I was told at my phd interview that I'd be expected to attend and talk at conferences. Closest experience I've had was my undergrad thesis talk, which I dreaded! Any1 that's been through it care to share their experiences? Thanks...

Presentation skills are all part of the PhD training and an essential part of any career in academia (and industrial research). Most people get much better from their first attempts - some even get very good at it. The key often is just to know what you're talking about, which can be difficult with an undergraduate project.

i'm not sure if they get better with practise - I've avoided having much. I don't object to other people giving presentations, but I have to say I've never learnt an awful lot from them. People can read can't they? Let them read the papers! Where was the whole presentation idea imported from?

I find presentations pointless too - no one ever listens to them - they just fall asleep or get stiff sitting there for hours on end.

In my discipline there are plenty of phd confrences/sections of conferences and phd seminars etc at the university. These are a good place to try out your skills and even try out a paper you may want to present at full conference in the future - you can integrate early feedback into the final paper this way.