Stacking material forward is one of my biggest SPs, especially when it comes after the opener. (I don't like milking openers. Once the opener has served its purpose, I thank her for her input, advice, etc, and stop the conversation from there.) And if I do stack my material forward (such as showing her one of my card tricks, a common thing I like to do), I still need to stack forward to keep the interaction alive!!!

I wouldn't consider myself a "cool, sociable, and outgoing guy with lots of friends", as I'd like to think that people who have these traits are the ones who are masters at stacking forward because they have a lot of awesome things going on in their lives, meaning that they have an endless amount of routines, stories, and other DHVs to use at their disposal. The "awkward, timid guy" doesn't have the same leisure.

So my question is: how can I stack forward at any moment during the interaction with an HB (other than the usual magic trick, palm read, etc) when you run out of things to do or say?

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"I've learned it's important not to limit yourself. You can do whatever you really love to do, no matter what it is." - Ryan Gosling

Try to start a bunch of "open threads" and then interupt yourself or let them interupt you and then discuss a new topic. Then when that topic runs dry be like "Oh yea, back to what I was trying to say earlier..." and continue on with the previous line of thought.

You can also use opinion openers throughout your routine. If you hit a lull, just bust out with "Who lies more?" or "Do you believe in astrology?" Or do the jealousy plot line bit. Everyone knows a bunch of stupid openers, and a lot of them actually make for better conversational side topics rather than cold approach opening lines.

You also want to avoid bouncing from one topic to the next, because it can come across as trying to hard to make conversation. That's why returning to previous things you discussed and expanding further on them is a superior strategy rather than continually going from one random topic to another.

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“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible'!” ~Audrey Hepburn

How can I "interrupt myself"? How can I do it smoothly rather than awkwardly?

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"I've learned it's important not to limit yourself. You can do whatever you really love to do, no matter what it is." - Ryan Gosling

Say you're talking to a set. You're high energy, speaking fairly fast. Might sound something like this: "You like traveling to Europe, eh? My friend went to France and said it was awesome, but I've never been...Whoa, I just noticed your watch (you grab her wrist for kino) That's really neat, where'd you get it? That's cool, I shop there all the time. Do you go to the one at Metro or the Plaza? Sweet. Anyhoo, oh yea, so you which European country do you like the most? Germany, eh? That's actaully where my family is from. Where are your peeps from? Italy and Puerto rico? So when was the last time you went to Europe? Wait, so your mom is full blooded Italian, do you speak Italian or spanish? I took spanish in school. Did you go to school here or back east? Which coast do you like better, east or west? West coast? Mee too. Oh, so you never finished telling me about your European vacation..."

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“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible'!” ~Audrey Hepburn