I’ll be the first to admit it—picking up chicks is not my forte. And, let’s get this clear, I’m definitely not one to stand in the corner of a bar all creeper status, participate in online dating or incorporate pick up lines from “How I Met Your Mother” into my game. 

But, let’s throw a friend into the mix. Or as commonly know, a wildcard.

A wingman can certainly switch up the playing field.

Before jumping into tips on how to properly be a wingman, let’s get one thing straight—your friend must NOT be your competition. If women see you and your friend tripping each other up, they will assume one of two things about you: you don’t have many friends, or, you don’t have much success with women. If you did, then you wouldn’t need to fight someone from your own social circle for a woman you just met.

If that is clear, let’s move to the advice.

The first tip for being a wingman is to interact with your friend. Say you and your friend are talking to two women. During some of that time, you two should be talking to each other, as opposed to both of you focusing only on the women.  

Second, give your friend a boost. Not all interactions go amazing all the time. If you can tell she is not into the conversation, jump in and add things for them to talk about. Even better yet, compliment your friend. It doesn’t even have to be true. That’s the beauty of it.

Before continuing to the last two crucial tips of being a king wingman, let’s review. The steps so far are really simple—keep a conversation going with your friend and don’t let him look like a complete idiot.

This third tip should be applied before even going into a conversation with a group. It’s all about the entry. Don’t enter the group together. One of you should go in, and then the other comes in later.

Finally, respect the basic rules of the guy code. Whoever is the first one to approach a group gets to choose which woman he will talk to. No exceptions. If things are going well between those two, don’t try and approach her at a later part of the night and act interested.

Now, as I’ve said, I’m no pro at wooing women. But, being a wingman for a friend can still be a fun night. If nothing else, go out, have a drink and meet new people.