How to Talk to People

Yeah, I'm just going to echo what many people have already said. 1: Social communication is a skill, so practice it. 2: There is no real check list at getting better at communicating. You can of course study body language, which helps. And learning basic charisma skills helps too. But think of communication like an expressive art, not a science. 3: Most important: You're goal when talking to people should ALWAYS be to "Have as much FUN in the MOMENT as humanly POSSIBLE" ^ |___- Seriously, its a hard thing to grasp when you have social anxiety, but once it clicks in your mind for the first time, (and don't expect immediate results, because that is not how human confidence is evolved to work) then it really is just that easy. And I really wish LEARNING it was that easy was as easy as how you see it when you have learned it. I can elaborate however elaborate with some tips if you want. Just ask. And lastly: 4: Like learning any martial art, there is no failure. There is only victory, and practice.

I wouldn't talk to someone I don't know without a good reason, but if you really want to talk to a person you should at least figure out how to start a conversation with them first. One thing you can do is use your environment to your advantage. For example: if you are at a store, you can look at what they're holding and ask them where you can find one. Another thing you can do is examine what they're wearing. If they're wearing a t-shirt relating to something you like or are familiar with, you can use that. You can say something like, "Hey, I like your shirt. Are you a fan of *insert fandom here*?" and go from there. I hope that helps.

Miklós gets it, we're probably all awful with advice. I'm the gentlemanly type who always ends up getting friendzoned so girls usually flock towards me (but nothing ever comes out of it), all that you can really do is just start off with something basic, then from there go on talking about it for as long as you possibly can to understand the person. After you think you have a vague understanding of their personality try to change the subject by relating the conversation to something else of interest (or just something that comes to mind) for example "oh by the way, that reminds me of..." or "yeah that really makes me think of how...". I can't really tell you how it goes but its really just as simple as talking to people and then the conversation should naturally continue to go on until someone loses interest or has to leave. Confidence is a must, and of course a general interest in the same things, if you don't have the same interests then it probably isn't meant to happen and you should find someone else who would be more worth while.