Hey, violet, welcome to PsychCentral (PC).

I've had a lot of trouble all my life with talking to people on the phone and I'm shy when I first meet someone because it's difficult to gauge what to say and how to get past the "bland and uninteresting" beginning parts to the meat :-) It's a difficult problem, knowing how and how much to tell about one's self and how to ask others about themselves in such a way so they can tell us something worth following up with. My T tried to get across to me that it takes time to get to know someone, you can't immediately become friends the first time you meet in a casual situation.

I'm going to a party this afternoon at a neighbor's I only know a bit and will no doubt meet other neighbors and I'm worried what to say to them, how to converse. My husband doesn't say much of anything to people he doesn't know well so I'll have to be the conversationalist of the two of us :-) Scary stuff and I imagine I won't feel like I did a very good job of it when I get home and will be embarrassed for awhile.