Problem

[rajpoot]

I doubt I can add much to advice (or advise? I always get confused between the noun and the verb) already given, but I can suggest this, that one does not need to talk just for the heck of it...to make others feel comfortable. If you enjoy silence and not speaking then just don't. It's happened to me many times, and I've seen it happen. People usually feel awkward, and then try to start up a conversation, just to break the silence....its only rarely that that works.
Plus my personal experience is that staying quiet isn't always bad....many girls are intrigued

I guess what I do is get the other person/people talking.

IMO, that is the best and the most effective piece of advice on this page. Pick a topic you think someone is interested in, no matter how mundane it is. Before you realise they'll bet talking your ear off, and then you can always pick up and continue the thread from there....

[pevergreen]

I doubt I can add much to advice (or advise? I always get confused between the noun and the verb) already given

You got it right

You give or gave advice to people.

You advise people.

[Rhyfelwyr]

I was notoriously quiet at school. And I never spoke to anyone when I went to Uni, and had real problems doing presentations etc. For a while I got so bad I could barely speak if I went out to get messages, would never do anything different or out of my routine just to avoid different situations.

The solution: stop caring. Also, if you fake confidence, you will start to feel it. There was an article on the BBC about how just adopting a more confident posture makes people behave more confidently.

These problems aren't trivial they can really change your whole view on life. Up until recently, my whole life I had a really negative attitude and just had this idea that everything was going to get progressively worse. It was depressing, its like having a physical weight pressing down on your brain. Probably tied to my OCD which was really crippling for a while.

But as I said, just stop caring. That is how to get over OCD or the problems like the OP. Going to be in contact with germs? Well you might get ill, its not that bad, no need to wash your hands 16 times at once. Going to mess up when you talk to someone? Who cares... its character building and if you make them feel awkward you can laugh about it to yourself.

That is why these days even though I'm sick of work, sick of Uni and don't really have any friends, I wake up feeling positive and like I can do anything I want.

Find something you like about yourself thats related to talking and will boost your confidence. For example, I have a pretty rough accent due to my dad coming from up north, sounds way better than the nasal whine most people have round here. I heard myself on a recorded phone message the other day and I have to say my accent is pretty awesome, I would't mess with someone that sounded like that, I sound about 20 years older than I thought I did.