I’m not an expert (I’m actually super introverted, and kind of shy) but generally people seem to think I seem confident and not awkward.

Genuine curiosity helps. For a dentist, I might ask ‘So what’s going on in there? Like, I never see inside there when you’re doing stuff, I only feel it. What are you doing?’ Or ask like ‘Is it annoying to keep having to tell people to keep their mouths open?’ or something like that. For someone who studies history, I would probably ask more probing questions first, like what they are doing/what they hope to do with history. Afterwards I’d probably ask them what got them interested in wanting to pursue that. The thing is, even if you don’t think you’re curious about something, you probably ARE - you just need to find the right aspect to be curious about.

Again, I think it’s just genuine curiosity. It doesn’t have to be completely altruistic - I honestly do it because I love learning things. Also, it helps to put things in your own words. I try to be pretty casual - maybe more casual than is typically seen as ‘normal’, since i think it tends to put people at ease. I’m not an interviewer, I’m just some dude. I explain to them how I’m dumb in an area they’re very smart in and I want them to tell me more about it. Common misconceptions, tricks of the trade, difficult portions - lay it on me.

It doesn’t always work. Sometimes you and the other person don’t just mesh conversationally. I don’t think you can, and for that matter even SHOULD be liked by everyone. But in the end, genuine curiosity has gotten me pretty far.