Much to my surprise, I volunteered as a door-to-door political canvasser some years back. It's not strictly out-and-about strangers as suggested here, but these

Much to my surprise, I volunteered as a door-to-door political canvasser some years back. It's not strictly out-and-about strangers as suggested here, but these people were unknown to me and I was unknown to them. It just happened to be on their porch. I was initially petrified, but I figured out some extremely effective tricks to establish a rapport _before_ launching into my political script. As I'm walking up to the house, I'm looking for decorations, plants, the porchlight. Especially the porchlight. Ring the bell, knock on the door. "Hey, good evening! Yeah before I get into that (gesture at campaign button pinned to my chest), I noticed you have a compact fluorescent bulb out here. And right away I'm pretty sure we see eye to eye on some environmental issues." Smirk or smile. Instant connection. Literally nobody I used that opener on, ever turned me away. Which is a heck of a statistic given the overall reception that political canvassers got that year. Things I'm not commenting on: The car in the driveway (not sure it's theirs), the trash in the yard (don't bring up a negative), the peeling paint (not their fault, they're probably busy, etc). So if you're looking for a way to make a connection with a stranger, look for something they did _on purpose_. Not their physique, unless they're obviously a bodybuilder or something, that's usually unintentional and many people are self-conscious about it. But they definitely picked out that funny slogan T-shirt, or the buttons pinned to their bag, or the scarf in the colors of the local sports team's rival. All those things are statements they're making _on purpose_ to the world they're walking through, and you're in the clear to comment on them.