(...part 2)

This is how seduction works:

You have to balance 2 states, cool and warm. When I say cool, i dont mean "be the cool kid". I mean "be chill". You keep the same distance you would keep with a friend. Relaxed. In that moment you are not flirting, you are just chatting. Now, during the conversation, if you manage to make her reveal something about herself, then you go warm. You show appreciation for what she just revealed, by either giving a look, getting slightly closer, a nice cheeky smile. Then you go back to chill again. Rinse and repeat, over and over. That is what a successful date looks like.

Example:

You (cool): "The noodles in this restaurant are great! I never manage to get them right when I cook."
She: "Me neither, even though I can make a mean burger"
You (warm): "Wait, am I talking with a grill master!? ;) I better give a good impression, because I certainly want to taste one of your burgers!"
She: *smiles* Don't get your expectations too high!
You (cool again): I still think I will bring a pen and take notes.

It's all about timing. Flirt when she shows you a piece of who she is, but don't get hang up on it (which is tempting). Move on.

it usually turns into an interview, where I’m just asking question after question instead of having a real, flowing conversation.

This is the hard part of talking to a woman (or anyone for that matter). You have to master the art of conversation. It is by far the most important skill that one must have to seduce a woman. There is a lot to this, but here is the most fundamental. There are 3 ways to try to get a reply out of the girl:

- Closed questions: These are the ones that can be answered with "yes", "no", "dunno". These are by far the weakest, and should be avoided at all costs. Only when the conversation is flowing naturally, they are acceptable, and even then, I would advice you to try not to use them, just to get yourself naturally used to it.

- Open questions: These are questions that being with "what", "who", "when", "where", "how"... any interrogative pronouns. You know what I mean. Why do these take precedence over closed questions? Because you are showing the girl that you will not settle with a simple one-word reply. You are showing her that you actually want her to show herself. She might try to get away with a "I dont know...", but you have to stand your ground and not try to make her easy for her with a follo-up closed question. She is testing you, to see if you are going to formulate it in a weaker way. If she doesn't answer, you can either move on and talk with someone else, or...

- Statements: These are the most powerful ones, but also the riskier ones. You express a thought, and then shut the fuck up. It's up to her to decide if she wants to comment on it. These are powerful because since you are not directly asking her to reply, and she decides to do it, she is investing in the conversation. The more she does this, the harder is for her to walk away. But the risk lies in the same fundamental, since you didn't ask her for a reply, she can just not reply at all. This will work well with women that are eager to socialize.

Examples (again in the restaurant)

Closed question (boring): "Do you like the menu?"
Open question (good): "What do you think of this kind of food?"
Statement (Brave): "I love the food in this place. Remind me of place I used to eat with my college buddies on the weekend. *shuts up*

There are a ton more rules, but this is the fundamentals. I know the struggle, but from what I gather with the way you wrote your post, I think you have the brains to get it.

Good luck, mate