So Friday night I went to an art show, which was about 5 degrees outside my comfort zone. I only knew about 3 people there, I'd never been to an art show before, I'm not a member of the established 'scene' and I don't know jack about art. Add to this that the city I live in is well known for being one of the coldest and most stand-offish in North America.

It went about as you'd expect: my anxiety got the better of me and I withdrew inside myself, put the walls up and adopted insecure body language (fidgeting, restless hands, standing rigidly with feet planted and spaced, hands in pockets, shoulders hunched... the whole gamut of no-nos). As a result, I really only had a conversation with 2 people outside the group I knew.

I'm really angry at myself for doing that, and not being more at ease in the situation, but I was so completely out of my element that any conversations I managed to start were at best 2 or 3 sentences before petering out and ending awkwardly. I couldn't figure out what to say, what to ask or what to do. Even getting the ol' Dutch Courage didn't help. It just served to make me more self-conscious which made me more withdrawn.

Does anybody have any tips on how to fake confidence in a situation where you're completely unprepared for what you're experiencing?