Thanks for that info. I've always done the same things too, but I find that I usually get the speech block when I begin to speak, not during. Thankfully taking in some deep breaths through my nose, down to my stomach and out through my mouth seems to calm me down and help me speak. But that usually works when I'm about to speak without anyone looking at me, or waiting for me to talk. So I think this issue is related to poor breathing caused by anxiety. It's not like I'm afraid of the person/people I'm about to speak to, it's just that the block comes when I think about the block coming. It's hard to explain...