Doesn't matter what you say, it's HOW you say!!
This simple tip saved me more times then I can count. It's one of the ONLY tips I remind myself, the rest of the convo goes naturally. If the convo is going bad for you, don't stress! Just think about this, put more enthusiasm in your words, you CAN'T go wrong with this one!
The main thing I focus on my conversations is to create a vibe of course. But the most interresting topic for other people is....... other people!
If you have an good eye, LOOK for things in their personality that even they didn't know of! xD
So fun for me. Always gets me laughing. I personally LOVE this, and they love it too of course. Funny to see their reactions.
I can't think of a good example, you have to figure it out yourself. I don't know if I could figure it out if I didn't saw it myself in actions, well!
The point would be to get an interresting topic of the most common things, you know? Then I start saying stuff like: So cmon, tell me something interresting you did last night, so I can see what kind of person you are.
Heck, even I don't exactly know how I get going, but it's so frikin easy.
I don't know if you could pull it off if you're not happy yourself. As I am extremey happy with my persona, I always look at other people the same way, you just need to get in that mood.