Poll by Reader’s Digest Canada found fear of public speaking wasn’t ranked first in 15 of 16 countries surveyed

You may have read that public speaking is the world’s greatest fear. Is there evidence from a recent survey to support that claim?

In October 2010 the web site for Reader’s Digest Canada had an article titled Around the World with One Question: What’s Your Greatest Fear? It reported the results of an online poll conducted between May 25th and June 16. The corresponding magazine article had appeared on page 8 of their October issue They asked 150 people each in 16 different countries a single, multiple choice question:

What is your greatest fear?

1. Losing my looks.
2. Going broke.
3. Speaking in public.
4. Being alone.

They reported the percent of women and men that chose each answer. Presumably the sample of 150 was evenly split between women and men. Then the margin of error would be a relatively large plus or minus 11 percent. (A 2001 Gallup poll in the US used a sample of 1016 people, which resulted in a smaller margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent).

Rankings for those four fears in the 16 countries are summarized in two tables shown above (click to enlarge). For women, most commonly fear of being alone was first, and fear of going broke was second. For men fears of being alone and going broke tied for first, and fear of going broke came second. For women most commonly fear of speaking in public was third, and fear of losing my looks was fourth. For men most commonly fear of losing my looks was third, and fear of speaking in public was fourth. (There were some ties reported - for German, Russian, and Indian women, and US, Malaysian and Mexican men).

Speaking in public only was ranked first in one country out of 16, France, by both women and men. So, these results are generally quite different from the number one fear claims made by speaking coaches or trainers.

First let’s look at detailed results for the Western Hemisphere (Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and the United States). In the bar chart shown above (click to enlarge it) fears are ranked by the results for women.

For Brazilian women being alone (55%) was first, going broke (18%) was second, speaking in public (16%) was third, and losing my looks (11%) was fourth (the same order as for US and Mexican women). For Brazilian men going broke (38%) was first, being alone (36%) was second, losing my looks (15%) was third, and speaking in public (11%) was fourth.

For Canadian women going broke (33%) was first, being alone (30%) was second, speaking in public (27%) was third, and losing my looks (10%) was fourth. For Canadian men going broke (47%) was first, being alone (25%) was second, losing my looks (17%) was third, and speaking in public (10%) was fourth.

For Mexican women being alone (49%) was first, going broke (23%) was second, speaking in public (20%) was third, and losing my looks (8%) was fourth (the same order as for US women). For Mexican men being alone (51%) was first, going broke (26%) was second, and speaking in public and losing my looks (12%) tied for third.

For US women being alone (33%) was first, going broke (32%) was second, speaking in public (27%) was third, and losing my looks (8%) was fourth. For US men going broke (52%) was first, being alone and public speaking (22%) tied for second, and and losing my looks (5%) was third. These results are different from a recently reposted old Zig Ziglar article that claimed (contrary to that 2001 Gallup poll):

“According to Reader’s Digest, public speaking is the No. 1 fear in America...”

Second, let’s look at detailed results for Europe (France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Russia, United Kingdom).

For French women speaking in public (41%) was first, going broke (34%) was second, being alone (18%) was third, and losing my looks (7%) was fourth. For French men speaking in public (40%) was first, going broke (29%) was second, being alone (19%) was third, and losing my looks (12%) was fourth (the same order as for the women). France was the only country where speaking in public was first.   
 
For German women being alone (37%) was first, going broke (27%) was second,  speaking in public and losing my looks (18%) tied for third. For German men going broke (36%) was first, losing my looks (26%) was second, being alone (25%) was third, and speaking in public (12%) was fourth.

For women in the Netherlands going broke (39%) was first, being alone (35%) was second, speaking in public (14%) was third, and losing my looks (12%) was fourth. For men in the Netherlands being alone (36%) was first, going broke (32%) was second, losing my looks (24%) was third, and speaking in public (8%) was fourth.

For Spanish women being alone (43%) was first, going broke (29%) was second, losing my looks (17%) was third, and speaking in public (11%) was fourth. For Spanish men losing my looks (29%) was first, going broke (27%) was second, being alone (26%) was third, and speaking in public (18%) was fourth.

For Russian women being alone (61%) was first, losing my looks and speaking in public (14%) tied for second, and going broke (11%) was third. For Russian men being alone (51%) also was first, going broke (27%) was second, speaking in public (15%) was third, and losing my looks (7%) was fourth.

For women in the United Kingdom going broke (38%) was first, being alone (31%) was second, speaking in public (21%) was third, and losing my looks (11%) was fourth. For men in the United Kingdom going broke (49%) was first, being alone (22%) was second,    losing my looks (16%) was third, and speaking in public (13%) was fourth.

Third, let’s look at detailed results for Australia, Asia (China, India, Malaysia, Philippines), and South Africa.

For Australian women being alone (31%) was first, speaking in public (28%) was second, going broke (25%) was third, and losing my looks (16%) was fourth. For Australian men going broke (40%) was first, being alone (26%) was second, speaking in public (21%) was third, and losing my looks (13%) was fourth.

For Chinese women being alone (52%) was first, losing my looks (29%) was second,  going broke (13%) was third, and speaking in public (6%) was fourth. For Chinese men being alone (53%) also was first, going broke (23%) was second, losing my looks (18%) was third, and speaking in public (6%) was fourth.

For Indian women being alone and going broke (32%) tied for first, speaking in public (20%) was second, and losing my looks (16%) was third. For Indian men being alone (36%) was first, speaking in public (28%) was second, losing my looks (19%) was third, and going broke (17%) was fourth.

For Malaysian women being alone (30%) was first, going broke (29%) was second, speaking in public (24%) was third, and losing my looks (18%) was fourth. For Malaysian men being alone also was first (36%), going broke and speaking in public (29%) tied for second, and losing my looks (7%) was third.

For women in the Philippines going broke (37%) was first, being alone (33%) was second, speaking in public (18%) was third, and losing my looks (13%) was fourth. For
men in the Philippines being alone (43%) was first, going broke (33%) was second, speaking in public (15%) was third, and losing my looks (9%) was fourth.

For South African women going broke (41%) was first, being alone (26%) was second, speaking in public (24%) was third, and losing my looks (9%) was fourth.For South African men going broke (50%) also was first, being alone (31%) also was second, speaking in public (13%) also was third, and losing my looks (7%) also was fourth.