<p>Even with the excellent advice in all the posts above, it's hard to break out of a shyness shell on your own. From my own experience, I know that I would never have voluntarily approached people to get them to talk to me and answer my questions if I hadn't taken a journalism class that required me to do so (first in high school, where I was still shy, and then college, where I finally got past it). My first assignment in J-101 was to interview the football jocks about their upcoming season and how they felt....It was terrifying to me and I almost didn't do it, but it was a class and I didn't want to fail so I went through with it. Approached them, introduced myself, asked them questions. Rather than brushing me off, which I suppose I expected, they were sincere and helpful.
After a year of this class, nothing daunted me. People like talking about themselves, they like being asked their opinions (a key to CC's success, obviously) and in the course of getting others to open up to you, you will relax and open up yourself. I say, take a course that requires you to talk to people or get a job that involves making small talk while you work with the public. The requirement part will provide the motivation to do it when the shy side of you wants to hold back. Give it time and practice, you'll find that most people have really interesting stories to tell and want to tell them and you'll find that sharing that interaction with people is something so rewarding it's worth fighting your shyness to achieve.</p>