A small introduction can turn an unfamiliar room into a place with one known face.

Most of the discomfort in a new room is not shyness, it is having nowhere to stand. One introduction solves that immediately: a name, a reason the two of you might talk, and suddenly there is somewhere to return to when a conversation ends. It costs the introducer about fifteen seconds. For the person arriving, it changes the shape of the whole evening.

If you know the room, look for whoever is standing at its edges and bring them into a conversation by name. Say one true thing about each person so they have a start. If you are the newcomer, ask your host who you should meet.