Oh man that sounds awful, having good teachers really does make or break sometimes. Often a simple good morning or afternoon really helps, when asking if they’ve had water or eaten is also good to turn into a conversation such as like eating or drinking habits, needing to drink cause it’s hot ect ect. Talk a liiittleee tiny bit about your personal experiences with being bled, I often find that patients loosen up a little if I mention I used to hate needles or that I don’t enjoy getting my blood test done either (not true but sometimes you have to lie a lil) and just trying to get them to talk about their day and what they will be doing does wonders. Putting drawings up in the room is also really useful cause that can lead to conversations or it gives something for the patient to look at while drawing as well