Does 95% of the population experience public speaking fear?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course not! Back on December 20, 2016 I blogged about Bursting the overblown claim that 95% of Americans fear public speaking at some level. But I just found a web page on Presentation Skills from Blazing Ginger with a paragraph on Their Fearless Presentations Two-Day Public Speaking Course where the third sentence claims:

 

“With 95% of the population experiencing public speaking fear, our certified coaches provide personalized guidance to eliminate this anxiety.”

 

On October 24, 2024 I blogged about how In the tenth Chapman Survey of American Fears for 2024, public speaking was only ranked #59 of 85 fears at 29.0%. Blazing Ginger’s claimed 95% is too high by a factor of three. As usual, the fears were listed as the sum for Very Afraid and Afraid. If we add the 36.6% for Slightly Afraid, we get a total of 65.7%, which is still about thirty percent below their quoted 95% for fear of public speaking.

 

Where is Blazing Ginger located? They are in metro Los Angeles, so they are less the fifty miles from Orange, where Chapman University is.

 

The image was adapted from this one at Wikimedia Commons.