Posted by Draenin

Practice while staring at a wall for a few hours. When you go to do your presentation, imagine that wall is still there. Should you make eye contact with people, only do so for a few seconds before moving on to look at the next person. I used to have a college professor who always had the weirdest looks on his face when he was watching something, and I learned to just ignore him and kind of 'scan' the crowd instead of locking eyes with him.

If people start talking during your presentation, your teacher (if they're a good one) will probably shut them up for you. If they're snarky and rude, you don't need to seek their approval because they're going to be that way anyway. Just be positive, and focus on delivering your speech as if no one is there.