> I'm shit at it, but the mantra I tell to myself is: "remember when you were a kid? These are other kids that play with the same toys as you. Just talk about the toys and how to make toys more fun. Same enthusiasm!".

The problem is: this kind of "nerd talk" that you are enthused about often comes across as awkward in particular to business-minded people.

In other words: I can perfectly understand why many developers have bad experiences with talking to people: too different interests and thus quite a lot of bad experiences in the past.