Going on a first date with a chick can be nerve racking, especially when the first date materializes on a whim at the prompting of your prospective lady, out of the blue. You’re not going to say no because your schedule is a little tight, are you? Shit no you’re not. You’ve been working this angle for some time now and the time is right.

You’ve got to react and you’ve got to react fast. In a time like this, you need maximum power in a limited amount of time. Every move has to be concise, swift, with purpose and direction — like a ninja.

So, after several sets of push-ups over a limited span of time to pump up my upper body prior to our meeting, I needed something else to really put me over the top; a secret weapon if you will. And I don’t mean an Ed Hardy shirt.

It was at this moment that I unsheathed my potential partner in grime: Speed Stick Power. The new Speed Stick Power antiperspirant/deodorant series is predicated on keeping guys fresh and “all-day dry.” Speed Stick Power guarantees 24-hour protection while drenching your date in the scent of clean, crisp, educated, ample manliness. Put simply, this isn’t Pat Sajak’s deodorant.

The kind of man you are (or the man you present yourself to be during your romantic, ahem, campaigns) will help determine your chosen scent. Speed Stick has provided you with a total of six alter egos: Fresh, Energy Surge, Ultimate Sport, Fresh Gel, Ultimate Sport Gel and Unscented.

Ultimate Sport lends itself to some pick-up basketball at the Y with your crew. Or, maybe some intense cardiovascular exercise with your special lady, even. Ultimate Sport Gel is a gel that is uninhibited, unfettered and free, for when you’re fighting for rebounds and swinging your elbows like Jim Carrey in “The Cable Guy.” Unscented is more for a Sunday in recovery, when you want the funk to flow a little bit, but in a non-offensive, natural, 1970’s white afro kind of way. You are a man, after all, and ladies like a little musk every now and again.

Fresh Gel is the most outgoing of the bunch, so bust out your glow sticks and let the all-out assault on the dance floor begin. Energy Surge gives you that “little push over the top of the cliff” when you just don’t think “you can get to 11” all by yourself.

But Fresh is the scent that I used on this day, and I can tell you that after the conversation, games of footsie, and slight PDA, it was there for me when we were in public, adding to my overall scent appeal. And later, when tension rose like a cresting wave at high tide, then crashed upon the shore penetrating the sandy coast and punishing it into submission, I was dry.

Whoa. Check out Speed Stick power here and step your scent game up.