The more people the better.
---Or so I say when it comes to public speaking. If there's one thing that I can hardly pull through, it's doing a carefully planed, plotted and pictured speech in front of the few and familiar. Last year in English class I had to read (or rather, memorize and say aloud) a few paragraphs that I wrote in front of a class of seven.
Very. Very. Difficult.
Not that I do bad (in fact, quite the opposite), it's just that I feel more comfortable standing, and ultimately speaking, in front of a large crowd of less-than-personally-known acquaintances.
Besides, I have this strange inkling to the fact that the more people there are (attempting) to sit quietly and listen, the more they distract each other. Thus, spotlight dims a bit.