A list from a 110-year-old medical dictionary with almost a hundred phobias

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Google Books I ran across a 1912 edition of Stedman’s Medical Dictionary. Page 687 has a definition for phobia:

 

“Any unreasonable or insane dread or fear. The word is employed as a suffix to many terms expressing the object which inspires the fear.”

 

It also has a list of almost a hundred phobias:

 

Air: aerophobia

Animals: zoophobia

Bacteria: bacteriophobia, microbiophobia

Bees: apiphobia, melissophobia

Being Alone: autophobia, monhophobia*

Being Buried Alive: taphephobia, taphophobia

Being Dirty: automysophobia

Being Egotistical: autophobia

Being Stared At: scopophobia

Blood: hematophobia, hemaphobia

Blushing: ereuthophobia

Body Odors: bromidrosiphobia

Cancer: carcinomatophobia

Cats: ailurophobia, gatophobia

Children: pediophobia

Cold: psychrophobia

Colors: chromatophobia

Crowds: ochlophobia

Dampness: hygrophobia

Daylight: phengophobia

Death: necrophobia, thanatophobia

Deformity: dysmorphophobia

Devil: demonophobia

Dirt: mysophobia, rhypophobia

Disease: nosophobia, pathophobia

Disorder: ataxiophobia

Dogs: cynophobia

Dolls: pediophobia

Draft: aerophobia, anemophobia

Drugs: pharmacophobia

Electricity: electrophobia

Elevated Places: acrophobia

Empty Rooms: cenophobia

Enclosed Space: claustrophobia, clethrophobia

Everything: panphobia*, panophobia, pantophobia

Fire: pyrophobia

Food: sitophobia

Gaiety: cherophobia

Glass: crystallophobia, hyalophobia*

God: theophobia

Heat: thermophobia

Heights: acrophobia

House: domatophobia

Human Beings: anthropophobia

Infection: molysophobia*, mysophobia

Itch: acariphobia*, scabiophobia

Lice: pediculophobia

Light: phengophobia, photophobia

Lightning: astrapophobia, keraunophobia

Love (in its physical expression): erotophobia

Making False Statements: mythophobia

Marriage: gamophobia

Men (males): androphobia

Moisture: hygrophobia

Monstrosities: teratophobia

Nakedness: gymnophobia

Names: onomatophobia

Noise or Loud Talking: phonophobia

Novelty: neophobia

Odors: osmophobia

Open Spaces: agoraphobia, cenophobia, kenophobia

Pain: algophobia, odynephobia

Parasites: parasitophobia, phthiriophobia

Places: topophobia

Poisoning: toxicophobia, iophobia

Pregnancy: maieusiophobia

Precipices: cremnophobia

Rabies: lyssophobia

Railways: siderodromophobia

Rivers: potamophobia

Sea: Thalassophobia

Self: autophobia

Sexual Intercourse: coitophobia, cypriphobia

Sexual Love: erotophobia

Sharp Objects: belonephobia, aichmophobia

Solitude: eremophobia

Speaking: lalophobia

Spirits: demonophobia

Standing Upright: stasophobia*

Stealing: cleptophobia

Stillness: eremophobia

Sun: heliophobia

Surgical Operations: ergasiophobia

Tabes Dorsalis: ataxophobia

Thirteen at Table: triakidekaphobia*

Thunder: ceraunophobia, keraunophobia, tonitrophobia

Touching or Being Touched: aichmophobia, haphephobia

Tuberculosis: phthisiophobia, tuberculophobia

Uncovering the Body: gymnophobia

Vehicles: amaxophobia

Vomiting: emetophobia

Wind: anemophobia

Walking: basophobia

Water: hydrophobia

Women: gynephobia

Work: ergasiophobia

Worms: helminthophobia

 

Seven of those phobias, indicated via an *, are not in a more comprehensive The Phobia List web page from 1995. Note that glossophobia isn’t on the list, Speaking: lalophobia is instead.

 

I colored in an image of a boy reading a big book found at Openclipart.    

 

Learning the art of active listening

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On August 29, 2022 Doug Savage published the Savage Chickens cartoon shown above about How to be a terrible listener. If you want to do better, then watch at an eight-minute YouTube video posted on August 31, 2022 titled The art of active listening | The Harvard Business Review Guide. It states that:

  

“Listening is an active, noncompetitive, two-way interaction”

 

That video is based on four excellent articles from the Harvard Business Review, linked to in the description for that video. On August 23, 2016 I blogged about one of them in a post titled What great listeners really do.

 

Also, the July 2020 issue of Toastmaster magazine has an article by Peggy Beach on pages 22 to 25 titled Are You Listening? And there is another article by Joel Schwartzberg on page 8 of the July 2022 issue about a podcast, titled 7 Ways leaders can listen more effectively.

 

Donald Trump is spouting even more nonsense, this time about declassifying documents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On September 21, 2022 our former president was interviewed by Sean Hannity on Fox News. He made the following incredible statement (my italics):

 

“Sean: So, let me ask you this question, because I think this is the next logical question. Because the President of the United States, you unlike say Hilary Clinton and her case, a President has the power to declassify.

 

Donald: Correct.

 

Sean: OK. You have said on Truth Social a number of times you did declassify.

 

Donald: I did declassify, yes.

 

Sean: Ok. Is there a process? What was your process to declassify?

 

Donald:  There doesn’t have to be a process, as I understand it. You know, there’s different people say different things. But as I understand it, there doesn’t have to be. If you’re the President of the United States, you can declassify just by saying um ‘it’s declassified,’ even by thinking about it.

 

Because you’re sending it to Mar-a-Lago or to wherever you’re sending it. And there doesn’t have to be a process. There can be a process, but there doesn’t have to be. You’re the President, you make that decision. So, when you send it, it’s declassified.

 

We, I, declassified everything. Now, I declassified things and we were having a lot of problems with NARA. You know NARA is a radical left group of people running that thing and when you send documents over there I would say there’s a very good chance that a lot of those documents will never be seen again….”  

 

Actually declassifying documents involves a process involving written records of actions taken.

 

An article by Igor Derysh at Salon on September 22, 2022 titled “Donald has the right to remain silent”: Experts say Trump’s bonkers Fox interview could be evidence incredulously added:

 

“ ’Omg he's actually invoking the Secret Telepathic Unilateral Preemptive Irreversible Declassification (S.T.U.P.I.D.) defense,’ quipped Asha Rangappa, a former FBI agent and attorney.”

 

I have awarded The Donald a third Spoutly (complete with a red flag). His first and second are in previous posts.

 

A YouGov America poll in June 2022 found public speaking was the fourth most common fear for adults (23%) and women (26%), but the second most common for men (20%)

 

There is an article by Taylor Orth at YouGov America on June 16, 2022 titled Three in 10 Americans fear snakes – and most who do fear them a great deal. It reports results from a poll of 1,000 U.S. adults done between June 8 and June 13. They asked about 34 specific fears, and both Others and I Have No Fears. More detailed results are reported on another web page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poll results are shown above via a bar chart. The five most common fears are snakes (30%), heights (28%), spiders (24%), public speaking (23%), and disease (21%).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They also presented results for women and men, shown above in another two bar charts. For women the five most common fears are snakes (39%), spiders (31%), heights (30%), public speaking (26%), and disease (25%). For men the five most common fears are heights (26%), public speaking (20%), snakes (19%), spiders (16%), and disease (16%). In most cases more women than men reported a fear, with the largest difference being 20% for snakes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There also is a bar chart titled Which things are feared a great deal by Americans who fear them? Somewhat confusingly it lists the percentage who reported having a fear. For example, 61% feared snakes a great deal (actually out of the 30% who feared snakes). I have replotted those percentages in another chart where, for example, snakes were feared a great deal by 18.3%.

 

Back on April 2, 2014 I blogged about their previous survey in a post titled YouGov survey of U.S. adults found they most commonly were very afraid of snakes, heights, public speaking, spiders, and being closed in a small space. That survey looked at fears in just 13 situations.

 

Using migrants as political pawns is despicable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On September 14, 2022 two chartered jet planes carrying 48 migrants landed on Martha’s Vineyard. An article by Allie Griffin at the New York Post on September 15, 2022 titled Ron DeSantis ships two planes of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard – report initially stated:

 

“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent two full planes of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard on Wednesday – making good on his promise to ship off illegal immigrants to progressive states. The migrants got off the planes from Florida and could be seen on the tarmac at Martha’s Vineyard Airport on the small Massachusetts island, Fox Digital News reported. A spokesman for the Republican governor confirmed in a statement to the outlet that the flights were ‘part of the state’s relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations.’ “

 

But the story and his credibility quickly began to fall apart. An article by Kelsey Vlamis at Business Insider also on September 15, 2022 is titled The migrants Gov. Ron DeSantis flew to Martha’s Vineyard on taxpayer dollars were relocated from Texas, not Florida.

 

And an article by Steve Contorno at CNN on September 16, 2022 titled DeSantis vows Florida will transport more migrants from border to other states said:

 

“Speaking at a news conference in Daytona Beach, DeSantis defended using taxpayer dollars to send 50 migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard because he said many people who cross the border end up in Florida. He said people working for Florida are in Texas and they ‘profile’ individuals who are likely headed to Florida.”

 

An article by Jessica Schladebeck at the New York Daily News on September 17, 2022 titled Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis faces questions, scrutiny over migrant flights to Martha’s Vineyard: ‘Crimes against humanity’ explained:

 

“Notably, while the money was earmarked ‘to facilitate the transport of unauthorized aliens from this state,’ DeSantis’ stunt involved people who are not unauthorized and who were not located in Florida.”

 

Then came even more fallout. An article by Chloe Folmar at The Hill on September 19, 2022 is titled Texas sheriff opens probe into DeSantis’s migrant flight to Martha’s Vineyard. And another article by Nicole Gaudiano and Kimberly Leonard at Business Insider on September 20, 2022 is titled The migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard have filed a federal lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, alleging a ‘premeditated, fraudulent, and illegal scheme,’ after he chartered planes to move them.

 

The Florida Governor’s behavior can best be summed up with famous catch phrase by the cartoon character, Daffy Duck: “You’re despicable.”

 

The image of a chess pawn came from Wikimedia Commons.

 

How ‘Show, Don’t Tell’ can add to your speech writing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recently I read a post by Paola Pascual and Simon Kennell at the Talaera Blog from April 11, 2022 titled How to do effective business storytelling according to former prosecutor [Laurie Gilbertson]. One section says:

 

“Show Don’t Tell is a writing technique that consists of telling your story through sensory details and actions rather than spelling out what is happening. Although telling your audience might be quicker, showing will draw your audience into your narrative and make it their own. To do this successfully, consider the following steps:

 

Consider the surroundings. From ‘I walked through the forest. It was already fall and I was getting cold’ {telling} to ‘The dry orange leaves crunched under my feet as I pulled the collar up on my coat’ {showing}.

Look for highs and lows.

Add sensory words.

Introduce characters through actions.

Move from abstract to concrete.

Mention the effect of emotions. From ‘He is sad’ {telling} to ‘His lips are trembling and he’s got watery eyes’ {showing}….

 

No doubt that Dickens also masters the art of Show, Don’t Tell:

Telling: ‘Oliver reached London. It was dirty and crowded.’  

Showing: ‘A dirtier or more wretched place he had never seen. The street was verry narrow and muddy, and the air was impregnated with filthy odours. There were a good many small shops; but the only stock in trade appeared to be heaps of children, who, even at that time of night, were crawling in and out at the doors, or screaming from the inside. The sole places that seemed to prosper amid the general blight of the place were the public houses…..” Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens”

 

Another excellent article by Liam Freeman at Vogue on November 2, 2020 titled How to write a great speech, according to the Obamas’ speechwriter has a description of eleven points by Sarah Hurwitz. Number eight is Show, Don't Tell.

 

I had read about ‘Show, Don’t Tell’ twice previously via articles in Toastmaster magazine, but the briefer descriptions there had not sunk in. One was a recent article by Ruth Nasrullah in the

June 2021 issue on pages 22 to 25 titled How to Build a Speech, which simply stated:

 

“ ‘Show, don’t tell’ is advice often offered to writers whose work needs a little spark. The concept can also apply to speechwriting. Paint a picture for your audience with the language you use.”

 

Another article by Kelly Swanson in the August 2016 issue on pages 20 and 21 titled Emotion Reigns said more clearly:

 

“A story is as powerful as its details. These details paint the scene and the characters. The details you share (the character descriptions, accents, sounds and smells) allow the listener to step into your story instead of just hearing about it. If the listener can’t see the scene, they can’t connect with it. They want specifics, not generalizations. Don’t speak about how hard it was for you in the 80s. Talk about a specific moment in time when something happened.”

 

There are a lot more Show, Don’t Tell examples from novels. At Cheshire Novel Prize on February 23, 2022 an article titled Show, don’t tell: A quick definition includes five. Many more are in an article by Henneke Duistermaat at Enchanting Marketing titled 18 “Show Don’t Tell” Examples: How to turn bland writing into a colorful story.

 

This post was inspired by my reading an article by Simon Hall at creative warehouse on September 11, 2022 titled Show Not Tell in Presentations.

 

The Barnum and Bailey circus poster image is from the Library of Congress.

 

Does the electric cord of liberty still spark in our hearts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One danger in speech writing is using terminology so obscure that your audience gets perplexed. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy did that in a speech on September 1, 2022 containing the following paragraph (my italics):

  

“The American experiment and the good people who believe in it have not said their last word. The electric cord of liberty still sparks in our hearts. The spirit of the Pilgrims, the Patriots and the Pioneers still inspire our souls. Our best days are ahead of us, not behind us. Our nation can flourish again and under a new historic Republican majority, it will.”

 

At HuffPost on September 2, 2022 there is an article by David Moye titled Kevin McCarthy referred to the ‘Electric Cord of Liberty,’ and people are confused whose subtitle noted McCarthy apparently was referencing something Abraham Lincoln once said long ago (on July 10, 1858). But the speech did not explain who, or when, or where, or why. Other comments noted that a sparking electrical cord is a fire safety hazard.

 

And another article the same day by Tommy Christopher at MEDIAite titled Morning Joe crew mocks Kevin McCarthy’s bizarre ‘Electric Cord of Liberty’ rant – joining White House staff and reporters has a video with that MSNBC show following a clip of McCarthy with a clip from the Simpsons animated TV show (showing Electric Shock Aversion Therapy).

 

And on September 3, 2022 at Wonkette there is yet another article by Doktor Zoom (Marty Kelley, here in Boise, who has a Ph.D. in rhetoric) titled Kevin McCarthy sings the body electric, twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom. The Doktor ran that paragraph through his woodchipper of rhetorical analysis. Back in 1858 ‘electrical cord’ was only metaphorical, not literally what now plugs into a wall outlet.

 

So, please don’t put a cryptic sentence like The electric cord of liberty still sparks in our hearts into your speech without explaining it.

 

Our 45 U. S. Presidents, ranked from best to worst

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At CBS News on September 13, 2022 there is an article by Elisha Fieldstadt titled Presidents ranked from worst to best. Those results came from a June 22, 2022 article about a survey by the Siena College Research Institute (SCRI) titled American Presidents: Greatest and Worst. It was a survey of historians, political scientists, and presidential scholars. I prefer listing results for the 45 of them from best to worst, as follows:

 

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) #1

Abraham Lincoln (1861-65) #2

George Washington (1789-1797) #3

Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) #4

Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809) #5

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961) #6

Harry Truman (1945-1953) #7

Lyndon Johnson (1963-1969) #8

John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) #9

James Madison (1809-1817) #10

Barrack Obama (2009-2017) #11

James Monroe (1817-1825) #12

Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) #13

Bill Clinton (1993-2001) #14

James K. Polk (1845-1849) #15

John Adams (1797-1801) #16

John Quincy Adams (1825-1829) #17

Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) #18

Joseph Biden (2021- ) #19

George H. W. Bush (1989-1993) #20

Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877) #21

William McKinley (1897-1901 #22

Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) #23

Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) #24

William Howard Taft (1909-1913) #25

Grover Cleveland (1885-1889) and (1893-1897) #26

James A. Garfield (1881) #27

Richard Nixon (1969-1974) #28

Martin Van Buren (1837-1841) #29

Gerald Ford (1974-1977) #30

Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881) #31

Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929) #32

Chester A. Arthur (1881-1885) #33

Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893) #34

George W. Bush (2001-2009) #35

Zachary Taylor (1849-1850) #36

Herbert Hoover (1929-1933) #37

Millard Fillmore (1850-1853) #38

John Tyler (1841-1845) #39

William Henry Harrison (1841) #40

Franklin Pierce (1853-1857) #41

Warren G. Harding (1921-1923) #42

Donald J. Trump (2017-2021) #43

James Buchanan (1857-1861) #44

Andrew Johnson (1865-1869) #45

 

Note that the Top Five are Franklin D. Roosevelt followed by the four sculpted on Mount Rushmore. Also, note the very low ranking for Donald J. Trump at #43 of 45. If you are wondering why there are only 45, that’s because Grover Cleveland served for two nonconsecutive terms as president 22 and 24.

 

What about the 21 most recent presidents, who served us in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries? They rank as follows (with Trump last):

 

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) #1 [#1]

Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) #4 [#2]

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961) #6 [#3]

Harry Truman (1945-1953) #7 [#4]

Lyndon Johnson (1963-1969) #8 [#5]

John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) #9 [#6]

Barrack Obama (2009-2017) #11 [#7]

Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) #13 [#8]

Bill Clinton (1993-2001) #14 [#9]

Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) #18 [#10]

Joseph Biden (2021- ) #19 [#11]

George H. W. Bush (1989-1993) #20 [#12]

Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) #24 [#13]

William Howard Taft (1909-1913) #25 [#14]

Richard Nixon (1969-1974) #28 [#15]

Gerald Ford (1974-1977) #30 [#16]

Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929) #32 [#17]

George W. Bush (2001-2009) #35 [#18]

Herbert Hoover (1929-1933) #37 [#19]

Warren G. Harding (1921-1923) #42 [#20]

Donald J. Trump (2017-2021) #43 [#21]

 

The SCRI has a spreadsheet listing ranks for individual attributes like Integrity and Intelligence. For number 14, integrity, Trump ranked #45 below James Buchanan #41, Andrew Johnson #42, Warren Harding #43, and Richard Nixon #44. And for number 18, Intelligence, Trump also ranked #45 below George W. Bush #41, James Buchanan #42, Warren Harding #43, and Andrew Johnson #44.  

 

Images of Mount Rushmore and Franklin D. Roosevelt (in 1933) both came from Wikimedia Commons.

 

Ten blue-ribbon speech openings that will be remembered and repeated

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday at PR Newswire there was a press release titled Presentation experts Fripp, La Croix and Brown: Speech openings that are remembered and repeated. It lists the following ones, each of which is discussed further:

 

A story

Interesting statistics or little-known facts

A powerful quotation

A question, or a rhetorical question

A challenge

Tie to the headlines

Bold claim or big promise

Read a letter, email, or review

Compliment the audience

Relevant humor

 

(I have combined two of them – A Question and A Rhetorical Question because no one really wants to see a top list with eleven items).

 

That press release refers to a 2022 book by those three, titled Deliver Unforgettable Presentations: How to speak to be remembered and repeated in-person, online, and onstage. All three authors are well-known as speakers. Patricia Fripp was elected president of the National Speakers Association (NSA) in 1984. Darren LaCroix was the 2001 Toastmasters World Champion of Public Speaking, and Mark Brown was the 1995 Champion.

 

The prize blue ribbon came from Openclipart.

 

I’m not going to deal with Paypal Canada

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On September 7th I got a fraudulent email (shown above), which claimed to be from PayPal. It was intended to get me to say, no, I didn’t add a phone number to my account and then click in a blue action box marked No it wasn’t me. But, when I read the next to bottom line, I saw it refers to PayPal Canada in Toronto – who I never have dealt with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a second email, instead was headed PayPaI support.

 

The image of a Cuban cigar came from Openclipart.

Do studies from around the world indicate that anxiety related to public speaking occurs in more than 75 percent of the adult population?

 

At Psychology Today on August 31, 2022 there is a useful article by Amanda Nimon-Peters titled You’re nervous about public speaking. She covers a lot of ground. But she begins by claiming: 

 

“Studies from around the world indicate that anxiety related to public speaking occurs in more than 75 percent of the adult population [Ref. 1, Ref. 2].”

 

Is that true? No, unfortunately it just is a myth. Her reference 1 is to another article by Erica Crome and Andrew Baillie in the Journal of Anxiety Disorders (Volume 28, 2014, number 5, pages 471 to 479) titled Mild to severe social fears: Ranking types of feared social situations using item response theory. Table 1 in that article presents results for biased subsamples (subgroups of people with fears) from four different surveys: two from the United States and two from Australia. The first one from the United States is the National Comorbidity Survey – Replication (aka NCS-R). The second one from the United States is the National Epidemiologic Survey in Alcohol and Related Conditions (aka NESARC). Those two Australian surveys are the 1997 and 2007 versions of the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (aka NSMHWB). Reference 2 is a web link to the description of the research methodology for the 2007 survey, and is redundant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A table shown above lists the percentage for fear of public speaking reported for those four surveys in Table 1. It also shows the sampling for each survey. There is a total sample size, n, a response rate in percent, and the product of those two, the number n0 responding to the survey. That table also lists the number n1 for the biased subsample listed in the title for Table 1. Amanda was confused by, and misinterpreted the data presented in Table 1. A biased subsample is quite different from the random sample of size n0 that responded to the survey, which can be validly used to estimate a percentage for the population. Furthermore, in the 1997 NSMHWB fear of public speaking was at just 55.1% rather than more than 75%. (But when we average results from all four surveys, we get 76%).  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For example, in the NCS-R n = 9282, and the response rate is 70.9%, so n0 = 6581. In Table 1 n1 is only 2261, so that biased subsample is just 34.4% of n0, as is shown above via a Venn diagram.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Percentages for various fears in the NCS-R from Table 1 are shown above via a horizontal bar chart. The largest, 87.9%, is for public speaking or stage fright (Acting, performing or giving a talk in front of an audience).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How does that compare with the percentages for the full random sample? Those results can be found in a 2008 article by A. M. Ruscio et al in Psychological Medicine (Volume 38, number 1, pages 15 to 28) titled Social Fear and Social Phobia in the United States: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, whose full text can be found here at PubMed Central. The first column in Table 1 of that article shows for NCS-R, the percentage for public speaking or stage fright is just 21.2%, or less than a fourth of that reported by Crome and Baillie. The last column shows results for fears among those (n2 = 1143) with lifetime social phobia, where 88.7% feared public speaking or stage fright. Those results are shown above via another horizontal bar chart.   

 

Back on February 3, 2014 I had blogged about Busting a myth – that 75% of people in the world fear public speaking. Eight years later I’m again busting a version of that myth. There is a similar myth with 73% which I blogged about on March 22, 2019 in a post titled An apparently authoritative statistic about fear of public speaking that really lacks any support. I first blogged about results from Ruscio et al in a post way back on June 23, 2009 titled You are not alone: fear of public speaking affects one in five Americans.

 

Using the correct percentage (21.2% rather than 87.9%) from the NCS-R results in an average for fear of public speaking from those four surveys of 59.3%– a drop of 16.7%.  

 

UPDATE

I emailed Amanda and received the following reply on September 13th:

 

Dear Richard,

Your article is good. Thanks for sharing. I'm pretty snowed under right now with the academic year about to start, but I'll find some time next week to reach out to Psychology today and see if I can amend the article.

Have a great day!

Kind regards,

 

Amanda.

 

Public speaking is not terrifying for the majority of Americans

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Forbes on September 7, 2022 there is an article by Jennifer Stephens Acree titled Back to Basics: 5 tips to nail any speaking opportunity. Her five tips are:

 

Prepare and practice

Visualize your surroundings

Channel your mentor

Tailor your speech to fit your audience

Don’t expect perfection

 

But she opens by claiming that:

 “To the vast majority of people, public speaking is terrifying.”

 

Is there survey data which addresses that claim? Yes, there is for Americans, but it contradicts what she says.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapman University did seven annual surveys on American Fears (2014 to 2020/21), which asked about four different levels of fear: Very Afraid, Afraid, Slightly Afraid, and Not Afraid. Very Afraid is an approximation for Terrified. Their blog posts report the sum for the top two levels, Very Afraid and Afraid (average 26.9%). But you can look up the detailed results for all levels. It also is of interest to look at the other sum for the two lowest levels, Not Afraid and Slightly Afraid. As is shown above in a table, just 8.8 to 12.8% (average 10.6%) were Very Afraid, but the vast majority, 68.8% to 76.5% (average 71.8%) were just Slightly Afraid or Not Afraid.

 

Where did public speaking rank at the Very Afraid fear level? On September 27, 2021 I blogged about how In the 2020/2021 Chapman Survey of American Fears, public speaking was only ranked #67 (11.5%) out of 95 fears at the Very Afraid level. And on September 29, 2021 I blogged about how Based on the Grand Sum, the fear of public speaking was only ranked #45 (61.7%) out of 95 fears in the 2020/2021 Chapman Survey of American Fears. In the latter post I also calculated Fear Scores, and reported public speaking at 2.023 where Very Afraid = 4.0, Afraid = 3.0, Slightly Afraid = 2.0, and Not Afraid = 1.0.

 

Jennifer’s business is in Santa Monica, which is less than a fifty-mile drive from Orange (where Chapman University is located).

 

The cartoon of a woman speaker was modified from an image at Wikimedia Commons.  

 

Is America a racist nation? Signs from Idaho history

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an ill-informed article by Art da Rosa at the Gem State Patriot News on September 5, 2022 titled Is America a Racist Nation? His answer is:

 

“My conclusion is that America is not a racist nation. In fact, she is the most racially tolerant nation on earth. People from all over the world dream of coming to America, to be free. When they arrive, they are welcomed and given an equal opportunity to participate, have a better life, and succeed.”

 

But, as shown above, that conclusion is belied by the history of what happened eighty years ago, presented at the Minidoka National Historic Site. An article at the National Archives describes President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 from February 19, 1942 which led to the imprisonment of about 122,000 Japanese people, nearly 70,000 who were American citizens. About 13,000 people were held at Minidoka. And a recent article by Jim Jones at the Idaho Capital Sun on June 22, 2022 is titled Idaho’s Minidoka National Historical Site reminds us to remain vigilant against racial injustice.

 

The article by da Rosa notes that he is ethnically Chinese. (Art is a Senior Engineer at the City of Pocatello). He lost to incumbent Jim Guthrie on May 17, 2022 in the Republican primary election for Idaho State Senator in District 28. His web page says he only became a U.S. citizen in 1986, which explains but does not excuse his ignorance of World War II Idaho history.