How do you avoid those awkward moments with people???
After the initial "how are you" and all that how do you keep a conversation going and keep the person entertained? I seem to have trouble with this everywhere i go. Whether at a club, party, school, etc. Please give me some advice and tips.

Have a lot of canned routines and interesting anecdotes at the ready. Also try to be mindful of the environment and the people you are interacting with, so you can make insightful comments and lead into more conversational threads.

I dont really think about, it just happens natural. There's always something to say or comment on, weather its out of the ordinary or not does'nt matter.
But like they say 'the conversation is only as good as the company you keep'.
It helps if your talking to real conversationalist and decent people.
Just be like 'hey how you doing, what you up to?'
They may what you've been up to or something,
tell a short story, ask questions Etc. basically it just flows.
The silence is only awkward, if you feel awkward.

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To effectively communicate, we must realise that we are all different in the way we percieve the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.

Build momentum! Just keep moving from routine to routine if you feel insecure. Eventually you will understand the game enough to improvise.

i was telling scorpio about this just last night. a lot of people will say canned routines, cold readings, etc. but aside from pickup - think of human interaction in general. this is a life skill. not a pua skill. think about what you know about the person. if you know everything, then there is everything to talk about. if there is nothing you know about them - there is everything to find out. say open ended statements - waiting for them to ask you a question and IOI you. or just ask questions about their life in general. if you can think of absolutely nothing then go afc. its better to say something than nothing.
V1V

If silence ever arises my favorite thing to do is just point it out and embrace it.

"It's rare that people actually soak in silence nowadays. It's actually very soothing to just listen to the ambience of a room. Listen to the silence that sounds are coming out of, not just the sounds themselves. Feel your body's inner workings...your blood flowing through you, your heart beat, your breath. It's like meditation."

Get her to close her eyes and basically meditate there with you. Hold both of her hands and say "feel my pulse too". They love this type of stuff because you just made a potentially awkward moment very visceral and emotional in a positive way.

Great one!

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Being elitist is not a feeling. Is a way of life.

I'm hesistant to drop this but when the RARE awkward silence occurs i embrace it, i go into CF mode and say shit like

'wow, this is really awkward, it's gotta be all this sexual tension between us, we should kiss that should make it pass'

That gets a laugh ATLEAST, mostly gets kiss depending on how inebriated the girl is

I see this as a 50/50 deal. You either make a huge forward leap or make things even more awkward if she isn't ready for a kiss. Be careful!

watch curb your enthusiasm and learn to talk humorously about ANYTHING

Free write . . .

Carry around a notebook and write. You're not being graded. Just write, write, write. I'll give you and example:

I'm sitting in a cafe right now. I'm the only customer. It's raining outside and I'm wondering how the hell I'm going to walk back home. There's a cute waitress behind me and I've seen her again and again for the last month but I haven't held any conversations with her because she doesn't speak English. I've done the stare game with her as in STARE at each other . . .and then smile like, "Oh yes, we appreciate each others outer beauty" . . . It's cool . . . it's kinda sexy. Oops, there we go again with another waitress. Stare . . . she smiles first. She looks away first. When she looks back, I'm still smiling at her and now she giggles and puts her cute little fingers in front of her mouth in efforts to hide her nervous giggle but I can see teeth. Ahh the bits of flirting we do in a day . . .

I just wrote this in less than 5 minutes. Actually, I think less than 2.

Some of you can't improvise and speak what's on your mind because you're setting yourselves up. "I have to be interesting." "I have to have a routine." "I have to do this." "I have to do that." "I have to do everything right." "This girl has to like me." "I must be liked."

Think about all the rules that we abide by in a day. Our society gives us a set of routines that are acceptable and unacceptable. If you really meditate on this, your MOM WAS RIGHT. "Just be yourself . . ." This is the way.

You are NOT a guy who NEEDS anything. We don't NEED to do this and that and do everything right. So . . . just let it go and begin with writing what ever the hell it is that is on your mind in any moment. If you can do this . . .you can move onto the next phase and focus towards a specified goal.

Next, write a "pretend routine". Sit anywhere and watch an interesting girl walk by. Then write down your routine. And it's gotta just fly out of your fingers. You know the rules. you need to open, routine, close. Keep that in mind. And keep a track of where you are during the interaction. Example:

A cute girl just walked by the cafe with a black rain coat, green shopping bag, pink handbag, and knee high boots. Umbrella. Great smile:

K: Excuse me, Do yo know where ______ is? (Choose location in direction she's walking)
hb: Yes, it's blah blah . .
K: (Look down at her boots the whole time) Oh, I'm sorry, I was looking at your boots. They look great on you
hb: blah, blah
K: But what's the deal with all those bags? Are you on a strategic shopping mission?
hb: blah, blah,
K: Cool, so are you going this way?
hb: Yes, blah blah
K: Listen, I'm a really shy guy and I wouldn't ask this but I'm getting a little wet here. You mind if we share the umbrella?
hb: Oh . . .no problem!
K: Ha ha. . . look at that guy, he was staring at you for like 5 seconds!
hb: No . . no way. I don't think so.
K: I bet he thinks I'm your boyfriend. I bet he's really jealous of me.
hb: ....
K: Look, turn here and let's take a look at the window. Hmm . . . maybe we don't look so good together. Well, no. Let's try this. (Put her arm around mine) Oh yeah, that's much better.
hb: .... (But I know she'll smile)
K: I think this is my street right? Thanks . . . bye! (And just walk away, walk away, 5 seconds)
K: (Then run back) Wait, wait. . . Jeesh, I rarely do this but I just felt like if I kept on walking away, we might never see each other again. Do you have email? At least this way, we can keep in touch. . . you know, I might get lost again?
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Shit, this one took me over 5 minutes. I wrote this one up after seeing that girl who walked by 5 minutes ago. If you can slam it out on paper or keyboard, you can SAY IT. You have to practice through writing. Some are naturals . . . 99.999% are NOT. Do you think those improv comedians just stand up and go at it? 100%, they sit at home and write, write, and write more to prepare.

Our game is much easier. If you do this for one day, you can slam out 8 routines in short time. If it was a contest, I bet I could slam out over 100 routines in a day. Do this for 4 weekends in a row and you have 32 in your pocket. Then all you do is a variation of your 32 routines based on unique situations. Very simple. . . but it takes effort.

Or you can just plagiarize the cube/ladder/are you twins with C lips routines. Up to you.