Hel77

It would be better to arrange an introduction. They may be too scared or intimidated to speak directly without this. This is most likely why they want a middleman.

If they don't want to speak or email directly even after this, assuming you put them at ease, it seems a bit odd.

Hi Stuart333

They are coming to ours on Saturday should be for lunch. But yes Iam hoping they would want to speak to me without going through my friend all the time. But we will find out after they have been if she is willing to do that. 

Hi Stuart333

They are coming to ours on Saturday should be for lunch. But yes Iam hoping they would want to speak to me without going through my friend all the time. But we will find out after they have been if she is willing to do that. 

Hel77 said:

They are coming to ours on Saturday

Sounds very promising. I hope you have a good time.

I don't like meeting new people, especially on my own. Probably because I don't know what script I should use. However, in an environment that feels less pressured (i.e., not one-on-one with a stranger, but maybe along with someone I already know), I'll gradually feel more comfortable and eventually chat away, awkwardly perhaps, but without feeling too much stress.

Of course, real life doesn't work like that, so I usually mask all the stress and anxiety and just plough ahead hoping for the best. That's very tiring and never feels natural. I'll then spend days going back over everything I said wrong.