I find that some students start to sweat when I announce that everyone must share something personal. I know the feeling and there is no way around it for some students. What I'll do to ease tension for them is model a brief description of my favorite food, place, animal, color, etc. I may be more relevant to college and tell my major in college and what I did with my degree. Then I ask the students to turn to the person sitting next to them and introduce their name, and favorite??? Then I ask each student to introduce the person they just met. The exercise puts the timid student more at ease and personalizes the class.