Signs she wants you to come talk to her

The clearest sign she wants you to talk to her: she looks at you more than once, smiles, and stays nearby instead of leaving. One glance means nothing. A look, a look away, and then another look back, with a small smile somewhere in there, is about as close to an invitation as a stranger usually gives.

Here's the catch. Signals are hints, not permission. Plenty of people who'd be happy to chat give off nothing at all, and some people who do the things below are just friendly or bored. This list helps you decide who to say hello to. It doesn't replace saying hello, and it doesn't replace listening to her answer.

Signs she may be open to you coming over

She looks, looks away, then looks back. Repeated eye contact is the most common one. The pattern matters more than any single look. A glance that lands on you and drifts off could be anything. One that comes back is more likely to be on purpose, though it still might not mean what you hope. If you want the mechanics of how long to hold it once you're talking, see eye contact when you approach.

A smile with it. A small smile after you meet eyes, or one that shows up when you catch her looking, is warmer than a blank stare. A flat stare can mean she's thinking about something else, or that she's wary.

She stays in the area. She's been at the next table for an hour, or she's still by the shelf you're at, or she's walked past twice. People who want to leave leave. Lingering near you, with no obvious reason, is a mild sign. A caveat: she may simply be waiting for a friend or a coffee.

She turns toward you. Her shoulders, chest and feet point your way, not just her head. A body angled away from you with the head turned back is a mixed read. A body that faces you is more open.

Open posture. Arms uncrossed, hands visible, phone down or put away, not hunched over a screen. Closed posture isn't a no, though. Some people just sit that way.

She makes the space easy to enter. She takes her bag off the chair next to her, or she's standing at the end of the counter instead of the middle, or she looks up when you pass. Small changes that make walking up simple.

She does something that gives you a reason to talk. Reading a book you've heard of, wearing a band's shirt, struggling with a heavy door, asking the room a question out loud. Some of this is an invitation. Some of it is just life. Both give you an easy first line. Openers that work has plenty.

Her friends glance your way. A nudge, a whisper, a look from a friend toward you. It might be about you, or about something behind you, so it's the weakest sign here.

What these signs don't tell you

Reading signals is guessing, and it's worth being honest about how often it fails.

Many people won't signal at all. Shy people, anxious people and people in a good mood who aren't thinking about dating all give you a flat read. No signs isn't a no.
Friendly isn't interested. Someone who smiles at everyone and makes eye contact with the whole room is being warm, not sending a message to you.
Culture and context change everything. A sustained look in one city is a hello. In another it's rude. In a gym, a commute or a work lobby, people may avoid looking at anyone for reasons of their own.
You can't tell from across the room. Your read is a guess from a distance. The conversation is where you find out.

You'll never get certainty before you walk up. That's fine. A short, polite hello costs you almost nothing, and it works either way.

Why a hello is fine even without signs

Wait for a perfect signal and you'll mostly talk yourself out of it. Treat one smile as a green light and you'll misread people. Neither works.

A better rule: if you're curious and the setting is normal for talking, saying a polite hello is reasonable. The signs just tilt the odds and tell you how warm to start. If she's smiling and lingering, you can be more relaxed. If you see nothing, keep it short and easy to exit.

Boothby, Cooney, Sandstrom and Clark (2018) studied conversations between strangers in a lab, dorm mates over many months, and people at personal development workshops. After talking, people believed their partners liked them less than the partners reported. The authors called it the liking gap. It's about how a conversation feels afterward, not about reading signals, and it doesn't promise she'll like you. It does mean the chat may feel worse to you than it was. If nerves are what stop you, approach anxiety goes through what's happening and what helps.

When to walk away instead

A signal can disappear at any point, and when it does, you stop. This is the part that matters more than the signs.

She looks at you, then looks away and doesn't look back.
She puts headphones in, opens a book or laptop, or turns her body away as you get close.
She's already wearing headphones or deep in a screen or book. Leave it, even if she looked up once.
She gives short answers and doesn't ask anything back.
She says she's busy, waiting for someone, or has a boyfriend.
She steps back when you step in.

Any of these means a warm "No worries, have a good one" and you go. No second try, no hovering, no asking why. If she's at a table or counter where she can't easily leave, back off earlier, not later. Consent and respect in cold approach covers checkpoints and exit lines.

How to go over when you see the signs

Keep it small. Walk up from the side she can see you coming from, say hi, and give her a reason you're talking to her.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt. You looked like you were enjoying that book. What is it?"

"Hi, I'm Sam. Sorry to bother you. Do you know if this section has any good travel books?"

Then read her. If she turns toward you, asks something back or stays after a minute, keep going. If she's polite but closed, thank her and leave. How to tell if someone is interested in you covers the signs that matter once you're talking, and how to approach someone you're attracted to walks through the full approach.

In Run Game, you can log each approach as Success or Rejected and add a note on what you noticed beforehand. After a few weeks you can look back through your notes for which signs went with good conversations and which meant nothing.

What to do next

Pick a place you go anyway (a cafe, the gym, a class) and spend a week noticing eye contact without acting on it.
Use the look-back test. Count a look as a sign only if it returns after she looks away. Note how often that happens.
When you see two signs together (a look back plus a smile, or lingering plus an open posture), say a short hello within a minute or two, not an hour.
Also say hello when you see nothing, once or twice this week, with a one-sentence reason like "I liked your jacket."
Write down your exit line and say it out loud once: "No worries, have a good one."
Leave immediately at headphones, a turned body, or a short answer. Practice being fine with that.
After each hello, jot a note: what you saw, what you said, how she responded. Review it after ten.