How to Tell Someone You Like Them: 18 Risk-Free Ways to Date Them

Wondering how to tell someone you like them? Use these risk-free steps to avoid rejection and make them fall for you even before you ask them out!

Want to know how to tell someone you like them without actually saying a word about your feelings to them? Okay, let’s get this out of the way – no, you’re not being sneaky, and you’re not going to play games to seduce them. It’s straight-forward, risk-free, and as honest and mutual as it can ever get!

Now that we got that out of the way, and made it clear that this isn’t about tricking someone, let’s get to the part where we understand how we end up falling for someone even before we realize it.

One day, you’re both friends, or it’s someone you see often, and everything’s just fine between you two. And all of a sudden, on another fine day, you may just wake up and realize that you actually like this person, a lot!

How did that happen?! But it did.

[Read: How to know for sure if you like someone? 30 feelings you should be experiencing right this second!]

So should you tell this person that you’re interested in dating them? Or should you just hold the thought and wait for a miracle, hoping somehow that they’d read your mind and start feeling the same way about you?

How to tell someone you like them in the safest way possible

It doesn’t matter where you are, love can blossom when you least expect it. You may fall in love with a good friend, or even with someone you just exchange glances now and then. And that’s the easy part.

But expressing your interest in dating them isn’t all that easy. Even if you’re a wonderful person whose worthy of dating this friend, you need to ease your way into this person’s heart without coming across as a rude shock.

[Read: 18 signs your friend likes you romantically even if they’re hiding their feelings very well]

Read their mind before telling them you like them

Most people say that you shouldn’t hold your emotions when you start liking someone, and that you should reveal the feelings in your heart immediately. But that’s not always the most effective way in winning someone over and getting them to date you.

Never say it straight out.

Always try to read this person’s mind and know the answer even before you ask the question. It’ll save you from a painful rejection and the chance of ruining a friendship.

If you realize you like someone and want to date them, keep it to yourself and don’t reveal your intention to date them until you find that this person is already interested in you too. If you can follow these steps we’ve shared here, you’d always be able to read someone’s feelings towards you, and even make them like you in no time.

And you can pretty much avoid getting rejected by a friend or someone you know well, for the rest of your life!

Take your time to express yourself

This is particularly important if you already know this person you like pretty well. If you don’t know them personally or haven’t been introduced yet, try to make a good impression when they notice you. The first stage in telling someone you like them is impressing them as a dating potential. [Read: How to get your crush to notice you and like you even before talking to them]

Wait for reciprocation when you use these steps

Whatever approach you take, don’t be hasty. That’s the biggest mistake most people with crushes do. They’re either too impatient or too overconfident, and they end up ruining all chances of ever dating the person they like, even if they had a great chance to begin with.

You’ve got nothing to lose by waiting for a few weeks just to be certain that you’re not misinterpreting the signs. Always be certain that this person is showing some reciprocation before asking them out or telling them that you like them.

Will you regret not telling them now you feel?

We’re not talking about today or tomorrow. But a few years down the line, would you regret not telling this friend that you like them?

When you’re wondering how to tell someone you like them, it’s usually a friend. If it were someone you met online, or  on a dating app, you wouldn’t care about their reaction when you share your feelings. So now that you realized you have feelings for this friend, are you okay with risking your friendship over your confession? Of course, there are ways to ask a friend out without risking the friendship at all.

But in the off chance that your friend doesn’t feel comfortable spending time with you after you ask them out, how would that make you feel? This is something you need to ask yourself.

Sometimes, you may just be feeling lonely, and your attractive friend pops into your mind. So you decide to ask them out. Always be sure you like them because you’re falling for this person, and not because you’re lonely or bored.

How to tell someone you like them and get them to like you back

If you want to win someone’s heart without ever letting them know that you’ve already fallen for them, use these steps and wait until you see the reciprocation.

But at the same time, if these steps aren’t reciprocated, you’d just end up appearing creepy. So take it one step at a time, and don’t skip steps. Build the right scenario, and see how they behave around you.

Do this right, and you’ll truly understand how to tell someone you like them. And in all probability, even win over their heart and make them confess their affections for you instead! [Read: How to know if your friend likes you more than they’re letting on]

1. Let the excitement show

Every time you see this person, your heart probably skips a beat with excitement. Instead of hiding how you feel, express it casually.

Make it obvious to this person that you’re excited to see them. Wave out and flash a big smile, and let your eyes sparkle with delight. You’re feeling it anyway, so express it instead of hiding it!

A happy expression is always contagious, and over a few days, this person may start to reciprocate your enthusiasm too.

2. Smile and stare

Do you ever feel like just staring at the person you like *especially when they’re looking elsewhere and can’t notice you staring*? Use this to your advantage. Smile dreamily and stare at them now and then. It’s even better if you get caught staring, as long as you turn away immediately as soon as they see you. Just don’t be creepy about it!

By building the flirty eye contact, you’re bound to make them curious, and before you know it, this person may start staring at you more every now and then too. [Read: 10 subtle eye contact flirting moves that always work]

3. Compliment them

You don’t have to tell someone you like them, directly, if you learn to compliment them the right way – bordering friendly with flirty.

If you want to let someone know that you’re interested in dating them, you need to let them realize that you’re looking at them as a dating potential. If you find something attractive about this person, be it their laugh, the way they speak, or their attire, their fragrance, or anything else, tell them about it. [Read: How to compliment a girl and make her blush]

Complimenting someone is the easiest way to start flirting without appearing like you’re trying too hard. When you compliment anyone about something, it always leaves the person thinking about your compliment fondly. And that means they’d be thinking about you too! [Read: 25 compliments for guys they’ll never forget]

4. Flirt with them

Every time it’s just the both of you, and no one’s around, say something cute or flirty to them. You can start off by complimenting them to begin with.

But always remember to avoid flirting with them when others are around. It would make them feel awkward, which would push this person away from you instead of bringing them closer.

Flirt only when this person is alone with you. It’ll give them a chance to flirt back without worrying about someone else overhearing the conversation. After all, friends don’t flirt with each other. So if you do it publicly, you’re not giving them a chance to think of you in any other way. [Read: How to flirt with a friend – 18 ways to tease them without being weird]

5. Use the power of touch

The sensation of touch has the power to make any of us feel weak with sexual attraction, and almost always, we can’t help it. If you’re wondering how to tell someone you like them, the next time you’re with this person, don’t pat them on their back aggressively or casually like friends do. [Read: 20 types of physical touches and what each touch means]

If you’re pointing something out, gently place your palm over theirs. If you want to take a look at something they’re showing, casually place your arm around their lower back. These are just a few places that will definitely send a shiver of sexual excitement down their spine. [Read: How to flirt by touching in all the right places]

6. Start speaking over the phone

If you want to tell someone you like them and make them like you first, you need to build a closer bond with them.

Call this friend over the phone now and then. Everyone prefers texts over calls these days, and we only get on a call with someone we’re close to. So by making sure you bond well enough to start talking over the phone, you’ve subconsciously making your friend realize they’re closer to you than others.

As a few days pass and both of you have a lot of interesting conversations with each other, this person will start to get addicted to speaking with you even without realizing it!

7. Text each other

Text an occasional goodnight text or a good morning one to start with, and now and then, wait for your friend to text you first. Once both of you are comfortable with texting each other often, stretch the texting game longer.

When both of you create a bond while texting, this person would start liking you and even look at you as a dating potential. [Read: How to flirt over text and type your way into someone’s heart]

8. I miss you

If you don’t meet this friend on a particular day, or they couldn’t make it out with your group of friends, send a miss-you text or tell this person that you missed not having them around when you’re speaking over the phone. It’ll definitely make your friend feel very special, and they’d feel closer to you too.

9. All your attention

Give this friend all your attention when they’re around. It’ll make your friend feel more special and dependent on you. And when you aren’t around, they may even miss your company because no one else makes them feel as special and cared for.

And the best part, seeing both of you together all the time may also make all your friends feel like both of you are a couple already. And if your friends feel that way, it’s only a matter of time before one of them expresses it in front of this person. [Read: How to build sexual tension and make someone attracted to you]

10. Lingering goodbyes

This is a perfect way to build the romance in your budding relationship. Each time you hug this friend goodbye, don’t let go immediately.

Give them a squeeze that’s just a wee bit tighter and closer, let your hands linger just a bit longer before you slide it off this person’s back. Even if no one else can see the difference, your friend will definitely notice the difference in the way you hug goodbye. And they’ll surely feel good about it. [Read: Romantic hug vs Friendly hug – And how to feel the difference instantly]

11. Drop a few hints

Want to know how to tell someone you like them without using words at all?

Every now and then, when you’re flirting or just spending time with each other, say something sweet out of the blue. Tell this person that you love being around them, or tell them that you have such a wonderful time when it’s just the both of you.

But as soon as you say it, change the conversation and talk about something else. Don’t wait for an answer just yet or you may put this person in an awkward spot. Instead, leave them thinking about what you said. [Read: 6 flirty and sexy ways to get a guy to kiss you when you want him to]

12. In the meantime, live your life

Remember, when you’re trying to get someone to like you, you shouldn’t ever let your emotions get the better of you. You like them, yes. You want them to like you back, true. But that doesn’t mean you should start obsessing over them or putting your life on hold.

If you truly want to get someone to like you back, think with your head, and not with your heart, when you’re trying to get your intentions read.

Live your life and have fun, go out with your friends, pursue your work and hobbies, relax and enjoy yourself. Don’t turn into a heartbroken lump of misery, that’s the surest sign you’re heading towards failure and rejection.

13. Be fun

Everyone wants to be around someone who’s fun and exciting. When you’re positive and happy, you’ll draw everyone towards you. Everyone wants to spend time with you. So make sure you’re upbeat and positive as much as you possibly can.

Not only will you draw everyone around you, but your crush would be eager to spend more time with you as well. [Read: How to make yourself happy – 20 habits of incredibly happy people]

14. They’re not out of your league

If you’ve been flirting and getting closer to each other with each passing day, you obviously know by now that your crush likes you too. So don’t tell yourself this person is out of your league. They like you already, even if they don’t realize it just yet.

So be confident about yourself, and know deep inside that you’re worthy of them. They like you, you like them, now it’s just a matter of bringing those feelings out to words. [Read: 15 flirty ways to impress someone when you think they’re out of your league]

15. Don’t wait forever

It’s easy to live inside your head and just enjoy the fleeting glances and the flirty conversations. But that’s not what you really want, is it? You want to date them, so remember to make your intentions clear at some point.

If you don’t ask them out, as fun as everything is, it could crash on you at any point. Someone else could ask them out, they may fall for someone else, or the sexual tension you both share could fizzle out. So strike when the iron is hot, so to speak, and ask them out soon.

Give yourself a comfortable deadline – one month, or a maximum of three months, if you want to take things really slow.

Never, ever go beyond that. Or what started as a crush could end in heartbreak even when the odds were in your favor to begin with. [Read: Should you ask them out? 30 signs they’re eagerly waiting for you to make a move]

16. Do you like them?

So far, you’ve been so focused on making this person like you that you probably haven’t had the chance to actually spend some alone time and ask yourself if you like them! Now that you know this person better, if you two do date and hit it off, can you imagine spending the rest of your life with this person?

Do you think you two are compatible? Is this person someone you could actually fall in love, and stay in love with?

17. Ask this person out

If all goes well and you’ve been using these steps on how to tell someone you like them to the tee, your friend would already start liking you a lot. In fact, the two of you should be addicted to each other by now! Now all you need to do is turn the friendship into a romantic relationship.

Ask your friend out for coffee or a movie one evening. Make it seem like it’s no big deal and you just want to hang out because you have nothing better to do.

And at the end of the date, express your mind without using any mushy words. Saying something like “I really had such a good time with you today” or “we should do this more often” will surely lead to more romantic dates even if both of you are still friends. [Read: How to kiss a friend accidentally and get away with it]

18. Saying it out loud at the right moment

Once both of you start meeting each other often, both of you would already be dating each other even though you haven’t given the relationship a name. [Read: The talking stage – What is it and how to progress to the next one]

If your friend doesn’t like you in a romantic way, they would probably start distancing themselves always from you within the first few steps. So make sure you pay attention to the steps and use them the right way.

And once both of you start going out on dates now and then, both of you may already feel like a couple even if neither of you talk about it. So when the right opportunity presents itself after a particularly cozy date, tell this special someone exactly how you feel.

[Read: What are we? How to get your crush to label your relationship]

Use these steps for how to tell someone you like them, and you’ll definitely be able to win their heart and make them fall for you. But remember to play it safe and slow and check for reciprocation with every step along the way!