Really it's down to courtship, the male is expected to be confident, take a woman on a date, which basically is communication based, they say the more original your pickup line is the better, most females like the tall, dark, mysterious guy.
Mostly it's the male that is in the driven seat to start flirting, or know when to start flirting on a female, females guide it, & really females are in control of the relationship, until the guy becomes dominating & controlling. But this is the catch, the saying goes the best time to find someone is when your least looking, mind you that means you need to be outgoing, or just be lucky, as most females have the view of they don't want to go first as they will look desperate, a select couple don't care what people say about dating junk.
& really dating is not about been yourself, it's about impressing the person in front of you, lying normally is done allot, job's they do, about them, so on... In the end the female wonder's what happened to the guy they met, & the guy just goes by the saying they plenty more fish in the sea..
Do females even question this saying....
they calling you fish, fish are easy pray to catch, which fall for the same trick over & over again... Other words they plenty more idiots out they that will fall for the same trick...
You guys are probably spending too much time together.... You need to get them hanging out with the friends sometimes, & doing what they normaly do, or they will not get the extraverted stimulation they need...