In my twenties, I discovered that a large part of getting over this stuff was learning to completely dismiss yourself as an actor while talking to other people. Forget you exist. Focus your thoughts entirely outwards. Don't worry about playing "hot potato" with the conversation; let yourself become a black box with no inputs back into that anxious, tumultous part of your brain that has to analyze every little detail of every social encounter. Allow the conversation to happen outside your head.

For me, once I figured this out, all that stuff about body language, social time, and not feeling "weird" just naturally fell into place. These behaviors were mostly functions of a mind trying to micromanage every single little thing. I'm still very bad at actually getting into social situations, but when I somehow end up in one, it's almost always OK.

I think this is why alcohol helps. When you're inebriated, you simply don't have the concentration to reflect every thought back inwards.