I'm about as introverted as you can get--I often joke that I could be happy on an island with a volleyball. I do actually have a group of close friends, almost all introverts who are artists in one way or the other, and we have loads of fun when we get together.
I'm married to an extrovert who, happily, is totally content to stay at home most of the time and does most of his socializing online so I don't have to be involved with that. Sometimes he'll get going on some topic and I do what I call 'filtering'--listen just enough to know how to make a response without hearing every detail. That saves me from having to end up screaming "STOP TALKING" after a ten minute long story about something that happened on World of Warcraft, lol.
I don't consider myself socially awkward at all. If I'm not making eye contact with you it's because I don't want to have to talk to you. Honestly I probably feel that it would be a tedious waste of time that I could be thinking about something that is more interesting or important to me. I guess it sounds egotistical or mean but as I've gotten older I just don't want to waste time listening to someone go on and on. Brief interactions are fine, I can be pleasant in the grocery line, when at the dog park, etc. But you can usually tell when someone is going to latch onto you and bend your ear. Then it's time to RUN AWAY!!
I'm sure it would be entertaining to observe my body language when I'm out where I can't just retreat to a 'safe' place and people watch or be left to my own thoughts. I know that I will start positioning myself so that there is something like a piece of furniture, or a tree if at the dog park, between me and someone that I've observed to be too chatty or looks like they want to be my new best friend. I guess the key note speaker guy might consider that awkward but I consider it to be a proven strategy for self preservation and I'm not sorry for it anymore.
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