Practice in front of the mirror.
Just spend 15 minutes per day practicing talking to yourself! It sounds totally dorky, but it works wonders for several reasons:
- You can practice your responses to basic questions before they come up;
- You can stage entire conversations in your head to be prepared;
- You can actually see how you look to other people when you speak, and cut back on "annoying" habits you might have.
- You can practice simple stuff - smiling, laughing, etc. - and look good to other people since you know how you'll really look.
Overall, practice builds confidence, and confidence will make the shyness go away. I know this method sounds stupid and has been talked about forever, but give it a try! It really does work.
If you're not sure how to practice in front of a mirror effectively, I have a
blog post on how to practice and get results that you might find useful. Good luck!