It's perfectly natural to feel nervous before you ask a girl out. After all, you are risking potential rejection. But you can only spend so many Friday nights at home, watching TV with your cat. If you want to fall in love and live happily ever after (or at least find somebody to snuggle up with who isn't covered with fur), you're going to have to get out there and do some dating.

While it's normal to feel a little terrified, don't worry. You won't have to do this alone. With the right preparation and a little luck, setting up a date can actually be fun. In this guide, we'll walk you through the steps of how to ask a girl out, and we'll offer some tips that will greatly increase the odds that she'll say yes.

Not sure how to ask a girl out? Asking a girl out can be a nerve-wracking experience, but it doesn't have to be. With the right preparation and luck, setting up a date can actually be fun. Here are some helpful tips to get you started.

• No matter how tempted you are to ask a girl out right away, there are a few things you should probably do first.

Look Your Best

1. Make the effort to look nice. You want to impress her, but you also want to present a realistic version of what you're like every day.http://www.groomingtipsformen.com
2. Make sure you are clean and smell nice, but go easy on the cologne.http://www.groomingtipsformen.com/body/cologne.html
3. Wear something comfortable.

Get to Know Her

• Some people can just walk up to a girl they've never met before, ask her out and get a date. For most of us, it works much better to take things a little slower.

1. Approach her with ease. Respect personal space. Let your body language be very relaxed and friendly.http://www.askmen.com/dating/datingadvice/dating8.htmlWatch her body language for signs that she's interested in you.
2. Starting things off casually. Avoid clever come-ons. Ask her questions about her to avoid dominating the conversation.
3. As you talk to her, as you are in her.
4. Try to chat with her a couple of times before you ask her out so you can find out what she's like and what she's interested in.

Devise Your Strategy

• Now you've spent some time with this girl, and you know some things about her. It's time to use this knowledge to plan how you'll ask her out.

1. Once you have some idea of things she enjoys, think about where you want to take her on a date before you ask her out.http://www.howtodothings.com/family-and-relationships/a2193-how-to-ask-a-girl-out.htmlIt should be something special you could do together that not just anybody would be interested in.
2. When you're planning places to take her, don't plan anything too involved (like a daylong trip), intimidating (like bungee jumping) or overly romantic or sexy. You don't want to come on too strong, so pick something local, casual, fun and not too demanding.
3. If you're really nervous, there's also nothing wrong with preparing a little list of interesting things to talk about before you ask her out.http://en.allexperts.com/q/General-Dating-Questions-847/Conversation.htm

• You have prepared yourself and now the time has come. You are going to ask her on a date!

1. If you have her phone number, you can call her up and ask.http://www.askmen.com/dating/heidi/28_dating_girl.html
2. If you're nervous, this may be easier for you. But calling for a date lacks that personal touch. It's often best to ask her in person.
3. If you're asking her out in person, you have to wait for the right moment.http://www.datepad.com/articles/asking-her-out/Wait until you can be alone with her.
4. Don't stop her to ask her out if she's obviously busy with something, or if she's on her way somewhere.
5. It's best to start with some casual conversation before you ask her out.
6. Get her talking about a subject you're both interested in, and then segue into asking her for the date.If you do this right, asking her out on a date can seem like the most natural thing in the world.
7. Ask for a date well in advance to allow her time to plan her schedule and make any necessary arrangements.

• Most of the tips in this guide should be relevant no matter whether you're male or female. But there's no denying that if you're a girl, there can be special issues involved in asking out another girl.

1. Try to get to know her well before you ask her out.
2. Spend time with her, and before long you'll probably have a pretty good idea if she's straight, gay or bisexual.http://lesbianlife.about.com/od/youth/f/AskaGirlOut.htm
3. Drop hints about your interest before you ask her out.
4. At an appropriate time, let her know that you're gay or bi.http://lesbianlife.about.com/od/lesbiandating/f/
5. Even if she's straight, as long as she seems comfortable with gay people you can always go ahead and ask her out and see what happens.
6. If a straight girl turns you down, at least you'll know it's nothing personal. She's just not interested in girls.
7. If a girl rejects you in a homophobic way, remember that that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with your sexuality.http://www.now.org/issues/lgbi/stats.html

• You asked. You have your answer. Now what?

If She Said No

• She turned you down. Sorry.

1. Treat the whole thing as casually as you can.
2. Whatever reason she gives, don't question it. Let it go.
3. Of course, even if she's mean, you still might learn something from what she says. Did she insult your hair, or say you have bad breath? Maybe it's time to consider a haircut and some new mouthwash.

If She Said Yes

• If she said yes, congratulations!

1. Make sure she understands this is a date you're talking about, and you're not trying to just take her out as a friend.http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-05-03/people/is-this-a-date/
2. Immediately try to set a time for your date.
3. After you've set a time, say goodbye for now and leave her wanting more.