It's important not to seem too contrived when approaching this subject so I understand your quandary x'D
I've found it simply works best to have something about your character, or do something with them that attracts people's attention- but not in an extravagant way.
For example Wuvee, my Vespid, cannot speak in adherence to the practices of the culture he comes from. So he often has to spend his time writing, or if that's unavailable, miming it up! Which as you can imagine, can be a little goofy and sometimes problematic. So there's kind of a domino effect with how much interest he gets from the individuals he's surrounded by.
You just have to give someone something to react to first; and it doesn't have to be big! You could simply be sitting by a fountain and sneeze. Or, for the more adventurous, in you come across someone in the forest, you might hide in a tree and accidentally drop a twig on their head. Voila, instant-reaction garners.
And the best thing about it, is that it really only takes one little thing to get the ball rolling, and once you have, it's easy to keep it rolling so long as you remember that people want you to react to their character too!
Always be sure to give sufficient reaction to the actions of the other person's character, otherwise there's a good chance they'll get bored. It's never much fun to roleplay with someone who's too self-absorbed. In the end, that's pretty much like roleplaying with yourself.. In which case you'd be better off simply writing a novel.
I'm on my phone, or else I'd give you more suggestions~
