A lot of us are awkward at socialization. Adams book has some helpful basic guidance (drawing on Dale Carnegie and others):
Some basic ice breaker questions:
What’s your name? Where do you live? Do you have a family? What do you do for a living? Do you have any hobbies/sports? Do you have any travel plans? — location: 1953 ^ref-60951
The simple reality that people like talking about themselves, so giving them a chance will endear them to you.
Nothing is easier than talking about one’s self. I would go so far as to say that 99 percent of the general public love talking about themselves. When you ask a stranger a personal question, you make that person happy. Your question relieves the stress of awkward silence and gets the conversation moving. Best of all, it signals that you have interest in the stranger, which most people interpret as friendliness and social confidence, even if you’re faking it. And faking social confidence leads to the real thing over time. — location: 1963 ^ref-43831
References
- [[ Adams-How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big ]]