A first date is a coffee, not a contract. Let it be small.

Loading a first meeting with the weight of a decision is what makes it unbearable. Treating it as an audition for a whole future means you are evaluating rather than present, and nobody is at their most recognisable while being assessed. The purpose of a first meeting is only to find out whether there should be a second.

Keep it short, ordinary, and low cost. Ask what you would ask anyone you found interesting. Let the size of the occasion match the size of what you actually know so far.