Hate Small Talk? One Approach Anyone Can Use - by Jeff Haden

"Look around the room. Pick someone who looks uncomfortable. Pick someone who seems to feel out of place. Pick someone just like you."

"Then go talk to them. Make it your goal to make that one person feel more comfortable. Then you'll feel more comfortable too."

Try it. If it's painful to mingle, if it's awkward to make small talk, use those feelings in a positive way. Turn sympathy for yourself into empathy for another. Go rescue someone.

Just introduce yourself to people and ask a basic question: what they do, where they're from, why they're attending. You don't need to be a conversational genius. The people you rescue won't notice. They'll be too busy feeling less like wallflowers and more like people who belong--and they will always remember that it was you who made them feel that way.

More:
http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/hate-small-talk-one-approach-anyone-can-use.html