I have a friend who can carry a conversation with a lamppost. but unlike many people like that, who just enjoy the sound of their own voice, he's genuinely interested in the other person and listens as much as he speaks
yeah I'll talk to anyone anywhere about anything anytime
not that I don't suffer from social anxiety, like every other person to ever live, but it doesn't manifest in shyness
I used to be more the latter, not so much (I think) for an egoistic enjoyment of my own voice as a natural tendency to verbosity
took me a while to recognize that and actively cultivate being an engaged listener, rather than someone who's just waiting for his turn to talk again
also out of a conscious desire not be another white dude forever talking over other people
it's an ongoing process but over the years I think I've made progress toward being more like your friend
which is nice because I too am always legitimately interested in what people have to say, which is often fascinating and/or not what you'd think
one of the things I miss the most during the pandemic is striking up random conversations with strangers or acquaintances
conversely, I'm much worse at the consistency required to maintain longer-term relationships, tho it's also something I've tried to work on