I've been an introvert all my life - around my family, friends, coworkers, you name it. I can be social when I want to (family functions, work get togethers, etc...) but it drains my energy and I'm usually the listener rather than the talker. Usually the conversation is 90% other person, 10% me.

I'm trying to take steps to become more social but I don't expect to turn into an extrovert. It seems that being socially adept is a key to successful interactions with strangers. I heard somewhere that most successful interactions should be balanced (50/50). I'd like to be able to approach and talk confidently with women as well as other people, but the thought of having to carry a greater part of the conversation than what I'm used causes anxiety for me.

I don't feel like I should have to create a fake persona to meet women, but it seems that most of the PUA tools (rapport, storytelling, banter, etc) require an extrovert personality to pull if off. How can an introverted person like employ these tools while being true to there own self?

Your main problem is the fact that you're social introvert and you don't want to change that (why else would you want to know strategies that as you said an extrovert person might be able to pull off).
IMO you're only introvert because you're conditioned, you've lived all your life as the person you are, now you must work for what you want to achieve.

Not so much as having a fake persona you must grow into it, Style said in his book The Game that his personality changed from the time he was an AFC to a PUA, obviously if you were happy with your life you wouldn't be required to change.

I'm also an introvert person myself, more towards the side of lazy, but I find that if I try to talk to people or just have fun with people I have just meet then I'm enjoying myself, sure it's more draining than just trying to avoid a conversation but it's also far more entertaining.

Personally I got into the idea of the game not so much as picking up women (it's still a major part of my motivation) but also I feel the game is something I can enjoy, talking to strangers gives me a rush, an excitement and so long as you can recognize that the worse thing that could happen to you is humiliation and that is something you can shake off AA is no problem.

Listening is a powerful tool, if you're good at it you can simply pick up clues from what the other person is saying and reply as a question or maybe something related, you can't possibly ever run out of material.
Try to look for your motivations and what you enjoy being social and use those reasons to improve yourself, my opinion is if you were happy with yourself to begin with you wouldn't be posting here.

no they don't require extroversion, I'm the same way and I can do it, but only once I'm already close to the girl. Extroversion just gets you to meet with more people, gives you more opportunities to use these skills, introversion makes it hard to get to that point. But once you get past the initial problems you don't have to be "social", just socially intelligent.

For me the best way to keep up the conversation naturally is to actually have something meaningful to say. try to bring up something you know or care about, and from their things should go naturally. you get the advantage of appearing "deep" and eliminate one sided-ness.

The 2nd thing is to not be awkward during silences. Be chill. If someone is awkward during a silence, i take it as a sign of immaturity. This puts less pressure on you to say things.

Hey, thanks for the comments. It's good to know that there are other introverts out there having some success.

One thing I've noticed is that once I begin a conversation, I usually try to gauge the other person's character and level of intelligence through how they talk and carry themselves. If I feel intellicutually inferior for whatever reason, I usually don't talk a whole lot. I feel like I'm being overly cautious of how people will judge me.

Hey, thanks for the comments. It's good to know that there are other introverts out there having some success.

One thing I've noticed is that once I begin a conversation, I usually try to gauge the other person's character and level of intelligence through how they talk and carry themselves. If I feel intellicutually inferior for whatever reason, I usually don't talk a whole lot. I feel like I'm being overly cautious of how people will judge me.

Hey there Gman949
I gotta say: part of being an alpha-male, a HV person, a naturally attractive man is being the leader in the conversation. "You can tell who is the Alpha male: he's the one who dominates the conversation." my own quotation, i guess.

If ur gonna get into a relationship, u can't just run routines on her, you gotta learn to conversate.

It's amazing how even I went from being the introvert of my every class to the extrovert everybody loves.

I'm still the same guy, I'm the man I was cause I was proud to be me, with strengths and weaknesses, I only learned to express myself in front of others. we all got things to say, and we're all alpha males. Me, you. it's in there u just gotta get it out.

I got the feeling that there are 2 major things holding you back:
1- not enough social skills
2- not enough confidence

When you try to get into a conversation, you find that you can't relate, you can't fit in or find anything to say that would be intesting to others, and in a 1 on 1 convo you run outta stuff to say! am I right?

It's cause u aint got enough confidence, and you probably don't look confident. I was at this party a few weeks ago and the "cool athlete guys" were talking to me and i didnt even know them. I had really nothing to say but "ooh, nice" and stuff like that, but I looked confident. I looked like I was "The Cool Guy". and I was, cause I believed in myself. I HAD CONFIDENCE

what you gotta do is practice you conversation skills
this is the structure of a basic conversation:
-ask people question, quick question & development questions.
-make jokes here and there (build up the energy level of your conversations)
-when they say something you can vaguely relate to, tell them a story of yours that relates.

You can be a great conversationalist without speaking much, you can be a great listener and people will appreciate & like you for that.
But to reach the next level, you gotta become more confident and become a leader of conversation. become the storyteller, no longer the guy on the side listening. get that light focused on YOU! people are atracted by the light and when u become the shiniing star of a conversation, you're that guy women want to know! But ur gonna need confidence for that. you're gonna have to stop doubting yourself, stop believing others are better, smarter, stronger, or anything else! It's all in you, I believed it and it became true.

Good luck man

-Lucky D

Thats great... Talk about alpha male your quoting yourself lol.

I'm a pretty introverted guy. I dont talk about myself much, and I dont care what other people think. Although a few of my friends say that I am the most social person they know. I would disagree with the 50/50 conversation I am assertive not talkative. The guy who walks in the room is the loudest and most talkative can easily make himself look like an idiot. I understand what you mean about draining, it really can be when your in a group and everyones trying to get a word in. The things is you cant let yourself be pushed aside. Speak softly but carry a big stick.

Well since were calling it something, I'm probably more of an introvert. But I disagree with the classification and labeling, too much of that in society. You are who you are. What you do with the information on this forum is your prerogative. Every PUA is different, some guys go out to the bars with the sole intention of picking up HB's, and are very systematic. Others, like me, do their own thing and if by chance they see an HB they want to talk to, they have the confidence to approach her.

_________________
"Who the f**k is Fanning?"

well i feel for you man i know more then anyone about being a introvert i was up untill 3years ago. I have studied every angle of the game i know most of the ins and outs of the thing however knowing all this and not being that way anymore my big thing is i think most woman are nuts and i really cant bring myself to start anything with any of them outside a few hours of adult fun and then i hope i never see them again although there are a few woman i am currently persueing for a bit more i hope thier not nuts