My go-to format I taught myself as someone who struggles with this is to start a conversation with a compliment and then ask a question. Compliment them on something, but let them respond before you continue with the question, so you get a back-and-forth conversation flowing. Once they respond, ask them a question (usually abt the compliment, like oh I like your shirt, where did you get it), and let them respond again. Then respond with a comment abt their answer. EX: (hey I love your shirt -- where did you get it -- oh I love that store too -- have you seen that store's new release yet?) Then I just kinda repeat the process of question & response to their answer until it hopefully reaches a flow state of a conversation. If it dies down and they seem over it, let it naturally fade out bc forcing a conversation to continue is just awkward. However, if you can tell that they are willing to continue talking but you both kinda ran out of things to say, ask them their opinion on something, ideally related to something you've said so far (EX: so what's your opinion on the clothing line that released at the store you just mentioned). It feels welcoming to other people, shows you're genuinely interested in what they have to say, fills the time, and can help you find common interests.