Guys I am having a real hard time after opening sets transitioning from the opener ( in which I go direct 99% of the time ) to something good or productive.. And its creating AA badly.. Does anyone have advice or tips on how to transition???

this is how it usually goes:
me: Hi you guys seem fun just thought i'd say Hi
girls: Hi
Me: My mind just goes blank...... if the girl doesnt initiate something useful for to go on I go blank..

I am very good if I get any compliance after the opener but for those sets that require atleast a lil work this is a sticking point.. I am a laid back guy and those really high energy 1-4 or mehow type gambits dont go with my personality, girls can tell quickly so I cant go that route..

I approach w a smile looking confident and all that but any ideas guys or ways you know to hook these sets early, because as you all know when you go direct you get to know quickly if the set is interested but there is no opinion opener so you have to fire up the convo as well cause NO content for girl go off, just your HI THERE.. I am starting to get AA because I know 10-20 seconds in to sets I will fuck up because I cant get the set talkin or atleast hooked in some way..

I am going out with a well known PUA in chicago thursday and I wanna be atleast a lil prepared to go out w the guy, If I can cure this atleast he will only have 9 things to help me with instead of 10 lol

The problems I see with opens like, "Thought I'd say hi" is that it doesn't get the conversation ball rolling. There is no transition because you really haven't started anything. I love opinion openers because they give you the option to go so many ways after them. When I go out, I have a list of 5 things I could fall back on such as politics, sports, or some other random chick crack.

When I approach a set, I always use my opener to transition into something else. I like to stretch my opener into 3-5 min of conversation. If that conversation starts to fall, I can resort to one of my random topics or use another opener and continue the conversation there.

I started with approaching the men in the group because you can use any question to start a conversation with them. I've had men come up to me in the bar before and ask if I knew the score for the basketball game earlier that day. The women always wonder who this guy is that their friends are talking to.

Lead the men, the women will follow.