I'm pretty bad at this as well, but I'm 'guessing' these would probably be good.
"Hi. I'm [insert-name-here]. Who are you?"
"What do you do?" / "Where do you work?" / "What are you studying" / "Where do you work/study?"
"Do you like [the-above]?"
"How did you get into the field of [the-above]?"
"How was your day?"
"What's news?"
"Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"