An apparently authoritative statistic about fear of public speaking that really lacks any support

On February 20, 2017 a blog post from the National Social Anxiety Center titled Public Speaking Anxiety and Fear of Brain Freezes by J. R. Montopoli began by claiming:

“The fear of public speaking is the most common phobia ahead of death, spiders, or heights. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that public speaking anxiety, or glossophobia, affects about 73% of the population. The underlying fear is judgment or negative evaluation by others. Public speaking anxiety is considered a social anxiety disorder.”

Many would consider the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) an authoritative source, so they have thoughtlessly quoted that blog post and referred to that 73%. For example, on March 20, 2019 at Real Clear Life Kirk Miller referenced it in an article titled If you are afraid of public speaking, follow this advice. On February 18, 2019 at Dan Robb Writes he referenced it in an article titled How to overcome the fear of public speaking. On November 14, 2018 at Entrepreneur Shawn Doyle referenced it in an article titled Wringing the fear out of public speaking.

But the National Social Anxiety Center does not say where the statistic came from. Alas, it was not from NIMH but rather from the jerks at a web site called Statistic Brain. The 73% is from their 2012 web page on Fear of Public Speaking Statistics, which as shown above (retrieved from the Wayback Machine), lists 73% for men, 75% for women, and an average of 74%. Back on July 15, 2012 I blogged about Another bogus statistic on the fear of public speaking. I had contacted Statistic Brain but they never replied.

As shown above, just the 74% appeared at the top of the 2012 Statistic Brain web page on Fear/Phobia Statistics. I blogged about it on December 7, 2014 in a post titled Statistic Brain is just a statistical medicine show. In that post I noted having contacted NIMH, and having been told that the statistics mentioned by Statistic Brain did not come from them. More recently Statistic Brain hid behind a paywall. On May 23, 2018 I blogged about The Statistic Brain web site now requires a ~$20 per month subscription. There are better ways to spend your money.