Is it just shyness
Two quotes from my favorite social studies teacher of all time:
"If you have a challenge, deal with it, learn from it, grow stronger for it, and move on..."
"Just do it -- 'it' is what you need."
I wish you all the best.
One of the places I used to work had a Toastmasters group. I never got around to doing it but a lot of friends did and they got something from it. The whole point of it is EVERYBODY is in the group to improve their speaking, so they take turns giving talks to one another. Maybe they have some sort of groups for young people where you could get some practice with a bunch of people in exactly the same boat you are in.
I have also always been shy & terrified of speaking in groups. Here are some tips that have worked for me -hopefully they will help you, too.
In college: No matter what your major is, you will definitely have to give presentations in front of the class. I agree w/a previous post that you should take a class regarding group communication. It will help you with a lot of future classes, even if it isn't required for your course of study.
When giving a presentation, I *always* rely on Microsoft Powerpoint presentations. It is incredibly easy to use and you can add pictures, animation, color, graphs -all sorts of interesting things to ensure that your audience is looking at your presentation not at YOU. Besides, a lot of people give *very boring* presentations -so if you make yours interesting (w/graphics, sound, etc.) people won't focus so much on what you are doing.