I once heard that people like to talk more than listen (which was true for me). In addition, a great conversationalist is a person that ask and listens - not the loud, funny outspoken one. People will have a laugh and will listen to you for a little while, but will eventually get bored because they didn’t have an opportunity to participate themselves. So what I started doing now is asking a lot of questions, even if I’m not 100% genuinely interested in the answer, but eventually the other person will say something that will bring us closer together and will give us something to talk about. The second rule of this game, is to try as hard as possible not to say anything unless asked. This is the hard part :D But once you catch yourselves giving opinions/story telling unprompted - stop - back to asking questions.
You wouldn’t believe how much it changed my life. I used to be extremely nervous about going out 1v1 even with my close friends, out of fear of “What are we going to talk about?”“What if there is going to be an awkward silence” etc. Now I thrive and I love hearing from people, what’s new in their lives and so on. And I noticed people like to talk to me a lot more too!
Realise that “opinions are like assholes - everyone has got one” - and this works in two ways. Respect that your opinion is not definite and final - listen and maybe somebody will say something that will make you revaluate your “truths”. Learn. That’s the only way to grow. Also, don’t give opinion unless asked - sometimes people just need to vent. Not always you need to be there to fix things or correct them.
Just be respectful, wait for your time when called upon and enjoy the conversation. You know your opinions - by saying them out loud you just repeat what you already know. It’s time to find out what other people are thinking :)