i feel trapped

I start getting anxious when I know that I will be in a meeting, or classroom situation where I will be asked to speak. I worry about it so much, I can't even concentrate on the subject the group is discussing. I start wishing I could just run out of the room. What bothers me the most about public speaking, is the fact that everybody is looking at me while I am talking. It is as though I can feel their eyes on me.

I do much better in situations where I have a visual aid to point to when discussing things in front of a group...as though to draw their eyes away from me, and on to something else. Ultimately, I feel pretty comfortable if I interject a thought into the conversation on my own...but when called upon to do so, I feel trapped. Also, if I can make a short statement of a sentence or two, I am fine -- but when I have to explain something, or read out loud - basically any speech longer than 30 seconds or so, that is when I start to panic and get the 'flight response'.