su, don't be so tough on yerself.......
I didn't get a better gift of gab, till i was in my ?? late 20's or early 30's....suddenly it seems after listening to my dad for yrs talking to people i finally do much better at it alot of the time.....that it blossomed in me. How to strike up converstationsds with people.
I also read alot in various interests, have a pretty good sense {and various types} of humour.........which can also make cross connections to people and make cross connections of different subjectas as well...
I didn't have a natural gift for small talk... i could talk serious, but you usually don't start out that way...with new people , unless you might be at a type of event {like B speaking about world poverty
}-- for me that might be a serious lecture, a demonstartion etc......
it can just be a matter of time, su and getting about more in the world, expanding your interests etc.......