There’s a Father Brown story which has the extreme of that: https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/g-k-chesterton/the-secret-of-father-brown/text/the-song-of-the-fly

There’s a Father Brown story which has the extreme of that: https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/g-k-chesterton/the-secret-of-father-brown/text/the-song-of-the-flying-fish https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/g-k-chesterton/the-secret-... But in general yes - have a few or tens of stories you’ve rehearsed through long use, and practice ways to segue to one of them. Once you get a handle for the few topics of small talk, it’s not terribly hard - and is a skill that can be taught and learned.