Ask and ye shall receive... a response at the very least. The key to starting a flirty conversation by asking a question is to avoid dead-end questions like "What time is it?" Or "Where's the bathroom?" Try something more engaging that could lead to a proper conversation:

• "How do you know Blank*? (*Name of host, unless your host is named Blank, which could only be short for Blanket Jackson in which case — OMG!)
• "What would you give me if I could guess your middle name in five tries? And by five I mean 15."
• "You look like you'd know a good joke or two. Wanna tell me one?"

Starting a conversation with an observation can be a more chill way of eliciting a response from a person than just asking a straight up question. I'm not talking about an obvious observation like "Today is Thursday" or "You are a human person," but something a little more specific and playful. Pro tip: keep things positive and avoid negative observations like "I hate parties."

• "I like your Lakers hat. Congrats on LeBron." (This can be tailored to any sports-afiliated attire, but this is literally the only sports thing I know about sports, #sports.)
• "There are adults here playing beer pong. I'm trying to decide if I should show them how it's done."
• "I just noticed everyone here is gorgeous."

Compliments are like gifts: most people love to receive them — but can also tell when a gift could have been given to any random person or was bought specifically with them in mind. So try to compliment something about the cutie in your crosshairs that's specific to them.

• "I really appreciate that you're drinking whiskey neat."
• "That's a great shirt/dress/hat/bag. Is there a story behind it?"
• "I just thought you should know you've got a great laugh." (Make sure they have audibly laughed recently or else this will come across as creepy.)

Telling someone a quick story is a great way to get their attention and hold it for a moment. The key is making it quick, making it funny, and keeping it light. This is a party after all, so save the story about your childhood pet bird's funeral for, say, date number four.

• "So I Uber Pool-ed here and you'd never believe the fight this couple had right next to me..."
• "The craziest thing just happened and I need to tell someone..."
• "This song just reminded me of this one night freshman year..."

This may seem obvious, but consider just going up to the person you're eyeing and saying hello. I know you're reading this for interesting insights to chatting up a cutie and you're like "Hello? I could've come up with that," but the classics are the classics for a reason. So make like Adele and say hello, but not from the other side (of the room).

• "Hello."
• "Hi."
• "Hey."

When all else fails, what are friends for? Go ahead and enlist a friend to break the ice for you. Grab your buddy, head over to the person who caught your eye and have them make the first move. Just be mindful that if they do this, you will likely find yourself doing the same thing for them some time in the future.

Regardless of how you initiate a conversation with a cute stranger at a party, making the first move is ballsy — and something to be proud of. The worst thing that could happen is that they brush you off, but you will survive that like the resilient gem that you are. You never know: they just might be standing across the room wondering how to approach you. So go say hello! After all, you didn't put on a red lip for nothing!

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