Mind Blanking Out While Talking to People?

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People just bewilder me, for the most part. One thing that happens that I'd REALLY like help and advise with is that, when I'm talking to people, my mind sometimes just blanks on what to say. I will have NO idea what to say to them, whatsoever - I'll think of maybe one or two terrible responses and know I can't say them because they're weird or boring so I'll just make small-talk, or try to, and it gets awkward and that makes me NERVOUS and then things just get worse. What can I do? Anyone know any neat tricks for dealing with this sort of problem, or have a similar problem?

Pretty much the same thing happens to me.

Happens at least once a week.

Man, you have no idea how happy that makes me, knowing that other people have this problem as well! I thought I was the only one!

...

IT IS HAPPENING TO ME RIGHT NOW. D:

To elaborate, for me it's almost every time I try to talk to friends/acquaintances. A lot of the time - maybe around half- I just say, "I can't think of anything to say", or, occasionally force myself to say something random/irrelevant because otherwise I wouldn't say anything. The rest of the time I do, as you said, awkward small talk, though that's still, well, awkward. None of these help much, but my friends are fairly accepting, though somewhat amused, when when I say I don't know what to say.

It can help if, with 2 or a small group of friends when they're just relaxed or hanging out or having casual conversation. Then, I'm still quiet but I don't feel too awkward, fairly relaxed, happy to be with friends and occasionally I can put a word in. As for strangers, mostly I don't initiate conversation except for awkward speaking when I feel obliged or want to be their friend. Problem (not really) solved, but that's the way it is.

Wow, it sounds like you have it worse than I do. D: It's not half of the time with me, maybe closer to ten to twenty percent, though to me it's a big deal when it happens and I get really embarrassed and nervous. I never have this problem when I'm tipsy - this lead to a drinking problem in the past and, obviously, it can't work in every situation. Still, that means that chemicals can effect it. I wish there was a pill for it! Maybe there will be, someday. Let's hope! I am sorry you have it so bad. : (

I have this when I'm tired, overstimulated, stressed-out or learned alot.
When people bore me, I sometimes zone-out and just ask them to repeat it, because my mind is wandering because of tiredness/full head/didn't hear it because of the racket/pain/etc.

Everybody has this from time to time, not just those with autism. Although the reason and frequenty might differ.

This happens to me fairly often depending on the context and the person to whom I am speaking. Sometimes the only reaction I can think to give is an "oh" or a "hmm" and a nod.

Yeah, I blank out a lot.

THIS. SO MUCH.

I run out of words all the time. If it just happens during small talk or something, I can usually cope by waiting for the subject to drift to something I have words for... unless it gets so bad that I run out of words for everything. When I run out of words altogether or I lose words for something really important, I get frustrated and anxious and eventually it builds itself into a full-blown panic attack/meltdown/everything is falling apart type of situation.

The problem has gotten even worse than usual, lately (probably because my anxiety issues have been really bad, lately, so I can't cope with running out of words as well as I usually can), so I recently decided to make myself some [un]speech cards to keep in my wallet for emergencies. They read:

Exact same thing happens here dude. You could try asking them to repeat themselves, but this only works so many times before they get annoyed. I find caffeine helps, but only temporarily.

Yeah, it happens to me too. Sorry I'd say more but nothing else comes to mind right now.

I find caffeine helps too! That and getting enough sleep, though that is usually difficult for me.

You know what I noticed? I've been doing it a bit less since I started this poll and realized that other people do it too. It makes it seem like less of a big deal. So, I wonder if it would help, if you imagined that the person you're talking to also has this problem sometimes? Or, conversely, if you psyched yourself up into believing that you have this problem to less of a degree than you do?