somehow it always seems to be easier to get answers out of someone if you've spoken about something they're very interested in beforehand. It's often difficult to know what people might be interested in, but generally ifyou find a topic they'd probably like, and ask a question about it, often they'll then joy telling you about it, and feel pretty comfortable to tell you more about other things afterwards.

People want to talk about things they like, which they know about and you don't. They enjoy it, and feel clever.