I don't have a problem public speaking, either with a prepared speech or extemporaneously. I actually prefer the "I'm up here, everyone else is out there" approach to discussion groups. I like the distance.

But reading my own work is like bringing fragile delicate things in trembling hands to strangers for approval. It's more revealing of my inner self than speaking on another subject is. And a less-than-warm, enthusiastic reception is a crushing rejection of the work, of my own words. So it's fraught, for me.