Lots of great advice in here! To add my 2 cents, I’d check out The Art of Captivating Conversation by Patrick King. That was recommended to me from some colleagues, and it’s not a super long read. Good luck OP!

Me and some friends were drinking at a table maybe two or three weeks ago, and we were asking some risqué questions to each other. Some questions were very personal, or downright dirty, so you had to drink if you didn’t want to answer.

Someone eventually said “say something nice about everyone sitting at the table”

This turned into each one of us sharing what we loved about each person there. We went in order, taking turns, and everyone had lovely things to say. We’ve only hung out as a group maybe 3-4 times before, but I feel like it really set our friendships in stone. It was a pleasant turn of events that gave us an opportunity to build each other up, and a chance to view ourselves how others saw us.