The key for me is to practice and rehearse. Once I'm actually doing a talk the notes become superfluous, but all the practice means that, despite the terror and the fight or flight response cutting in, there's enough in my subconscious to carry me through.
On another note, there's now a huge pressure on people to do presentations - many requirements for senior engineer include things like presenting at meet ups and public speaking.
I find this very unfair on people. If you don't enjoy doing something then you really shouldn't feel obligated to do it. Talking at a meet up or a conference is very different from running a meeting or doing a presentation at work.
Maybe for some people. But I had a very interesting conversation with a friend of mine - I'd seen him talk multiple times, extremely polished and confident.
I asked him how he managed to do it so well and he said "I don't do talks anymore.". Despite being very good at it he decided that putting himself through the wringer was just not worth it.
On another note, there's now a huge pressure on people to do presentations - many requirements for senior engineer include things like presenting at meet ups and public speaking.
I find this very unfair on people. If you don't enjoy doing something then you really shouldn't feel obligated to do it. Talking at a meet up or a conference is very different from running a meeting or doing a presentation at work.