The most interesting person at the party is usually the one asking the most interesting questions.

Being interesting is usually mistaken for having something impressive to say. The person everyone drifts toward is actually the one turning attention outward, asking about the thing nobody else thought to ask. Curiosity reads as confidence because it means you are not busy managing how you look.

At the next thing you go to, give yourself one job: ask a second question. Not the polite opener, the follow-up after their first answer. Watch how quickly the conversation stops feeling like work.