Poetry readings differ from other kinds of public speaking events for many reasons.
Firstly, they’re more of a musical performance than a fiction or nonfiction reading.
Secondly, you need to embody the character of your poem. In fiction, you can get away (a little) with reading in a fairly normal voice. But if you don’t put passion and pizazz into your poetry, you’ll lose your audience, and fast.
Many poems are written to be read aloud.
So, as a poet, you need to embrace this.
Even if you hate being on stage more than anything else, you can learn to love reading your poetry aloud.
And the more you read your work in front of people, the easier it gets.
Promise.