[lhorie]

Some perspective from the interviewer side: just tell us straight up that you're panicking. While I can't guarantee that an elitist smug interviewer is going to always respond appropriately, I at least would make an effort to try to help you calm down, be it by removing trivial blockers (e.g. fixing some syntax blooper for you) or trying to paraphrase whatever you're trying to say but not finding the words for, or asking leading questions in the hope of bringing you back on track. A little dirty secret among interviewers is that we're supposed to be accountable for managing the direction and quality of the interview (i.e. one that devolves into a awkward staring contest is a failure on the interviewer's part for not interjecting appropriately)

Ultimately, it is in the company's best interest for an interviewer to look past things like nervousness-induced panic attacks, and I've heard on numerous occasions that good interview sessions involve the interviewer and candidate working together rather than adversarially.