E-Z. Escalation. Take a stranger as an example. We start at "hi" in some form. If they reply, we know they consent to converse. So we follow up, we repeat each time they respond in kind, escalating each time to more in depth conversation. Maybe we ask for contact information or some form of confirmation we could meet or speak again. Over time we may give people nick names and such etc. That's one component. We escalate our interaction in small steps of dialog. The other is physical. We slowly go through phases of socially acceptable touch. Starting with something like touching a hand or arm when laughing, light friendly hits, maybe a hug or taking their hand. If they respond well we escalate further, slowly and always giving them a chance to disengage or show disinterest. Each step we show we like them without being overbearing or putting ourselves too far out to recover, and if they show disinterest we respect it and stop escalating. That's how you take the lead without being pushy.
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