Wow I thought I was the Queen of "Suck it up and Just do it" but that is harsh for even me.

Not EVERYONE has the experience to encounter a lot of strangers much less the situation that they regularly interact with them. Now days people don't know what kind of reaction they are going to get to the most innocent of communication.

Talking to strangers does not have to be as daunting as it seems though.

Most people will respond in the positive if you don't surprise them by doing something that prompts them to make eye contact but not feel threatened.

Then stay safely out of their personal space but engage with the best smile you can master. Watch your body language and facial expressions. Guys you may dearly want to look otherwise but keep your eyes on what is between her ears and your hands only where they would be in church. Gals you want to actually be heard don't fog up their glasses and keep your hands to yourself and off the places you don't want touched.

Start with safe topics. The chit chat about the weather may seem boring but you can use weather chat to cross over to a lot of other topics; like places you have been/want to go to, or even where you get your weather news from. Great chit chat is like playing 16 degrees of connection. Nobody has to be a brain-i-ack about everything but if you actually scan a news site, develop some varied interests, learn a few fun facts about where you are you can usually find something in common.

Avoid the usual land mines like sex , religion, politics, and money until later. While it doesn't hurt to talk about gender specific subjects but you want to be dead in the water with the opposite sex forget you are not talking to your friends.

Lot of people tell you to give a person a compliment. Dumb because it almost always makes a person feel embarrassed and put on the spot. Better to be positive and complicate the surroundings. If that indirectly compliments the person you want to attract fine .

And PRACTICE DOES MAKE PERFECT. Put yourself in situations you have to talk to strangers. Volunteer, join a team, sell something, shop, or get a prop to talk about. You want to get a conversation going it is easy to talk about a pet, collectible, or sports or media interest.

Just remember good conversation needs you to use all your senses. Look, listen and actually hear what is being said. Breath and engage brain before you speak.

I don't think that I really need a list of instructions about how to have a conversation. Planning out what I'm going to talk about is the last thing that I want to do. People need to take me as they find me and we either get on or we don't. Can't really say that I am a think before I engage my brain sort of person. I get on with women that aren't uptight or overly sensitive. Chatted with a woman on here once and it was alright and she said to me that at least she knew that with me that there wouldn't be any awkward silences. Had that from other women as well but didn't click with that one. She said that I was too serious and I thought that she was just snooty. My last date was like that as well. I would rather just be myself and just see what they are like and how much of me that they can handle. I don't mean being all full on straight away but if it's still awkward at the end of a phone call or date and I'm still worrying about saying the wrong thing, it didn't go very well.