If you make listening and observation your occupation you will gain much more than you can by talk.
When I was in art college, I would be painting, and I would create something on a canvas that was actually quite attractive. But if I got frightened and tried to protect that, that canvas would die.
I started out typing and filing and answering the phones for a little nine-person firm. And that nine-person firm gave me my chance to find my own way.