Regarding anxiety, treat the small talk as a game. Something you're having fun with. Realize that the anxiety is coming from your beliefs, not the situation,

Regarding anxiety, treat the small talk as a game. Something you're having fun with. Realize that the anxiety is coming from your beliefs, not the situation, and you have the power to change. You are an interesting person with a lot to contribute. Everyone else is a bit anxious inside and needs someone to talk. He would be glad if you strike up a conversation with him and find him interesting. Realize that what's the worse that can happen? If they don't like you, so what? Just like in a game, re-spawn in another spot and have fun again. As for specific techniques, there are the NEWS - News, Event, Weather, and Sport - for non-personal conversational topics. Event is the function you guys are attending that you can have a common shared topic to talk about. Additional topics: Movies, Musics, Mobile, TV, and Games. There are the FORD - Family, Occupation, Recreation, Dreams - for more personal topics to talk about. As for conversation techniques, there're the SPADDE techniques. S is for small talk, as above. P for paraphrasing what the other person has said. Paraphrasing as a form a question to ask for confirmation and show that you're really listening. Paraphrasing as a form of exclamation to show empathy. A for asking questions. Ask questions to open up new topics. Ask follow up questions to lead the topic further. D for disclosure. Disclose something about yourself. Give them a chance to ask you questions. If they don't know how to follow up, go back to S and A. D for deprecation. Add a bit of self-deprecation to the conversation. E for experience. Ask their experience or talk about your experience.