ask which value was there. Honesty, curiosity, calm, humour: there is no right or wrong answer. What matters is that someone understands who you are, and that you are recognised by people who care about the same things.

What should you share, and what should you keep back?

A good profile is personal, but not private. A few rules of thumb:

• Do share: what occupies you, what you enjoy, what you are looking for, how you are in a conversation.
• Better to keep back: your employer, your exact neighbourhood, your full surname, your phone number or your daily route.
• Location: in klik you only see approximate proximity. Sharing an exact location is a separate, voluntary choice you can make later in a chat, if you want to.

You can read more about how we think about safety and choice on the safety page. You always decide how much to show.

Which tone suits you?

Write the way you talk. Read your text aloud: if you stumble over a sentence, it probably does not ring true. Humour is welcome but not required. A calm, warm tone works just as well as a playful one.

Also avoid lists of negatives such as "no drama, no games". Say what you are looking for instead. It sounds more welcoming and shows more of you.

A simple final check:

• Is there at least one detail that could only be about you?
• Can someone pull a first question out of it?
• Are you comfortable with everything in it?

If you can say yes three times, you are done. You can always adjust your profile later.

How does this fit with klik?

klik is designed to help you discover who gets you. A suggestion is not a match: only when you both show interest does a match happen and a chat open up. Your profile is the starting point for that conversation, whether you choose Dating or Friends.

The app is not available yet. Curious what it will look like? Take a look at the app page; availability is marked as Coming soon. Until then you can already practise: write three sentences about yourself on paper and see whether someone would recognise you in them.