Same for me, though I bet joining toastmasters would have helped. I started small and worked up from there. A few tips are to really know back and forth the material you are covering. Another is to mask nerves with enthusiasm. A few years ago my boss made me give a 45 minute long presentation to a team of ~ 10 engineers. I was freaked out, but it ended up going well. I had a slide deck that I rehearsed with my manager and went over may times. I also included several jokes in it. Since then I've been able to lead weekly meetings with the same number of people. I even gave an all hands presentation to ~35 people. Good luck.

I dread practice but I know it is key.

What kind of groups did you practice with?

Technical meet ups, specifically Javascript. A technical crowd doesn't tend to be nasty if you're as rubbish as I was.