Hey Seddit, first time poster here.

I call myself a semi-natural. I never had much of a problem with meeting women as I'm outgoing, confident, funny and now that I've lost a lot of weight I'm told I'm quite attractive. That said, looking into PUA has hypercharged my game, making cold opens (my main weakness before) much easier, and the escalation ladder has helped speed up and ensure closing tremendously.

I was out at a local bar for a friend's birthday the other night. I wasn't really there to game unless I saw something I really liked so I mostly hung with my friends and opened a few sets just for practice, mostly talking to the guys so I could scope out possible single targets. It felt like a couples night as every group I approached was obviously "together" so I just used them as practice, had a good time and moved on leaving behind a table who were having a better night than before they met me.

Also out with us was one of my f-buddies (HB7) that is learning how to wing for me. A group of her co-workers showed up later, all geeky AFCs that I'd never met before. One of them really seemed interested in an HB6 at the bar. He'd got up the nerve to say "hi" but was otherwise stalled standing next to her while she talked to her friend. His body language was awful, trying to lean towards her nonchalantly. I took pity on him and called him over.

"You're having problems thinking of what to talk to her about, right?" "Uh, yeah, I guess." "Ask her something where the answer doesn't matter. Some kind of opinion question. Those are the ones where the conversation can lead to somewhere, give you a hint about her, let you be playful and keep talking, unlike a yes/no question." (I gave him a few examples, including "my 16 year old sister wants to get a 'tramp-stamp' tattoo.. is she too young or am I just being overprotective?") "Huh.. that makes sense."

I then explained the escalation ladder a bit, telling him to try to touch her just a bit, but not creepy. Start with the hands, then hand on shoulder a bit when talking to her and keep it there just a bit too long, etc. He was rapt with attention to me and swore he'd do it.

I also told him my favorite way to get a number, which I think I first learned here on seddit. Open your smartphone, get to the "Add a contact" screen and just hand it to her. No "can I get your number?" begging, just an unspoken command. I also do the "give me your phone" to send myself a text message (of "You are cute!" or something similar but related to the conversation) but felt that took more confidence than he had at the moment.

He went back, waited nervously a bit and then finally started talking to her. Her body language opened up a bit and they had a conversation. He couldn't see a way to touch her but I did. I went over to him, shook his hand to say hi and then whispered in his ear "She's wearing some bracelets. Ask if you can see them and when you do, hold her hand up with yours to get a better view. Hold on to it just a bit too long like I said."

He grinned and when I walked away did exactly what I said. Her response was positive. Later on he was putting his hand on her shoulder to punctuate his conversation points like a fucking boss. I was so proud.

From there on he was doing well. Still a bit nervous but she was responding perfectly to his kino and was now invested in talking and hanging out with him. I decided he needed a DHV so I went over and said "Oh shit man I totally forgot to thank you for that help with that project the other day. You totally saved my ass! You're the man!" and did a little bow-to-the-sensei before walking away. I was the confident, good-looking guy bowing non-sarcastically to him and played it well.

When I got back to the group I was with I saw her put her hand on his chest for the first time with a huge smile on her face while she said something. My blatant DHV had worked wonders!

From there on he was on fire. He eventually did the hand-on-small-of-the-back when she leaned in to talk to him (it was quite loud in there), nervously at first but when she didn't freak out he calmed down. Eventually he handed her his phone. She responded by taking it and then handing HER PHONE TO HIM to make sure SHE got HIS number!

Later I saw another girl sitting nearby talk to him (I think she made a funny remark about something he said) and when he replied he put his hand on her shoulder too and looked her right in the eyes. My small bits of advice had changed this guy tremendously. It was like magic.

By the end of the night he and HB6 were dancing together by the bar and lightly making out. He was constantly throwing me "YOU RULE!" messages behind her back, with thumbs-ups and silently-mouthed thank-you's. I'm sure he has never met a girl in a bar and kissed her the same night, but that changed after he met me. Him becoming a boss made me feel like an even bigger boss.

Though I didn't personally close (nothing I was interested in there) it was one of my favorite nights out so far.

This stuff WORKS, people, and not just for good looking, charming guys. Just do it. Eventually you will be good looking and charming too.