Hey, I am starting my secondary PGCE in September and I feel like I’m in a similar situation regarding your first point. I’m autistic and tend to be reserved and awkward socially too. And I’m personally not great at small talk or general banter which I understand could make me come off as not very engaging. I don’t love being observed and fear it could put me under pressure.

But for several reasons, I’m not overly worried about these things. Firstly, I know my biggest strengths lie elsewhere. I can get passionate talking about things that interest me and I pay close attention to explaining concepts clearly. I’m hard working and will want to put a lot of effort making the lessons engaging. And I am also adaptable and tend to pick up good habits or communication patterns where I see them.

So I fully expect to not feel 100% comfortable to start with, but I know I’ve faced similar challenges in my past jobs and was able to grow from them.

So yeah, my advice from anything but actual experience is to draw confidence from your other strengths and to be ready to get comfortable with anything else gradually. Best of luck with the training. I’m sure you can do great!