Dear Alisha:
“I .. tend to talk about myself a LOT. I don’t like to do this. I try to think of alternatives or just general things to talk about but nothing comes to mind”- ask him questions about himself, about his life.
You know how it feels good to you when a friend asks you questions about what you think and what you feel about this or that? He probably likes these kinds of questions as well, so ask him. You can prepare a list of questions ahead of time, and/ or when he tells you something, ask him a question about what he just told you.
If you want, you can give me an example of something he told you and I can suggest a question you can ask him.
“I do not want to be full of myself and I also want to seem interested in him and his topics instead”- talk about yourself less, and ask him about himself more. Make sure that when he answers your question, that you respectfully listen to his answer. You can then ask him a second question based on his answer.
anita