small talk is hard. I can only go it when im in a group of friends and I can pick my moments. But being boring and quiet and worse than being stammering and engaging. It's a mental hurdle a lot of us have we have to push through. there's no real way around it, just through it. you need to make observations when you talk to people and try to really understand that it's not such a big deal. and even if it is a big deal, it's a much bigger deal to you than it is to them. You can either be nothing to people or someone who has an opinion and just takes a little bit longer to say it. It's an inner battle we all need to confront and become victorious over. but I know this is just talk and I still have a lot of trouble with this fear and the discomfort and everything. I tend to make really good friends with a few close people who im really cool with, and then i meet their friends and go out with them. They usually introduce me and that's one way i've met a lot more people. But you need to have a group, or at least some friends who know the real you.