Hi everyone. I absolutely HATE small talk and I also hate awkward silences. I suffer with social anxiety and tend to avoid situations because I fear they will be ‘awkward’. Also with lockdown I feel my social skills have gotten so bad. Being in lockdown made me realise I really want to start making more friends and pushing myself out there. What conversation starters do you always use to get to know someone new and make friends with them? My mind always goes blank. For reference I am 21
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I find a good way to start conversation in a non pressure way is a complement, usually about their shoes or a bag etc.
Usually people like talking about themselves. Ask about where they’re from, job, interests. Yes it’s small talk but people are known to naturally take a shine to someone who’s taking an interest in them.
Ask people open ended questions about themselves- where are you from? How long have you worked/lived here? That’s a great bag/shoes/hair cut etc - where did you get that? Do you know anywhere local that’s good for lunch? Etc etc etc
Me tooI suffer from extreme social anxiety aswell but luckily I really don’t mind being a bit of a lonerI really struggle with making small talk (even with people that I know well) and if someone asks me questions about myself I can’t even keep that conversation going.
all that’s going through my head is when is this conversation going to end/ or how will I wrap it up 
It can be hard, I have to talk to new people constantly because of work and some people it’s really hard to get much out of them, other people are really easy to talk to/get a conversation going with so I do think it depends on the person. I think showing an interest in someone is a good start, ask them questions and it usually leads to them asking questions back and perhaps you finding mutual interests/things in common or something in there that you can spark a good conversation with - even if it’s just about something silly like dogs 
I love it when people tell me about their dogs!
I love it when people tell me about their dogs!