I definitely agree that transitioning after the opener is more important than the opener itself. I try to practice this a lot with drills.
Omalie cat mentioned the best friends test. This is great because its a light hearted, fun cold read. Any half decent cold read will help ignite the convo and DHV you. When I'm in set I look for anything to cold read on early on... Body language, how they dress, or just make it up completely. Just make sure it's not supplicating on your part.
Stuff like, "haha, maybe i shouldn't have asked YOU (the opener)...you look like a man hater

I'll ask your friend here instead, she looks like a sensible young woman"
Cold reads make people you have no rapport with feel connected to you because you are addressing their ego, they love that. Notice that you're also frame setting which makes you alpha

awesome.
It's much easier to go into a normal convo after this.
Everfresh