@gargron It's not as bad as you might think, you're still just talking (in a panel discussion) to few others - and often with pretty pre-determined questions. For a talk with a larger audience it's more like you need to talk livelier than normal or everyone gets bored.

But going to conferences - assuming they're on a topic you're interested in - is fun. But don't accept just any conference, make sure they have other talks that _you'd_ go see otherwise anyway.