From my own experience, well reading the profile of the female/male parnter one pick to start a conversation in addition to trying to be intutive as to the hints some may drop here and there on the profile is crucial for having a good beginning. One has to predict with a degree of trained guessing what would attract or turn off the potential partner.
Great advice from all and ….. IMHO women and men are as varied as the stars in the sky. And they change all the time. Listening and patience can not be used too much. All things come to he who waits. In the right place of course.