Yes your examples of phrases to say make it WAY easier to talk to strangers, and totally get rid of any awkwardness or anxiety someone might feel. I'm glad you solved this problem! You clearly have a wonderful understanding of folks with brains different from yours, and a lot of empathy for how they feel.
r/Fitness does a weekly "Moronic Monday", a judgment-free thread where people can ask questions that they would ordinarily feel embarrassed for not knowing the answer to. I thought this seemed like a useful thing to have here - after all, the concepts discussed on LessWrong are probably at least a little harder to grasp than those of weightlifting. Plus, I have a few stupid questions of my own, so it doesn't seem unreasonable that other people might as well.