When I get up to read in front of a group (church), I don't look at them, or, as someone else said, look at their forehead, or look just over their head. My trouble is when I look up, I lose my place in the reading, so I get more nervous. I look at them in the beginning and at the end, but not while I am reading. That way, I can read without speeding, and can focus more on accentuation, and tone of voice placement, etc. If I feel I must look up, I keep a finger on the spot where I am. I just try to pretend to myself that no one is there.
Hope there is something in there that is helpful. Good luck.
In the Public Speaking course I took in college, the professor told us that people are more afraid of speaking in public than of death. Yikes! No wonder people pass out.