Stage-fright!

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My dad has the gift of the gab. He can literally speak on any topic in front of any type of audience. Whereas I am the exact opposite. We used to have those speaking tests/extempore at school. I remember not being able to sleep the night before my first extempore at the age of 10. Since then I have been channeling through my fear of rejection and mockery. I was glad to have a language teacher who made us face the audience ample times before the final test. Initially, I failed miserably. I was flummoxed, kept on making grammatical errors and after 2-3 sentences, I couldn't mouth a proper sentence anymore. I was terribly ashamed of myself and I knew I had put myself down. The only thing that has helped me survive this challenge is the fact that I am a chimerical optimist. I was not letting go easily. Years have passed. In my first 3 semesters of college, I took up credit courses on speaking/articulation/business english. And there I was given a real podium and a ppt to demonstrate infront of 30 odd people. I know 30 sounds like 3 for some but the fact that I could demonstrate an entire ppt with just 1 hour preparation without stuttering made me proud of myself. Are you a good speaker? Have you suffered from stage fright like me? Drop some tips on overcoming the fear of public speaking.