Like I said read a few of the books out there on speed dating and seduction. They have it down pretty well.
They have routines they do over and over again, stuff they memorize by heart and critique amongst themselves etc. There are a few variants depending on the entourage/situation but in general they know enough to keep women etc fixated for something like 5-10 minutes.
One example (not surprisingly) is knowing magic tricks. They help enormously and is one of the community 'value raisers' as well as helping to break the ice. I don't know if you've ever seen a guy pull out a pack of cards, and/or do cold 'esp' readings at a party but its pretty impressive watching the female half gravitate towards the person. Like moths to the light.
Usually they don't just do it for the 'target', but rather the targets friends and obstructions. The idea is you befriend every obstruction in the way, while ignoring the target (pissing her off yet still keeping her interested), then wait for the opportune moment to then switch the conversation to her and then isolate her away from everyone else.
Lots of other things you can do. Bring 'items' that might interest people: books, photographs, food, miscelaneous. Know some jokes (you can go in with male friends who act as foils for you, taking the brunt of the criticism), witty stories etc etc. Again make sure you don't seem interested or desperate for attention, the game is to try to act natural and interesting.
