I'm brand new to this, only joined the forum recently, and have no knowledge whatsoever. To be honest, I'm trying to get my head around this forum as it seems as first glance to assume some prior knowledge. I didn't know what HB stood for for ages. A lot of the terms like IOI were foreign to me too. Is there a absolute beginners guide people recommend?

Anyway, I thought I'd recap a few recent situations because they sum up a lot of what I'm struggling with.

I'm a shy guy but over the last 4 days or so, I've been forcing myself to try and start conversations with girls to see what I can learn.

1. I was in my local Tesco, in the coffee/tea aisle, and this HB8 was there, looking confused. I was standing next to her, looking up and smiled. She smiled back and I said "there's just too much choice, isn't there", teasing her for being confused as to which coffee to buy. She said "yeah" and laughed, but then put her head down and wandered off. I didn't get a chance to really say anything else, but I guess was useful, as I had nothing planned! I was hoping she was going to say a little bit more so I can bounce off it.
   
2. Again in Tesco, I was buying my mum something so was down the female bodywash/shampoo aisle, and a HB8 stopped ahead. I stood next to her, and then turned to her and said "hey, how are you....can I ask you something?". She said "umm, I guess" in a not very interested voice. I asked her opinion on which thing to get as a present (I didn't mention my mum, as that sounded a bit childish and I guess I wanted her to think I had female people to buy for, but don't really know why I thought that, as if she thought I had a girlfriend, I was hardly going to get her number. Just some flawed logic). Anyway, she just said "I don't know really, sorry" and then shuffled off. All felt a bit awkward, and she spoke like I did when I'm just trying to get rid of annoying people stopping you in the street asking for money.
   
3. I was walking home around 11.45pm on a Friday night and passed a pub kicking out. These two girls (HB7 and 8) came out right by me. One was hiccuping, so I tried cheekily saying to the other one "You hold her ankles and I'll tip her upside down". They laughed but just carried on walking off, so didn't say anything back. Anyway, I walked down a side street to go home, and after 5 minutes, came out onto this main road, and somehow these girls were there (they must have walked down another road). I tried again and opened with "Hey, you two stalking me or something?" with a laugh, and they looked at each other and said "Err....no" and laughed together and walked past. Didn't stop or say much back. Kind of felt like two hot girls laughing at an annoying geeky guy.

As I know no techniques or anything, it's not a surprise I'm doing terribly, but my problem does seem to be openings, and how to start a conversation. I struggle to think of things to say, and even if they would have responded with something a bit better, I didn't really have anything in mind to carry on with. I guess I'm hoping all the time for their response to bounce off.

Can anyone recommend any good threads on here about conversational techniques and openers?

You don't need conversational techniques or openers, you sound just fine. What you say in fact matters very little. You'll see Phil here having successes open with rape jokes and you'll see others having success with "Do you like custard?".

What matters more is your body language, the subtleties in your tone, your demeanour and how invested in the situation you are.

Start by looking into those, particularly the last one, stop caring and you'll see all the other things you do improve simply because by not caring too much you display all the right things.

Dude... you're on the right tracks. Day Game (for me that means any place outside a nightclub) just be very direct.

"Excuse, I just saw you from over there and I thought you looked really nice, and I just had to come and say hello..." This will 8 / 10 get you in with a smile with her saying "Awww thank you". Then get her talking about herself... let her do the talking...

Thanks guys. I admit I am pretty awkward in myself when I saw things, and probably look at the ground a lot, that sort of things. Useful post RLAJay, I'll look into those things, as I have no idea about any of them.

I might try your idea monkeybuster, definitely sounds better than pretending to get their opinion, or trying to "work around" to a normal conversation. I guess it's showing my confidence if I just talk to them without a reason. I'll try that tomorrow and see how I get on, but in the meantime, I'll check up on other body language/tone of voice things.

As a question though, I can imagine the conversation going:

Me: "Excuse me, I just saw you from over there and I thought you looked really nice, and I just had to come and say hello..."
Her: "Thanks."
Me (now struggling): "So, you live around here. I've just moved to the area and not seen you around before."
Her: "Yeah, just down the road."
Me: "Umm, that's cool."
Her: "Just in a rush at the moment though, so nice meeting you." (walks off).

I need to develop a natural way of not letting the conversation go stale really quickly, and having a few "lines" to keep it going long enough to eventually move it towards a number close.

If you have any advice, or things I can read up on to help me with this, I'd be very grateful.

Remember to try and talk about her. My take on the conversation

Me: "Excuse me, I just saw you from over there and I thought you looked really nice, and I just had to come and say hello..."
Her: "Awwww Thanks. (big smile!)"
Me (you never struggle if you're being in the moment): "Yeah it was just the way you were standing there / walking / (what ever caught your eye!). You were in your own little bubble smiling. Maybe its because you love shopping / the sun / etc."
Her: "Yeah i was just shopping for blah / I was on my way to work / Blah..."

After that talk about things that you want in a women... make sure you know what that is... if she speaks shit according your standards... make excuses and leave... if she matches what you're looking for then the rest will come easy.

Fuck girls. They're shit.

just think of some funny stories or learn the cube.

By the sounds of it you've done brilliantly already. It's hard as fuck going from being shy to opening random strangers, so well done for manning up and cracking on. There's a lot to be admired in a bloke who pushes his comfort zones to grow, learn and go after what he wants. Don't beat yourself up for other peoples' reactions - some people are just wierd.

As for opening, don't change a thing - keep trying and sooner or later good things will start to happen. It only takes one person to be a bit quirky and have a chat with you and you'll forget all the people who blew you off and feel absolutely amazing.

Thanks dude, appreciate that :-)

You're doing great and would agree with RLAJay

Body lanuage is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing you need to get right more than what comes out of your mouth, it accounts for such a huge percentage. Head up, shoulders back, friendly smile walk with purpose, without being too arrogant if you're in Tescos you need to almost act you own in. There are lots of books videos on body language and confidence if you nail that part you'll find everything else with girls so much easier, they will want to keep the conversation flowing and it makes your job easier.

In terms of conversation try to avoid interviewing her, where do you, what do you etc

I need to work on my body language skills then. Is there any sources you recommend that provide good tips?

My problem is that I wear glasses, and have weird hayfever-like symptoms so when I walk in the cold to a shop, and then enter the warmer shop, my eyes start watering, which doesn't look attractive lol. My voice sounds less deep, and I do act noticeably more nervous. I need to somehow work on that, I assume it's just approach anxiety.