# The Opening Sequence
An opener is not a single clever line — it's an ordered sequence of micro-behaviors that has to fire in order for a stranger interaction to become a real conversation: angle → pre-open → eye contact → pause → opening line → pause → get her response → follow-up → pause → read her reaction. A flawless line delivered with a broken early step (wrong angle, no pre-open, scanning her body instead of holding eye contact) sinks the interaction even though the words were right — so diagnosing a failed approach means localizing which step broke, not judging the interaction holistically.
The stated goal of the sequence is to get her chasing within the first 30 seconds — if she's already engaging and investing that early, everything downstream gets easy; if not, the script is very hard to flip later. Effort is treated as something to strategically withhold, not maximize: over-investing early is what prevents the chase dynamic from starting. See High Value by Accident (Effortless Competence Narrative) and Mystery Through Calculated Absence for adjacent framings of the same low-investment-as-value logic.
THE APPROACH FORMULA (What to Say and How To Get Her Attention) — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf6miBNwCvo — Todd V and coach James, with infield demonstration (commenters note the demo target may already have been interested, so it may not prove the technique works independent of target difficulty).
A field-taught version of this sequence emphasizes two additions:
Loudness as a precondition, not a skill. The Pre-Open and the opening line must be loud enough that nearby bystanders occasionally glance over — otherwise the target may not register that she's being addressed at all. This is framed as an attitude/willingness problem, not a technique gap: everyone already knows how to project their voice; the failure is choosing not to.
The Follow-Up step is not optional. Most openers only "halfway open" a stranger — she responds with a reflexive "thank you" and goes quiet, not because she's uninterested but because a stranger who wasn't expecting to talk has no script yet for continuing the exchange. The man must assume the burden of the conversation: immediately supply a follow-up question or topic rather than waiting for her to carry it. Pauses still matter at each step (after the Pre-Open, before eye contact lands; after the opening line, to let her actually respond) — see Embrace Silence / Self-Granted Pause.
Related: Congruence Principle (Words, Tone, Body, Eye Contact) (loud delivery is one input to a fully committed, congruent approach), False Time Constraint (a tool for lowering the perceived cost of the attention this sequence asks for), Momentum Management in Graduated Escalation (this sequence is the first stage of a longer escalation arc).