If you're like a lot of people, you turn into "deer in headlights" mode when you're mixed in with a group of strangers and have to make conversation. Even more so if someone tells you to start talking. Ouch.

So you cling to the wall or hover somewhere that you won't be forced to speak to anyone you don't know. Which is probably the whole room of people.

There's got to be a better way. Ideally without having to talk about the weather or some other cliched subject.

The flip side of this is that it's quite likely that if someone got you talking on your favorite subject you probably wouldn't shut up and they'd never get a word in edgewise.

There's got to be a compromise between those two hasn't there?

Start by realizing that most everyone else in the room is in the same situation. They may know a handful of other people but they won't know the hundreds of other strangers well enough to know whether they've got any common ground to start a conversation.

This means that a good proportion of people in the room are in the same situation as you - desperately trying not to make eye contact or have to start talking to others.

And, since they're strangers, you would have to try fairly hard to embarrass yourself or anyone else.

Think about it - the worst that can happen is you start a conversation and it then dries up. That's OK - it happens to everyone. Just carry on or even use the fact that it's dried up as the talking point.

Go on - practice starting a conversation next time you're in a room full of strangers. After a while, you'll get used to it and wonder why you ever had a worry.