I am not diagnosed on the spectrum, but have an AQ in the low 30s and have always been socially awkward so this thread caught my eye. I can tell you what doesn't work is bravado to introduce yourself like an extrovert and then have nothing else to say or have the next thing you say be an observation most people find odd and/or uninteresting. I have crashed and burned many times trying to bluff my way through social situations. I think I need to be more like the previous posters who responded and just be my awkward self.