Vic Fleischer has a wonderfully vulnerable post about his struggles to overcome glassopobia — stage fright — in his life as a Tax Prof:

Stagefright is an awkward phobia for a law professor. After all, we have to stand up in front of a large class four times a week and command the stage. We present papers to (occasionally hostile) audiences at conferences and job talks. Speaking up at faculty meetings remains especially difficult for me.

Like Gordon Smith, I have observed Vic in various professional settings and would never have guessed his internal battle.

Ever since I was a young boy, I have struggled with stuttering.  And yet I chose a career path, first as a lawyer and then as a law professor, requiring almost daily public speaking.  As I progressed on the partnership track, my law firm was kind enough to put me through years of speech therapy.  After I decided to go into law teaching, the job talk was of course particularly frightening for me, and I am grateful that Cincinnati took a chance on me.

It is thus especially ironic that as my career has evolved, I find myself thrust more and more onto the public speaking stage, whether as a conference organizer, presenter, speaker at faculty workshops, or leader at my school and church.  Like another Paul, I repeatedly prayed for the removal of this "thorn," but it took me awhile to accept the answer:  "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:8).  With tenure and middle age, I have become increasingly comfortable in my own skin and accept the wisdom of another great philospher:  "I yam what I yam."